Mona Shah Quoted in IMI on ESTA Denials for Former US Citizens

Former US citizens who hold visa-waiver passports have been refused ESTA approvals since a June 2026 system update, and no public rule has been issued. Speaking to Investment Migration Insider (IMI), Mona argued that “if it were a genuine policy decision it would have a document attached,” pointing instead to “an internal policy… communicated through the ESTA customer service line, applied inconsistently.”

Mona explains that the underlying ineligibility has existed since the 1996 Reed Amendment. What has changed is that it is now screened automatically at the point of application, which she warns is worse than a formal rule: “A published rule can be challenged, and a helpdesk script cannot.”

Read the full article here