VZCZCXRO0918
RR RUEHAT RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHLA RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #2117 2140611
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010611Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6260
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAORC/US CUSTOMS AND BORDER WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHAT/AMCONSUL AMSTERDAM 0034
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 2902
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 7366
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 1539
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 9165
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 9748
RUEHLJ/AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA 0105
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0673
RUEHAT/AMCONSUL AMSTERDAM 0035
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 0021
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 2280
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2707
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 0561
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0145
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 6219
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0316
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2147
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 1207
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 0251
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 7200
RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN 1825
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2135
RUEHBD/AMEMBASSY BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN 0931
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 0541
RUEHLE/AMEMBASSY LUXEMBOURG 0122
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1042
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 0516
UNCLAS TOKYO 002117
SIPDIS
Sensitive
DEPARTMENT FOR CA for CA/VO/F/P:JBrennan for CA/P Steve Royster AND
FOR EAP/J Marc Jackson and Ted Bryan
DHS for Office of International Affairs, ICE Office of International
Affairs and CBP Office of International Affairs
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS CMGT PREL PGOV EUN JA
SUBJECT: VISA WAIVER PROGRAM: August 1 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
OPTIONAL APPLICATION FOR THE ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR TRAVEL
AUTHORIZATION (ESTA) IN JAPAN
Ref: A) STATE 78375 B) TOKYO 1711
1. The ESTA application system went live in Japan on August 1 and
was available for applications in the morning. Embassy Tokyo used
two passports for trial applications. Conoff and Locally Engaged
Staff filled out ESTA applications using one Japanese and one Danish
passport. Post's experience with the system was that it was
extremely fast and easy to use. The authorization response came
back so quickly that it could not be timed. Post also used the
update function successfully. The only difficulty post experienced
was in printing out the approval sheet. The print out was too large
for the size paper, but the information could be read.
2. Post will be taking a survey of what we see as the major users
of the system, Japanese Travel Agencies, in two weeks and will
report on our findings.
SCHIEFFER