ESTA Fee Rises to $40.62 on October 16, 2026: Do You Need to Reapply, and How to Avoid Lookalike ESTA Sites

Thirty-five cents. That’s the whole increase.

On October 1, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security published a Federal Register notice setting the fiscal year 2027 ESTA fee at $40.62, up from $40.27. CBP starts charging the new amount on October 16, 2026. It’s an automatic inflation adjustment written into the HR-1 law, and the notice puts the CPI-U increase from July 2025 to July 2026 at 3.36%.

So no, you don’t need to rush. But if you’re a nomad routing through the U.S. this winter, the fee headline is a good excuse to check the things that actually cost travelers money: an ESTA that expires mid-trip, a third-party site that charged double, and the 90-day clock that doesn’t reset the way people think.

What This Covers

• How Much Is the ESTA Fee After October 16, 2026?
• Should You Apply Before October 16 to Save Money?
• Do You Need a New ESTA if Yours Is Still Valid?
• How Do You Spot an Unofficial ESTA Website?
• ESTA Costs at a Glance
• Does a Trip to Mexico or Canada Reset Your 90 Days?
• Tips
• Warnings
• FAQ
• Sources

How Much Is the ESTA Fee After October 16, 2026?

The ESTA fee for an approved application is $40.62 starting October 16, 2026, made up of a $17 travel authorization fee, a $10.62 cost-recovery fee, and a $13 fee, according to DHS’s Federal Register notice published October 1, 2026.

Only the middle piece moved. The notice raises the cost-recovery portion from $10.27 to $10.62 and leaves the $17 and $13 pieces alone.

When I checked the notice itself, I found one detail most coverage skips: if your ESTA is denied, you still pay the cost-recovery part. For fiscal year 2027 that’s $10.62. A denied application isn’t free.

The same notice also raises the EVUS enrollment fee, used by Chinese nationals with 10-year U.S. visitor visas, from $30.75 to $31.75. The land-border I-94 fee stays at $30.

Should You Apply Before October 16 to Save Money?

Applying for an ESTA before October 16, 2026 saves exactly $0.35 per traveler compared with applying after the increase, so it only makes sense if you were going to apply in the next two weeks anyway.

Honestly, don’t plan around 35 cents.

Plan around the timing rule instead. An ESTA is valid for up to two years, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. If you apply now and don’t fly to the U.S. until late 2028, you may need another one anyway.

When an early application does make sense:

• You already have a U.S. flight in the next few months. Apply now and get the approval out of the way.
• Your family is applying together. Four people saves $1.40. Still small, but it’s the same form either way.
• Your current ESTA expires before your trip ends. This one matters far more than the fee.

Do You Need a New ESTA if Yours Is Still Valid?

A traveler who already holds a valid, approved ESTA does not need to reapply or pay anything extra because of the October 16, 2026 fee change; the new $40.62 amount applies to new applications.

What does force a new ESTA is a change to your documents.

• New passport. An ESTA is tied to the passport you applied with. Renewed passport, new ESTA.
• Name change or new citizenship. Same thing.
• Expiry. Check the date on your approval. If it lapses mid-trip, you can’t count on extending it.

Reading CBP’s validity rule closely, I noticed that the passport date often wins. A passport with 14 months left gives you a 14-month ESTA, not two years.

You can check your status on the official site using the “Check ESTA Status” option, with your passport details.

How Do You Spot an Unofficial ESTA Website?

The only official ESTA application website is esta.cbp.dhs.gov, run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with CBP’s ESTA Mobile app; sites on other domains are private services that add their own fees on top of the government fee.

This is where most people actually overpay.

Searching “ESTA application” can surface paid ads for sites with flags, eagles, and official-sounding names. Many of them do submit your form. They just charge you double the government fee or more for something that costs $40.62 directly. Some are worse and never submit anything.

Check these before you pay:

1. Look at the address bar. It should end in .dhs.gov. Not .com, .org, .us, or .online.
2. Check the total. The official total is $40.27 until October 15, 2026, then $40.62. Anything higher is a third-party markup.
3. Watch for “processing” or “service” fees. CBP doesn’t add those.
4. Be wary of “expedited” offers. No one can buy you a faster CBP decision.

Already paid a lookalike site? Check whether they submitted an application, then ask for a refund. If they refuse, our guide on chargeback vs. refund requests walks through the card dispute route.

ESTA Costs at a Glance

The table below puts the official fee change next to the costs that actually hit travelers’ wallets.

Table: official amounts from DHS’s Federal Register notice 2026-20185 (published October 1, 2026). The third-party row is a general pattern, not an official figure; markups vary by site.

A typical markup is around 100 times the size of this year’s fee increase. That’s the number to remember.

Does a Trip to Mexico or Canada Reset Your 90 Days?

A short trip to Canada, Mexico, or a nearby Caribbean island generally does not reset the 90-day limit for Visa Waiver Program travelers; time spent there can count toward the same 90-day admission if you return to the U.S. within it.

Nomads get caught by this more than by any fee.

The classic plan is 85 days in the U.S., a week in Cancún, then back for “another 90.” It usually doesn’t work that way. Leave for Europe, Asia, or South America and the clock behaves differently, but border officers still look at how much of the year you spend in the U.S.

Also, the Visa Waiver Program covers tourism and certain business visits. It isn’t a work permit. If you’re working remotely while you travel, answer border questions honestly and carry proof of a return or onward ticket. Canada has tightened questioning along similar lines, which we covered in what IRCC now lets officers ask for.

Tips

• Apply at least 72 hours before departure. Most answers come faster, but some take longer.
• Save a PDF of your approval and note the expiry date in your calendar.
• Bookmark esta.cbp.dhs.gov so you never search for it again.
• Applying for a family? Each traveler, including children, needs their own ESTA and pays their own fee.

Warnings

• An approved ESTA doesn’t guarantee entry. CBP officers make the final call at the border.
• Answering “yes” to an eligibility question by mistake can lead to a denial and a $10.62 charge. Read each question carefully.
• A new passport means a new ESTA, even if your old approval hasn’t expired.
• This article is general information, not immigration or legal advice. Check CBP’s official site for your situation.

FAQ

Will my ESTA application cost more if I apply on October 15 and get approved on October 17?

The new fee applies to amounts CBP assesses from October 16, 2026. Since you pay when you submit, an application paid before October 16 should be charged the $40.27 amount.

Is the ESTA fee refundable if I cancel my trip?

Generally no. The ESTA fee pays for processing the authorization, not for the trip, and the approval stays valid for future travel until it expires or your passport changes.

Does the ESTA fee go up every year now?

Yes, part of it does. The HR-1 law requires DHS to adjust the ESTA cost-recovery fee for inflation each fiscal year, so expect a small change every October.

Sources

• Federal Register — Certain DHS Immigration-Related Fees Required by HR-1: Fiscal Year 2027 Adjustments for Inflation (October 1, 2026)
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection — Official ESTA application website
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection — ESTA information

Fact-checked against DHS’s October 1, 2026 Federal Register notice and CBP’s official ESTA website as of October 4, 2026. This is general travel information, not legal or immigration advice.