According to information from the shipping company MSC, the regulations regarding ESTA visas applied for and issued after August 1, 2023 are no longer valid. According to the new ruling, passengers must apply for a new visa after entering the USA turizmus.com.
The new regulations apply to Hungarian passengers on cruises departing from the U.S., and travel agencies that sell cruises must also prepare for the change during the main cruise season.
According to the latest guidelines from US authorities, travelers with Hungarian passports must submit a new ESTA application (Entry Authorization Application) at the port terminal.
We first learned of the change last week from our overseas passengers, but on February 20, our office received official information about the change.
– Tell Csaba Balogh, Head of Tourism at IBUSZ.
You need a second ESTA
The regulations in place before were much more lenient. From 1 August 2023 until now, in the case of closed routes with a single-entry ESTA – that is, when you leave the ship and return to the same port – with a few exceptions, it has not been necessary to apply for a second ESTA to board the ship.
According to the change, passengers with a Hungarian passport must submit a new ESTA application (Entry Authorization Application) at the cruise port terminal.
Due to the tightening, IBUSZ now requires all its passengers to apply for a new ESTA immediately upon entering the United States. There is no practical obstacle to this, as the old license officially expires immediately after entry.
However, it is worth preparing passengers for the fact that the invalid entry permit will practically disappear from the system within 24-48 hours. The online interface can also warn about this, but after canceling the old permit, it does not stop the process of applying for a new ESTA, the expert said.
A new entry permit is usually prepared within 24 hours, and last week's experience shows that shipping companies allow boarding even with an ESTA application submitted.
