Can I go back to the US if they think I’m still there?

Simon Calder quizzed on Esta issue, crystal-blue Christmas in the Galapagos and a lack of board in Singapore

Hawaii’s famous Waikiki Beach is so beautiful, you may never want to leave (Getty/iStock)

Q Earlier this year we were on an extensive cruise with multiple calls in the US. We each had a valid Esta and were checked into the US in New York. After going through the Caribbean and Panama Canal, we were checked in again in San Francisco. We then sailed to Hawaii and onwards to Australia, but our Esta history doesn’t provide proof of having left the US. In April I received an email from the Department of Homeland Security stating my time in the States was coming to an end. This is particularly alarming since we are due to travel to the US again in September. Any thoughts?

Mark M

A Your cruise sounds excellent, and it is regrettable that, through no fault of your own, you have been left with this bureaucratic burden. Like the UK, the US has no formal exit controls for travellers departing on international journeys. Instead, it relies on carriers – usually airlines but also cruise lines – to inform them when travellers have left. As the email from the Department of Homeland Security indicates, the authorities think you are still in the US. (I speculate that many other passengers may be in the same position.) Frustratingly, it is difficult to untangle a problem not of your making. It appears to be due to a cruise line not supplying an “outbound passenger manifest” with your name on it.