The simple reason you could be BANNED from travelling to the US
YOUR next holiday to the US could be ruined due to a simple rule change.
For Brits to visit the US, you need to pay for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) which is a visa waiver.
However, this could be refused if you have been to Cuba since last year, meaning you will not be able to visit the US.
This is because Cuba was added to the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism by the Trump administration in January 2021.
Cuba joins countries such as Syria and North Korea on their list, and has not yet been removed by the Biden aministration.
As it is on this list, it means travellers who have a Cuban passport stamp could see their ESTA refused.
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The US Customs and Border Protection explains on the website: "If a traveler is found to have visited a country designated as State Sponsor of Terrorism, the traveler is no longer eligible to participate in the Visa Wavier Program and must apply for a visa to enter the United States.”
Instead, holidaymakers could be forced to buy a normal visa instead of the ESTA, which often take longer and are more expensive, costing $160 (£141).
Not only that, but being refused an ESTA can make it harder to get one in the future.
According to , a number of tourists have complained about being refused due to their visit to Cuba.
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One Brit said they were stopped from boarding a flight from Paris to San Francisco due to having "recently visited Cuba" while another couple said their previously approved ESTAs changed to being denied after they visited Cuba.
One person wrote earlier this month: "I was visiting Cuba for a week from Spain last week and my ESTA was revoked two days before my flight to Florida."
Someone else added: "I flew from Havana to the Bahamas via Miami, and while connecting at Miami I was told my ESTA had been cancelled."
The UK Foreign Office website is yet to update the current travel advice to reflect this, and states that flights between the UK and Cuba are ";unaffected by this US legislation".
The price of an ESTA went up this year from $14 (£11) to $21 (£17), although they last for two years.
And Brits will soon need a visa to travel to Europe next year as well.
The ETIAS scheme, similar to the US ESTA, means Brits will have to pay €7 (£6) for a three year 'visa' if traveling to countries in the EU.
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Anyone between the ages of 18 and 70 will have to pay it if traveling for less than 90 days, with applications submitted 96 hours before travel.
Applicants will be asked for information about their identity, passport, education, job, recent travel, and criminal convictions, including if you have ever been kicked out of a country.
