Ssshhh!
I've fallen foul of the rules introduced under the Obama administration. I hope to visit the US (of A) this year to spend time with some friends. I made my travel plans, bought my airline tickets and then decided to complete the hitherto trivial task of getting an ESTA. A mere formality.
It was then I found out that my tourist trip to "Discover Persia" a couple of years ago (where I discovered Persia is in Iran) would deny me an ESTA and require me to stump up £130 for a visa. My visa application also requires me to make a long trip darn sarf to London and pop into the US Embassy for a friendly chat. I thought I'd select a late appointment for my interview, to avoid an overnight stay or getting up at the craic of dorn, but the latest time offered is 10:30am.
All these new requirements for phone numbers, e-mail accounts, etc., came into force while my DS-160 is already undergoing the process of being sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat and recycled as firelighters, so I'm unsure what impact they might have on my application.
Meanwhile, president Trump is visiting the UK so I'm keeping schtum about that on my social media account - even though I think he's a lovely man and wouldn't have a bad word said about him. So there!
(Anonymous because I've already paid for my flights)