Aussie couple forced to cancel $12,000 Princess cruise after they were bizarrely banned from the US

• A Perth couple were forced to cancel their cruise due to an ESTA issue.
• The couple had boarded their cruise from Sydney and had not been to America since 2016.
• The system had showed the couple had been in the US for more than 100 days.

Perth retirees Wayne and Carol Burley were denied entry into America which were resulted in a ruined holiday and tens of thousands of dollars wasted.

The couple had just started a long cruise ship around Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, Hawaii and North America.

But when the Princess ship docked in Hawaii, they were pulled aside when an error in the American immigration system falsley displayed that the couple had been in the USA for more than 100 days.

Wayne told 9 News: “They looked at our ESTAs and took our passports and one of them said, ‘Come with us’

“We were told to sit down and a senior officer started asking us questions.”

Immigration agents told the couple they had breached the conditions of their ESTA, the United States visa waiver that Australians have access to.

“He said, ‘You have overstayed in the USA by more than 100 days’.”

The couple was beyond confused, given that they had last been in the country in 2016, around nine years ago. 

However, immigration claimed the records showed that the couple had never left the USA, and the only explanation offered was that “sometimes our systems don’t match up”.

The couple was told they could instead apply for a B2 visitor visa and fees would be waived. However, if they were to take this option, they were told they wouldn’t be allowed to leave and re-enter the US.

Wayne said: “We were told if we tried to do that, we’d be detained.”

This meant that they had to cancel the next leg of their trip, a cruise from Los Angeles to Panama. This cancellation left the couple $12,000 out of pocket. 

The immigration agent apparently told them it was unlikely they’d ever be allowed in the USA again. 

The couple reluctantly had to head back to Australia. After some difficult back and forth they eventually managed to convince their travel insurance to cover the $12,000, however, their worries are far from over.

The couple are keen travellers but now aren’t sure if they’ll ever be able to visit the USA again, which can be particularly problematic for cruisers as it’s generally the getaway for a lot of Caribbean and South American cruises. 

However, the couple is worried that they’ll be detained if they return.

The couple are working with the Australian Department of Home Affairs to solve the issue, and hopefully will be able to travel freely again in the future.