"Denied ESTA" on profile that never happened

[CocoAndBrian 24]

This is a weird one!  I am American and my wife is Irish.  We went down the CR1 route and she received her full 10 year green card in 2024.  Besides taking forever there were no issues or bumps along the way at all.

 

After coming back to the country a few months ago she was told that there is a "Denied ESTA" associated with her account, causing problems.  She never was denied an esta in the past, and even if she was, the green card should supersede this.  The only reason we can think they think this is because she applied for an ESTA for her dad a few years ago and used her email address because he doesn't have one, but surely she can't be the first person to apply for an esta for a parent in this fashion?? 

 

She's been stopped a couple of times at the border now because of this, and while she has always been allowed through, it's annoying to deal with and it also prevent her global entry from working properly.  My question is how can we get this removed from her profile or account or whatever you might call it?  I don't even know where to begin.

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[vanhiscers87 28]

Since ESTA is administrated by CBP, I would try to figure it out with them first, but if things get to too complicated to navigate, then I’ll try to get your state’s senior U.S. senator’s office to intervene.

Edited Wednesday at 08:07 PM by vanhiscers87

[OldUser 8,501]

I'd start with filing a FOIA to figure out what exactly happened.

 

I doubt there is an easy way to clean this up. If she's flagged, she's flagged. Maybe she's eligible to apply for redress number. Maybe it won't be a problem when she becomes a citizen. 

Edited Wednesday at 08:08 PM by OldUser

[TBoneTX 46,675]

  On 3/26/2025 at 8:07 PM, vanhiscers87 said:

CBP, I would try to figure it out with them first

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I'd try this first, too.  Try to get an appointment (not easy in some locales) face-to-face with an agent.  Try a supervisor at a land or airport POE, or try for a Global Entry appointment.  Definitely let us know what happens.

[Boiler 46,571]

I would have asked when it happened

 

Not sure how an email could be related, was her father denied?

[CocoAndBrian 24]

Thank you everyone.  Her father was not denied - nobody in her family was ever denied.  We just assume her email address is what mixed things up because it is the only thing we can think of.

 

The reality is the last ESTA she applied for was several years ago, well before any of the immigration process started, so none of it makes any sense at all really. 

 

We've tried to talk to the agent but they said "I don't care" and waved us through, or just flat out ignored the question so they're not exactly the most friendly or welcoming people (shocker).  Maybe we'll try again next time if we have a more friendly person.

[Boiler 46,571]

Maybe someone with the same name?

[CocoAndBrian 24]

There are definitely other people with her first name plus maiden name out there but I would be SHOCKED if someone had the same name as her first name + married name, it's quite unique but good call, maybe that is it?

 

I would hope that a combination of name PLUS green card number PLUS global entry number would be enough to identify someone as a unique individual (and not someone else with a denied esta they never even applied for), but maybe I am giving these systems too much credit.

Edited Thursday at 03:19 PM by CocoAndBrian

[Dashinka 25,197]

Apply for Global Entry which requires an in person interview with CBP.  It might help you understand what the issue is.

 

 

[TBoneTX 46,675]

  On 3/27/2025 at 3:21 PM, Dashinka said:

Apply for Global Entry which requires an in person interview with CBP

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It can take forever to get an appointment at a busy office, but it's well worth it.

I gave up on Houston and went to Brownsville when I was otherwise down there.

Wonderful session, and G.E. card in my mailbox in under a week.

[CocoAndBrian 24]

She already has global entry, that is the real kicker!

[milimelo 4,596]

I think the official way to do is to get a REDRESS number through CBP - they sort it out in the background and you never find out what happened, but you're no longer pulled into secondary - and there's a place to enter it when traveling. 

[Dashinka 25,197]

  On 3/27/2025 at 3:31 PM, TBoneTX said:

It can take forever to get an appointment at a busy office, but it's well worth it.

I gave up on Houston and went to Brownsville when I was otherwise down there.

Wonderful session, and G.E. card in my mailbox in under a week.

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We just renewed, no interview required.  Back when we first applied, we went to the Blue Water Bridge for the interview.  To get to the CBP office we got to go through a secret entrance reminiscent of Maxwell Smart. 

[OldUser 8,501]

  On 3/27/2025 at 3:34 PM, milimelo said:

I think the official way to do is to get a REDRESS number through CBP - they sort it out in the background and you never find out what happened, but you're no longer pulled into secondary - and there's a place to enter it when traveling. 

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Agreed, as suggested earlier:

 

  On 3/26/2025 at 8:07 PM, OldUser said:

I'd start with filing a FOIA to figure out what exactly happened.

 

I doubt there is an easy way to clean this up. If she's flagged, she's flagged. Maybe she's eligible to apply for redress number. Maybe it won't be a problem when she becomes a citizen. 

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I think FOIA wouldn't hurt either.

[TBoneTX 46,675]

  On 3/27/2025 at 3:40 PM, Dashinka said:

To get to the CBP office we got to go through a secret entrance reminiscent of Maxwell Smart.

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I had one secure door into the neat office at the very nice Brownsville Airport.  Such clean duty the two agents had.

But back to the OP's topic now.