Can someone explain ESTA to me for possible US trip?

Good point... yeah, it does.

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You would need to formally renounce US citizenship, then, to avoid traveling on a US passport to the US. And then you'd need to carry around the paperwork proving you did so.

You would need to formally renounce US citizenship, then, to avoid traveling on a US passport to the US. And then you'd need to carry around the paperwork proving you did so.

Plus, it costs $450 to renounce your US citizenship... and it means you will lose your right to live or work in the US unless you can qualify for a visa to move back.

Is it worth all that just for the sake of not wanting to renew your US passport?

I guess I just don't understand why you would not want to renew your passport... it's not like not having a valid US passport makes you any less of a US citizen.

Even without a passport, you just have tax obligations to the US, you still have a right to live and work there... but if you don't renew your passport, then you will be a US citizen who is not allowed to enter the US!

Believe me, if i had a spare $450, I would not hesitate to renounce. 

It's not just a reluctance to renew my US passport, although I don't have the money for that either.  Luckily, I don't need to go to the US anytime soon (I hope)... it was just kind of a 'what if?' question.

It's more a matter of my feelings toward the US being deeply negative.   I have lived in the UK for more than half my life, and do 'feel' more British than American. And this 'hold' that the US has over its citizens (some reluctant) living abroad really makes me angry.

Anyway, thanks for answering my question. 

If you decide not to do the ESTA, it might be worth it to take along a printout of the US Customs & Border Protection page where it says Canadians don't need an ESTA.    Just to be on the safe side. 

That's not a bad idea, if I am feeling cheap. 

Anyone know where I can find an official US State link? The website does not seem user-friendly to me. 

Otherwise, only using my British passport and forking out the money may be the smoother, but more expressive option.

So my options are:

1. ESTA for both of us, as Brits, and only use UK passport (for me)
2. ESTA for Mr MLG and booking the flight for me, as a Canadian, and bringing my UK passport to re-enter the UK only.

Is that right?

2.a. With the non-ESTA information, if booking with my Canadian passport.

One last question, I guess I still can't get a Right of Abode sticker, as I would prefer, in my Canadian passport, as I am eligible for and have a current UK passport? That was so much easier before, as travel to NA only required my Canadian passport with RoA.       

And when my British passport expires, can I apply for RoA in my Canadian passport and then renew my British one, or is that a no-go?

That's not a bad idea, if I am feeling cheap. 

Anyone know where I can find an official US State link? The website does not seem user-friendly to me. 

No shame in being cheap.    As long as you're not cutting corners or doing something illegal (which you're not).

Here's the link about Canadians and ESTAs:
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1094/~/do-i-need-to-apply-for-esta

And when my British passport expires, can I apply for RoA in my Canadian passport and then renew my British one, or is that a no-go?

I am afraid you can only have one or the other at any one time. I believe that when your British passport expires, you can choose to apply for a certificate of entitlement to Right of Abode in your Canadian passport (as I have just done), but you cannot get one as long as you have a valid British passport.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/nationality/guide_roa.pdf

Just because RoA does not come up here very often, one technical point: A certificate of entitlement to RoA can expire (with the expiry date of the passport it is in), but RoA itself never expires. If you are a British citizen or otherwise have RoA, it is a right. You have to apply and pay a fee (of course) for a certificate to prove it, just as you would for a passport, but you always have it.

So when my British passport expires, I can apply for RoA in my Canadian passport? And just not bother with my UK passport, unless we ever move within the EU?

I thought if you were eligible for a British passport, you can now no longer ever get RoA in your other passport and the rules now seem to imply this.

Anyone have a more formal reading on this?   

The Home Office wording is:

"We will check with the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to see if their records show that you hold a
passport. If IPS records show that you hold a current UK passport, describing you as a British citizen or
as a British subject with the right of abode in the United Kingdom, we will not issue a certificate of
entitlement. This is because Regulations do not allow a person to hold both a passport and a certificate
of entitlement to the right of abode. If you have lost your British passport you should therefore notify
the IPS so that their records can be updated. Until you notify IPS of the loss of your passport an
application for a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode may be refused, as records will show
that you are the holder of a British citizen or British subject passport."

To me, this means that you can hold either a British passport or a certificate to the RoA in a different passport. I will let you know if I am successful in getting the RoA in my Canadian passport. Like most people with the RoA, I am certainly eligible for a British passport--I just don't want one.

My update for mapleleafgirl72/anyone else who was thinking of applying for a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode:

I sent off my passport and the evidence of my RoA (British naturalization certificate) 3 weeks ago Thursday (oh, and the fee of course). Yesterday I got my documents back in the mail. The passport is now endorsed with the CoE to RoA. The explanatory letter states that this is means I am "now free from UK immigration control, does not need to obtain leave from an immigration officer to enter the UK and may live and work here without restriction. When returning to the UK at a seaport or airport where passengers go through immigration control in separate channels, the holder may use the channel marked 'British/E.U. Passports'."

I just wanted to let anyone know who would, for whatever reasons, prefer to prove your RoA by something in your non-British passport, that this is an alternative to a British passport. It costs more than a passport but that was not the issue for me. It took 3 weeks, did not require an interview, did not require any references, and did not require me to send in any other passports other than the one I was getting endorsed, obviously. It was by far the simplest, quickest, and most painless process I have ever gone through with the HO, and the only one that made me feel validated rather than angry and drained.

Does your British passport list your birthplace in the US? That's a big giveaway for US border control. Boris Johnson had a fairly famous altercation because of his US birthplace (even though he's been a dual all his life--one of those "accidental Americans") he still needed to travel on a US passport to the US.

If I remember correctly it was the airline that stopped him, not US border agents. He hadn't left the UK at that point. It's hard to say what the US border agents in the US would have said to him, but the airline was trying to not get fined.

My update for mapleleafgirl72/anyone else who was thinking of applying for a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode:

I sent off my passport and the evidence of my RoA (British naturalization certificate) 3 weeks ago Thursday (oh, and the fee of course). Yesterday I got my documents back in the mail. The passport is now endorsed with the CoE to RoA. The explanatory letter states that this is means I am "now free from UK immigration control, does not need to obtain leave from an immigration officer to enter the UK and may live and work here without restriction. When returning to the UK at a seaport or airport where passengers go through immigration control in separate channels, the holder may use the channel marked 'British/E.U. Passports'."

I just wanted to let anyone know who would, for whatever reasons, prefer to prove your RoA by something in your non-British passport, that this is an alternative to a British passport. It costs more than a passport but that was not the issue for me. It took 3 weeks, did not require an interview, did not require any references, and did not require me to send in any other passports other than the one I was getting endorsed, obviously. It was by far the simplest, quickest, and most painless process I have ever gone through with the HO, and the only one that made me feel validated rather than angry and drained.

Thanks for the update.

So it looks like the option is RoA in my Canadian passport, only when my British passport expires, at twice the expense. Pluses and minuses to RoA versus the British passport, but I miss the days when you could have both. They kinda serve different functions for me and I am not too keen on travelling with 2 passports when I go to North America.     

I also prefer to carry the fewest passports. I understand that a British passport would obviously be more desirable if I wanted to live and work in another E. U. country, for example. For me, the sole reason to get the right of abode was to finally be free of control by the HO, and getting the certificate in my foreign passport allows me still to identify as, well, foreign 

Whichever you decide, I hope your experience is as simple and painless as mine!

I have a question about ESTAs too!! I'm USC living in the UK on ILR with my husband (UKC) and have been for 3 years. I'm going back to the US in 3 weeks for the first time since I've moved. My husband applied for and received his ESTA - but do I need to apply for one as well? I feel really thick asking, but it can get so confusing :/ I would be travelling on my US passport, which is in my maiden name with my resident card and expired marriage certificate inside (all in my maiden name, travel plans also made in my maiden name).

Any help is appreciated

You don't need to do an ESTA if you are travelling on a US passport.