When United States rolled out a near‑doubling of its Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) charge on September 30, 2025, the travel world took notice. The fee jumped from $21 to $40 – a 90 % hike that will touch roughly 40 million annual visitors from the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The increase landed at the tail‑end of fiscal year 2025, just as the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) rolled out a bundle of new fees under a budget‑reconciliation bill.
Background on the ESTA Program
The ESTA system, launched in 2009, lets citizens of 40 VWP nations zip into the United States for tourism or business without a traditional visa. An approved ESTA is valid for two years or until the traveller’s passport expires – whichever comes first – and permits stays of up to 90 days per trip. Operators of signatory airlines and business‑jet carriers are responsible for submitting each traveller’s Advance Passenger Information via the carrier’s system, which CBP then checks against the ESTA database.
Since its inception, the programme has generated modest revenue, but the surge in applications – now estimated at 40 million per year – gave Congress a chance to tap a larger pot. That opportunity arrived with the H.R. 1 budget reconciliation legislation, passed in July 2025. The bill, packaged as part of the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill, bundled a slew of travel‑related initiatives, from funding the Treasury to earmarking money for U.S. tourism promotion.
Details of the September 2025 Fee Increase
Effective September 30, 2025, CBP lifted the ESTA application fee from $21 to $40. The hike applies to all new submissions, while any applications filed before that date retain the old rate. In tandem, two other fees debuted:
- EVUS fee: Chinese nationals holding a 10‑year B1/B2 visa now pay $30 for the Electronic Visa Update System, up from a historic $0.
- I‑94 land border fee: A $24 surcharge adds to the existing $6 charge, bringing the total to $30 for anyone entering the United States via a land port of entry.
All three fees – ESTA, EVUS, and land I‑94 – will be indexed to inflation starting fiscal year 2026, with adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index each year. Unpaid applications lingering in the system after September 30 will also be subject to the new rates.
Reactions from Industry and Travelers
"The jump is a wake‑up call for operators to double‑check their compliance responsibilities," said Laura Everington, director of international operations and regulations at National Business Aviation Association. Everington noted that signatory carriers must keep each traveller’s ESTA current, especially now that the cost barrier is higher.
Frequent flyers from Canada, the United Kingdom and other VWP nations expressed mixed feelings. Some see the fee as a reasonable contribution to U.S. border security, while budget‑conscious tourists grumbled about the unexpected price tag, especially when the fee is charged per traveller rather than per family.
Chinese business travelers, who have relied on a free EVUS update for years, faced the steepest shock. Industry observers predict a short‑term dip in repeat visits until the market adjusts to the new $30 baseline.
Financial and Policy Implications
The $40 charge translates to an extra $19 per traveller – a potential $760 million boost in annual revenue if all 40 million visitors continue to apply. A portion of that windfall is earmarked for the U.S. Travel Promotion Office, tasked with marketing American destinations abroad.
Congressional supporters argue the increase helps offset the rising costs of CBP’s technology upgrades, including the expanding Advance Passenger Information System. Critics, however, worry the higher fees could deter short‑term tourism, a sector that contributed roughly $120 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023.
From a policy standpoint, indexing the fees to inflation removes the need for future legislative spikes, turning a one‑off hike into an ongoing revenue stream. That move aligns with the broader budget‑reconciliation strategy of the Trump administration, which sought to streamline funding mechanisms.
Looking Ahead: Inflation Indexing and Future Changes
Starting fiscal year 2026, CBP will adjust the ESTA, EVUS and land I‑94 fees each year based on the CPI. If inflation runs at 2 % – the Federal Reserve’s target – travellers could see the ESTA fee creep up to roughly $42 by 2028.
Airlines and business‑jet operators are already revising their compliance checklists. Signatory carriers must now verify that each passenger’s ESTA is not only approved but also paid at the current rate before filing the Advance Passenger Information. Failure to do so could result in denied boarding or fines for the carrier.
Travel agencies advising VWP clients are updating their pricing tools to reflect the new cost structure. Some are even bundling the ESTA fee into the overall ticket price to avoid surprise charges at checkout.
Overall, the fee hike marks the most significant shift in U.S. travel‑authorization economics in over a decade. Whether it will reshape travel patterns remains to be seen, but the immediate impact on budgets – for both travellers and airlines – is already tangible.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will the higher ESTA fee affect travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries?
The fee jump to $40 adds $19 to each new application. For frequent flyers who apply multiple times a year, the cost can quickly add up. However, because the ESTA remains valid for two years, many travellers will only pay the new rate once per validity period, softening the long‑term impact.
What is EVUS and why is its fee increasing?
EVUS (Electronic Visa Update System) lets Chinese nationals with a 10‑year B1/B2 visa keep their biographic information current. The $30 charge, up from zero, was introduced to offset administrative costs and align Chinese visitor fees with those of other visa‑holding nationals.
How does the new I‑94 land border fee work?
When entering the United States by car, truck or bus, travelers now pay a $30 total fee (the prior $6 plus a $24 surcharge). The charge is collected electronically at the point of entry and does not apply to air or sea arrivals.
When will the fees be adjusted for inflation?
Starting fiscal year 2026, CBP will tie each fee to the Consumer Price Index. If CPI rises 2 % annually, the $40 ESTA could reach $42 by 2028, and the EVUS and land I‑94 fees will follow a similar upward path.
What should airlines and signatory carriers do to stay compliant?
Carriers must verify that each passenger’s ESTA is approved and paid at the current $40 rate before submitting Advance Passenger Information. They should also update their booking systems to display the fee upfront and keep records of any unpaid applications for potential retroactive collection.
Comments
The $40 ESTA surcharge fundamentally re‑engineers the cost‑structure for Visa Waiver travelers and triggers a cascade of compliance friction points across airline operational workflows. By integrating this fee into the APIS submission pipeline, carriers will need to augment their revenue‑recognition modules to handle real‑time validation. Moreover, the ancillary EVUS and I‑94 land fees introduce a multi‑tiered tariff matrix that will likely necessitate API extensions for point‑of‑sale systems. In practice, this translates to a higher computational overhead for each boarding pass generation and increased data‑exchange bandwidth between airlines and CBP. For passenger‑facing staff, the up‑sell narrative now has to incorporate explicit fee breakdowns to maintain transparency standards. From a financial engineering perspective, indexing these levies to CPI embeds an inflation hedge directly into the travel ecosystem, thereby stabilizing forecasted cash flows for the Treasury.