I take it your passports are british then? If they are thats all you need. A valid 10 year passport with at least six months left on them when you are on holiday

many thanks for the info,we were worried as the web sites say micro chipped passports or with a digital enhanced photo which ours have not either, but yes they are english,do we have to get a visa?

the part of the state dept website that concerns you is the visa waiver program. The UK is one of a few lucky countries in the world who get to enter the US for three months without a visa, as long as everything is ok with their passports. Check the official requirements for specifics.

Our old passport were issued October 1998 (we have the new microchip ones now) and we travelled to New York in January this year with no problems

Hi,

Quick question about passports please.

I understand the need for the full 10 year passport but my 13 year old daughter has only a five year one as that's all that can get issued at her age, it still has 3 or 4 years left on it, this won't be a problem will it?

Many thanks

Erica

If you have booked airfares through a Travel Agent, they will make sure that your passports are valid & that you have the correct documentation ie. advise you if you need to apply for a Visa.

Close relatives travelled to SFO in April on a British passport from the UK on BA.

They said that they had to fill up a form (visa?) on the plane. Any one who made a mistake while completing it and corrected it, got sent to the back of the immigration queue on arrival.

I don't know if this will still be the case next year, but worth bearing in mind!

There will be a new system in place for Visa Waiver travellers by next year. You will need to pre-register online at least 3 days before travelling. If you don't qualify for VWP, then you will know before travelling:

dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1212498415724.shtm

I'm travelling to the USA late August so will do the on-line pre-register.

acrossthepond, it was probably a green card visa waiver they had to fill it, if there are any mistakes immigration will make you do a new one. Every non US citizen has to fill one in