As important as their own identity, sovereignty and autonomy is to their own citizens, independent principality nations such as Andorra and Monaco often present a very unique case when dealing with matters of immigration, global classification and even for travelling arrangements. As if just any sort of travelling isn’t enough of a nightmare of its own, travellers from these principalities such as Monegasques, Andorrans and the like often find themselves falling in between what is far from clearly defined guidelines for making travel arrangements. Depending on who you ask, Monaco could very well be classified as a region in France, while Andorra may very well be classified as either a region in Spain or in France. The significance of this comes into play quite importantly when one considers that with issues of international travel and immigration, the final decision as to whether someone should be granted the appropriate travel-clearance or not lies in the hands of one pivotal person, employed as an immigration officer, customs official, or even an ambassador.

Either way, for travellers heading to the USA, coming from the principalities of Andorra and Monaco, even if they were indeed deemed to be from special regions in Spain and France, they’d still qualify for the benefits which come with being able to travel to the USA without having to go through the regular, rigorous visa application process. Fortunately though, Andorrans don’t have to run around from pillar to post trying to get any extra documentation in order to qualify for the ESTA visa waiver program, which grants them just as much eligibility as it does to citizens of France and Span. In fact, Andorra is listed independently of Spain and France as one of the 38 countries in total whose citizens can effectively travel to the USA via an online pre-authorisation, instead of having to take the normal visa application route. So just as is the case with Spain, France and other visa-waiver countries like Germany, Japan, Greece, Netherlands, United Kingdom, etc., Andorrans who enter the USA via the ESTA visa waiver program can stay for very reasonable time period of up to 90 days.

That definitely takes a huge bite out of the otherwise daunting arrangements which naturally come with visiting a country such as the USA, but what Andorrans visiting the US via the visa waiver program should keep in mind is that that 90-day period includes any trip to neighbouring countries in which that neighbouring country was accessed via the USA. Andorran passport holders who still have some questions as to their eligibility can take comfort in the fact that their travel authorisation is basically just a matter of compliance. If there aren’t any grounds for denial within the normal scope of reason, then there really is nothing to worry about. In fact, what may come as a surprise rather is how quickly the authorisation can get granted once the ESTA application is filed online, having been furnished along with all the necessary documents and information.