The Sensitive Matter of ESTA Visa Waivers & The Impact of COVID-19

With the arrival of  an unprecedented world pandemic, due to COVID-19, wreaking havoc on everything and everyone; individuals holding ESTA visa waiver status have been left in a unique sensitive ‘bind’. Specifically, their U.S. non-immigrant U.S. status has been placed at risk with lockdowns, and flight cancellations just prior to his or her VWP expiration date.  It’s important to pause and remember the big difference between foreign national citizens who enter the country on the ‘sensitive’ VWP, versus foreign nationals that enter the U.S. on a traditional non-immigrant visa issued by a U.S. Consulate Post abroad.