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I received a payment error during my ESTA application and still need to pay. The current application status for the last few hours shows:

THE PAYMENT STATUS COULD NOT BE DETERMINED AT THIS TIME.
PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER FOR THE PAYMENT STATUS.

Your application is not complete and will not be processed by CBP until the processing fee has been paid.
You must complete payment within 7 days.

The help says to click the payment button if have not paid, however there is no payment button, I guess because already started the payment process.

I tried creating a new application however get an error about an application already existing for my passport. The application will expire automatically in 7 days, however I leave in 5 days.

I tried calling their support number but couldn't get through, and their email support has a 2-3 week turnaround time.

Any ideas how to get the visa-waiver in time? Is there perhaps a way to cancel an ESTA application so can start a new one?

phoog
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hoju
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5 Answers5

39

By comparing with a working payment form I was able to trigger payment by typing the following in console:

// add the missing form inputs
$("form").append('<input id="paymentDisclaimerChecked" type="checkbox" name="paymentDisclaimerChecked" value="yes" checked />')
$("form").append('<input type="hidden" name="_eventId_pay" value="Submit" />')
$("form").serialize() // check form values are as expected
$("form").submit()

Now have my ESTA approved - San Francisco here I come!

hoju
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15

I had the same problem, and unfortunately, hoju's Javascript-fu didn't work for me. For the record, I'm used to this kind of tricks, and use them often myself, so I knew what I was doing.

What magically worked instead was, without closing the browser, to visit this link:

https://www.pay.gov/tcsonline/payment.do?execution=e2s2#

That's the page where my payment was interrupted, and magically, it asked my credit card information again, payment went through and my ESTA was approved!

Notes, this may not work for everyone:

  1. That link will work if you were in the middle of paying (in my case, with a credit card) and something went wrong, e.g. connection dropped. If you were not in the middle of a payment, it will give you an error, which means this solution won't work for you,
  2. I assume it was able to resume the previous session because it had some cookie stored, and the session was still active. If you close your browser, or wait too long, this may not work,
  3. I was using a credit card to pay, not paypal. I'm not sure if this would've worked with paypal.

If it doesn't work, try to look at your browser history for any address including www.pay.gov, and try to reload that (that's what I did).

I don't know if this will work for other people, but I'm posting it here in case I can help some fellow traveler.

Community
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Daniele
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7

According to the ESTA payment information page:

If your system "timed out" during th.e step 4 of the application payment process; you have 7 days to return to your Application for payment. Please go to ESTA and "update/check status" . Once you retrieve your ESTA; "payment required" message should appear and click on the "pay" button to begin payment. If you do not pay with in 7 days; you will need to begin a brand new ESTA.

Berwyn
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5

I had the same issue (using Chrome), I tried with Firefox and it worked, I had the "Pay" button and the payment worked well

Marina
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3

That's the answer: don't use Chrome for payment. With Chrome, it won't work; and then I tried Internet Explorer, and it works!

Glorfindel
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user63651
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