Dozens of Scotland fans say their US travel authorizations were changed this week from approved to “travel not authorised,” putting trips to Boston, Miami and other World Cup plans at risk just days before they were due to fly. Among them is Scott Braid, who was due to leave Kirkcaldy for Boston on 12 June with his wife and two children.
For UK citizens, an ESTA is normally the standard way to enter the United States for up to 90 days without a visa, which is why the changes have landed so hard. Braid said he got an email on Tuesday telling him there had been an update on his status, then watched it move from approved to pending and, two hours later, to “travel not authorised.” He had travelled to America in 2023 without any issues, and said his previous ESTA expired in 2024.
“Out of the blue on Tuesday, I got an email that said there's been an update on your ESTA status,” Braid said. “Since I've done that ESTA there's been absolutely no changes to my circumstances,” he added, before saying: “That's the frustrating thing, not knowing why this has happened.” He said he is trying to secure a visa appointment in Belfast next week and hopes to join his family part-way through the trip.
Andrew and Nelson Speirs, also from Kirkcaldy, were hit in the same way. Nelson Speirs said he and Andrew applied on 14 December and were approved the next day, only for the status to be updated on 3 June to say they were not allowed to travel. The brothers had been planning a Miami trip for Andrew’s 40th birthday celebrations, and Nelson said the holiday would have cost £10,000.
The timing has left the brothers with very little room to manoeuvre. They have an appointment at the US consulate in Belfast on 11 June, and Nelson Speirs said the change came too close to their departure date to easily fix. “It's not given us very much time to do anything about it,” he said. He also said the decision felt unfair, adding that they did not book anything until they were authorised.
The unexplained status shifts have left fans searching for answers less than two weeks before Scotland’s first World Cup game. The brothers showed screenshots from the ESTA website that appeared to show their applications were approved before later being updated, but no explanation has been given for why the approvals were withdrawn. For the fans caught in the middle, the question now is whether a visa appointment in Belfast will come soon enough to salvage trips already paid for.
