OfficialOrNotCheck a link
Official sites and fees at a glance
| Scheme | Only official site | Official fee |
|---|---|---|
| ESTAUnited States | esta.cbp.dhs.gov | US$40.62 |
| ETIASEuropean Union / Schengen | travel-europe.europa.eu | Not running yet |
| UK ETAUnited Kingdom | gov.uk | £20 |
| Canada eTACanada | canada.ca | CA$7 |
| K-ETASouth Korea | k-eta.go.kr | ₩10,000 |
| NZeTANew Zealand | immigration.govt.nz | NZ$17+ |
| Australia ETAAustralia | immi.homeaffairs.gov.au | A$20 |
Data: schemes.json, with a source link for every scheme. Fees change, so confirm on the official site before paying.
How lookalike sites fool people
Examples use the reserved .example ending, so they are patterns, not accusations against real sites.
- Top search ads. Paid ads often sit above the official site. Check the address, not the position.
- The scheme name plus extra words, such as
esta-application-online.example,apply-etias.exampleoruk-eta-visa.example. The name proves nothing. - "gov" or "official" in the name but no government ending, as in
esta-gov-us.exampleorofficial-eta-uk.example. - The real address at the start, another domain at the end, as in
esta.cbp.dhs.gov.example.com. Only the part right before the first/counts. - The @ trick:
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov@example.comactually opens example.com. - One letter or ending off:
goov.ukinstead ofgov.uk, or.coinstead of.ca. - "Processing", "expedited" or "review" fees on top of the government fee, or prices in your currency that don't match the table above.
- ETIAS "applications" today. ETIAS isn't running yet, so anyone taking money for it now isn't official.
Paid a middleman? What to do
- Check whether you actually have an authorisation. Use the status check on the official site (linked above). If nothing was filed and your trip is soon, apply there yourself.
- Keep evidence: receipts, the card statement line, emails, and screenshots of the site, its price and its terms.
- Ask the site for a refund in writing. Say the site presented itself as official or didn't clearly disclose the extra fees. Keep a copy.
- Contact your bank or card issuer and ask for a chargeback. Use a reason such as "misrepresentation" or "service not as described". Card-network deadlines are often around 120 days from the payment, so don't wait. For PayPal, open a dispute in the Resolution Center (within 180 days).
- Protect yourself. If you typed your card into a site you don't trust, ask your bank to block it. You shared passport details, so watch for phishing emails pretending to be the "embassy".
- Report the site so others don't fall for it:
This is general information, not legal advice. Unofficial sites aren't always illegal, but you never need one.
FAQ
How does the check work?
We compare the exact website address (the hostname) with each government's official domains, matching only real subdomains. So apply.gov.uk passes but gov.uk.example.com doesn't. We also flag common tricks: the @ trick, punycode lookalikes, near-miss spellings and "gov" words on non-government endings.
Can I apply for ETIAS now?
No. As of our last check, the official EU site says ETIAS is not in operation and no applications are collected. A €20 fee is planned.
Are unofficial sites illegal?
Not always. Some are legal intermediaries, but they charge extra, add nothing you can't do yourself and get a copy of your passport data. Some are outright scams.
Who runs this?
An independent hobby project with no link to any government. The code and data are open on GitHub. Found a mistake? Open an issue there.
Privacy
Everything runs in your browser. The address you check is never sent to us or stored. No cookies, no accounts. If anonymous usage statistics are switched on, they never include the address you checked.