VZCZCXRO5074
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHC #2910/01 3242000
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191952Z NOV 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 6751
INFO RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 0891
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA PRIORITY 0389
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 1067
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 3499
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 0787

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 122910 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS PREL JA
SUBJECT: RESPONDING TO JAPAN ON ESTA 
 
REF: TOKYO 1711 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request.  Please see para 2. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Embassy Tokyo is requested to share the text below 
as a non-paper with relevant officials in the Government of 
Japan (GOJ) in response to questions about the Electronic 
System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) to the United States. 
 
BEGIN TEXT OF NON-PAPER: 
 
The Government of the United States appreciates the 
Government of Japan's continuing interest in the ongoing 
rollout of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization 
(ESTA) and welcomes this opportunity to respond to the 
Government of Japan's questions about the system. 
 
 
Q:  Will there be an exchange of diplomatic notes to mark the 
implementation of the ESTA requirement as there was at the 
inception of the Visa Waiver Pilot Program in 1988? 
 
A:  No.  The Department of State has not requested its 
overseas embassies to deliver formal diplomatic notes 
concerning the implementation of ESTA. 
 
 
Q:  Will ESTA be able to accommodate last-minute submissions 
from travelers at the airport? 
 
A:  ESTA applications may be submitted at any time prior to 
traveling to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program 
(VWP), and in most cases, ESTA will provide an almost 
immediate determination of eligibility for travel under the 
VWP.  However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
recommends that ESTA applications be submitted as early as 
possible, at least 72 hours prior to travel, or even before 
travel is planned.  ESTA will accept applications from last 
minute and emergency travelers)even at the airport, if they 
have access to a computer with internet connections and will 
accommodate those applicants without problems in most cases. 
 
 
Q:  Please clearly give us the information on where should we 
refer to if ESTA was not authorized. 
 
A:  If an ESTA application is denied and the traveler wishes 
to continue with the trip, the traveler will be required to 
apply for a nonimmigrant visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. 
 For more about visa application procedures, please visit 
www.travel.state.gov. 
 
 
Q:  When traveling to South America or Europe, travelers will 
need to update ESTA information by themselves at each time of 
their transit.  Please tell us what kind of measures we 
should take when Traveler forgot to update, and how do you 
take procedures. 
 
A:  An approved travel authorization via ESTA is only 
required for travelers who wish to travel within or transit 
the United States under the Visa Waiver Program.  An approved 
travel authorization via ESTA is generally valid for up to 
two years and for multiple entries to the United States. 
Travelers may update their itinerary each time they travel; 
however, this is not required.  A new travel authorization is 
only required if (1) the traveler is issued a new passport; 
(2) the traveler changes his or her name; (3) the traveler 
changes his or her gender; (4) the traveler's country of 
citizenship changes; or (5) the circumstances underlying the 
traveler's previous responses to any of the ESTA application 
questions requiring a "yes" or "no" response have changed. 
 
 
Q:  In order to speed up data entering, please upgrade 
system, for example: if we enter country of citizenship, the 
same country will be entered automatically for passport 
issuing country. 
 
A:  The Government of the United States appreciates this 
request and will consider it within the context of ongoing 
efforts to improve ESTA. 
 
 
STATE 00122910  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶Q.  Please provide more official announcement to public. 
Ordinary people still do not know about ESTA. 
 
A:  DHS and the Department of State have been conducting an 
aggressive international outreach campaign to inform the VWP 
traveling public of the need to obtain an advance travel 
authorization via ESTA.  These ongoing efforts will be 
enhanced over the next several months as additional 
information on the ESTA requirement is published through 
print media, travel web sites, brochures, trade shows and 
magazines, tear sheets, fact sheets, and Frequently Asked 
Questions.  Consular and immigration officials from 
Washington, DC, and from U.S. diplomatic missions throughout 
Japan have conducted a variety of outreach activities 
intended to publicize the launch of ESTA in Japan.  To date, 
these efforts have targeted airlines, travel agencies, 
business groups, and the media, among other organizations. 
The Government of the United States will continue to pursue 
outreach opportunities to educate the Japanese public about 
ESTA. 
 
 
Q:  In order to check ESTA approval at airline check-in 
counters, the ESTA system must be connected to airline 
computers.  Please inform us of your plans to connect the 
system. 
 
A:  The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Advance 
Passenger Information System (APIS)/APIS Quick Query (AQQ) 
infrastructure will advise carriers through interactive 
messaging if a VWP traveler has received an ESTA, so that the 
carrier may appropriately approve or deny the traveler 
boarding.  DHS has been coordinating with commercial aircraft 
and vessel operators on the development and implementation of 
messaging capability that will enable carriers to receive 
interactive APIS (Advanced Passenger Inforamtion System) 
messages pertaining to a traveler's ESTA status.  DHS has 
updated and provided carriers with the Consolidated User 
Guide and UN/EDIFACT Guide to reflect the new ESTA 
requirements, and DHS has also been engaged in an aggressive 
outreach campaign to the carrier industry to achieve 
compliance with APIS pre-departure and ESTA requirements, in 
an effort to minimize operational impact.  Once all carriers 
are capable of receiving and validating messages pertaining 
to a traveler's ESTA status, DHS intends to fully automate 
the Form I-94W and eliminate the paper form. 
 
 
Q:  In the last meeting, the Embassy explained that during 
three months after 1/12/09, it will be considered as interim 
period.  Is it OK to understand that it will apply to 
airlines at the airport also? 
 
A:  Not exactly.  DHS has been working closely with the 
airline carriers to ensure compliance.  DHS will implement an 
informed compliance period for ESTA beginning on November 17, 
2008, for citizens or nationals from the new VWP countries 
(Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, 
Slovakia, and South Korea) and for all VWP travelers 
beginning January 12, 2009.  DHS will continue to work 
closely with the carriers to reach full compliance. 
 
 
Q:  If Traveler came to the airport without up-dating flight 
No., address in the U.S. or other information which needs to 
be updated, should we need to check correctness of all these 
information?, or it will be OK for us to just check "ESTA is 
authorized or not"? 
 
A:  Basically, yes, just check whether ESTA is approved.  VWP 
travelers may update their travel itinerary and destination 
details in their ESTA application; however, this is not 
required.  The CBP APIS/AQQ infrastructure will advise 
carriers through interactive messaging if an alien has 
received an ESTA, so that the carrier may appropriately 
approve or deny the alien boarding.  For the purposes of the 
ESTA program, air carriers will be responsible for validating 
the ESTA status message and responding accordingly. 
Separately, under the APIS Pre-departure Final Rule, carriers 
are required to collect and transmit to DHS the "address 
while in the United States" (number and street, city, state, 
and zip code) for all passengers except U.S. citizens, lawful 
permanent residents, or persons who are in transit to a 
location outside the United States. 
 
 
 
STATE 00122910  003 OF 004 
 
 
Q:  Currently, airline companies are collecting I-94W at the 
time of exit from the United States.  We understand that 
after 1/12/09, travelers using airline companies that connect 
to the ESTA system will not be required to submit I-94W. 
Will airline companies be required to report exit records to 
the U.S. Government in a new way? 
 
A:  Until further notice, travelers will still be required to 
complete the form.  Eventually, the implementation of the 
ESTA program will allow DHS to eliminate the requirement that 
VWP travelers complete a paper Form I-94W prior to being 
admitted to the United States.  There are many operational 
concerns and prerequisites associated with the elimination of 
the paper Form I-94W including the capability of carriers to 
validate ESTA status messages.  DHS will closely monitor 
carrier capabilities and traveler compliance to ensure a 
smooth transition to I-94W elimination. 
 
 
Q:  In order to check ESTA approval at airline check-in 
counter, ESTA system and airline computer should be 
connected.  Please let us know your plan of connecting test 
and the name of section in charge of the test. 
 
A:  The DHS APIS/AQQ infrastructure will advise carriers 
through interactive messaging if a VWP traveler has received 
an ESTA, so that the carrier may appropriately approve or 
deny the traveler boarding.  DHS has been coordinating with 
commercial aircraft and vessel operators on the development 
and implementation of messaging capability that will enable 
carriers to receive interactive APIS messages pertaining to a 
traveler's ESTA status.  DHS has updated and provided 
carriers with the Consolidated User Guide and UN/EDIFACT 
Guide to reflect the new ESTA requirements.  DHS has begun 
testing the ability to send and receive ESTA status messages 
with individual carriers.  Airlines should contact their APIS 
Account Manager for additional information about scheduling 
testing. 
 
 
Q:    If a traveler is not authorized entry under ESTA, will 
he or she will be placed on black list and required to have a 
U.S. visa for all future travel? 
 
A:  A traveler who has been denied travel authorization via 
ESTA will be required to have a valid visa unless the 
circumstances leading to the denial have changed and the 
individual subsequently obtained an approved travel 
authorization via ESTA.  Reapplying with false information 
for the purposes of qualifying for an ESTA could make the 
traveler permanently ineligible for travel to the U.S. 
 
 
Q:  Currently, ESTA is free, but do you have any plan to 
charge? 
 
A:  DHS is not currently collecting a fee for ESTA 
applications.  If it is determined later that a fee will be 
charged, the fee would be implemented through the U.S. 
Government's rulemaking process. 
 
 
Q:  How does one handle cancellations of travel after the 
travel is already authorized under ESTA? 
 
A:  VWP travelers are not required to have specific plans to 
travel to the United States before they apply for an ESTA. 
If a traveler's destination address in the United States is 
unknown when he or she completes the ESTA application, the 
traveler should enter the name of the hotel or approximate 
location he or she intends to visit.  Travelers may update 
this information when their plans are finalized, but they 
will not be required to update their destination addresses or 
itineraries should they change after their ESTA has been 
approved. 
 
 
Q:  How does one process ESTA approvals if the name of the 
traveler changes within 72 hours of departure? 
 
A:  A new travel authorization is required if (1) the 
traveler is issued a new passport; (2) the traveler changes 
his or her name; (3) the traveler changes his or her gender; 
(4) the traveler's country of citizenship changes; or (5) the 
circumstances underlying the traveler's previous responses to 
any of the ESTA application questions requiring a "yes" or 
"no" response have changed.  If a traveler wishes to correct 
 
STATE 00122910  004 OF 004 
 
 
an error regarding the critical data (biographical data and 
passport information) on their ESTA application, they may 
reapply immediately if the ESTA had originally been approved. 
 If it had originally been denied, they will be required to 
wait ten days to submit a new application from the date their 
original application was denied. 
 
 
Q:  We request you to set up enough computers, access to ESTA 
by mobile phones, and information desks at all the airports 
where outbound flights to the U.S. from Japan are involved. 
 
A:  The resources that would be required to support this 
request are currently unavailable.  We appreciate the 
suggestion and will evaluate the feasibility in future. 
Please note that a third party, such as a relative, friend, 
travel agent, or airline employee, may submit an ESTA 
application on behalf of the VWP traveler. 
 
 
Q:  A grace period for ESTA needs to be implemented for those 
who did not obtain an ESTA in advance until ESTA becomes well 
known and until there are no confused travelers at the 
airport. 
 
A:  Once ESTA is mandatory on January 12, 2009, all nationals 
or citizens of VWP countries who plan to travel to the United 
States for temporary business or pleasure under the VWP will 
require an approved ESTA prior to boarding a carrier to 
travel by air or sea to the United States under the VWP. 
Travelers who have not received ESTA approval by the 
mandatory compliance date (November 17, 2008, for eligible 
citizens or nationals from the Czech Republic, Estonia, 
Hungary, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia; 
and January 12, 2009 for all VWP travelers) may be denied 
boarding, experience delayed processing, or be denied 
admission at a U.S. port of entry.  DHS will implement an 
informed compliance period for ESTA beginning on November 17, 
2008, for citizens or nationals from the new VWP countries 
and for all VWP travelers beginning January 12, 2009.  DHS 
will continue to work closely with VWP travelers and the 
carriers to reach full compliance. 
 
 
Q:  What was the European Union's reaction to ESTA? 
 
A:  We defer to other governments to explain their reactions 
to the ESTA requirement. 
 
 
Q:  Can ESTA be accessed/data entered from a cell phone? 
 
A:  Yes.  DHS technicians have successfully accessed and 
entered data into the online ESTA website using mobile 
internet devices.  If the Government of Japan is aware of 
specific instances where users are unable to utilize the 
online system using mobile internet devices, we would ask 
that we be notified of such specific problems.  Once an issue 
is identified, we will begin research on what is required to 
implement necessary corrections and modifications. 
 
 
Q:  Can the Government of the United States set up an 
information center, such as a call center, to respond to 
questions about ESTA until it becomes well established? 
 
A:  The resources that would be required to support this 
request are currently unavailable.  Travelers are urged to 
consult DHS's extensive online resources, including the 
online help section within the ESTA application Web site 
located at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov, and the answers to the 
frequently asked questions that are posted on-line at 
http://www.cbp.gov/esta.  We appreciate the suggestion and 
will evaluate the feasibility in future. 
 
 
END TEXT OF NON-PAPER. 
RICE