Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing ESTA, that is the Electronic System for Travel Authorization and we are discussing denials. Now this is not a refusal. We have done another video contemporaneously with this one where we discuss refusals in ESTA. A refusal is something like a 221(g) which oftentimes is a Request for Further Documentation. It is a refusal to issue a Visa until that documentation is presented. Sometimes cases will go into what is called Administrative Processing and that may also trigger a refusal. This is different than an outright denial. Now in cases involving an Immigrant Visa application to the United States, a denial maybe for example a finding of inadmissibility for example if one previously overstayed in the United States, one has a criminal record, a history with drugs, crimes involving moral turpitude, prostitution etc. You may have been denied in an Immigrant context based on a legal ground of inadmissibility.

This can also happen in a non-immigrant case. In most of the non-immigrant cases that we see where ESTA re-entry could pose a problem is where somebody actually applies for a proper Tourist Visa and again these are folks that have a passport that will allow them to enter the United States on the Visa waiver program. This doesn't really actually apply to Thai nationals. We are based here in Bangkok, we don't really see this from Thais very often because they are not part of the Waiver Program but we oftentimes get clients that are third country nationals that do have to deal with the Waiver Program or ESTA and they will have this issue where a prior Tourist Visa will have been denied. In that set of circumstances, that can have a real a real detrimental effect on their ability to use the Waiver Program. The reason for this is if they receive a denial, even if it is a denial and oftentimes we see this on Tourist Visa applications, if it is a denial under what is called 214B of the Immigration Nationality Act where basically this person has not demonstrated substantially strong enough ties to countries outside the US as well as and this key, weak ties to the US, the Consular Officer can just deny under section 214b. If that happens, it is not going to be possible to enter the USA using the ESTA system and the reasoning behind this is US Customs and Border Protection which runs ESTA is not going to countermand a finding by the Department of State, by an Embassy or Consulate and the Consular Officer that that person needs to be denied entry to the US. So once you get denied for a visa, it is effectively not possible to then use ESTA unless you go ahead and well actually no because they just ask about denial and if you have been denied for a prior Visa they are not going to let you enter under the ESTA system. 

So you need to be really careful if you are applying for a Non-Immigrant Visa or an Immigrant Visa for that matter and it might be possible you are going to get denied because you may end up precluding yourself from being able to enter the country under the ESTA system in the future.