ESTA, two nationalities, two names, should I declare the second in the form?

Question

I know there are similar topics (linked below) but I want to settle this once and for all.

I will be travelling to the US later this year. I have two passports (UK/Indonesian), and the UK one has my English surname and the Indonesian one has my Indonesian surname. For most intents and purposes I am two separate people.

I live in the UK and will travel to the US on the UK passport which is of course included in the VWP programme.

• Do I need to declare my alias (other surname) and my second nationality on the ESTA form? This link, this one and this one say no. However, people generally say it's best to be truthful on the form to avoid complications later on.
• Would not declaring the second identity count as lying on the form?

I am somewhat concerned as Indonesia doesn't have the best international reputation. I wouldn't want it to affect my ESTA chances.

Answer 1

The questions about other names and other citizenships were only added a little over a year ago. Any advice against disclosing additional names and citizenships was likely based on the older application form that did not ask about them. This is certainly true of the third link, which is four years old.

(See, for example, this Telegraph article from November 2014.)

Now that they are included in the application, it would indeed be seen as untruthful to fail to disclose them.

If you don't disclose your Indonesian nationality, you risk being banned from the US for lying on your ESTA application. If you do disclose it, you risk ESTA denial and the associated hassle and expense of applying for a B visa. The cost of the first outcome is probably far higher for you than the cost of the second outcome.

I also note that I wrote one answer you link to, namely https://travel.stackexchange.com/a/56631/19400. The question there was whether an Australian/French dual citizen must enter the US as French because she resides in France. The answer to that question is "no." Part of my reasoning was flawed because I wasn't aware then that the ESTA application asks for other citizenships. I've edited the answer accordingly.