How would the INS find out about a visa overstay?
I see all kinds of guidance on various travel resources about visa overstays, penalties, forgiveness, excemptions, blah, blah.
However, none of the resources that I have seen ever say how the INS would find out about an overstay. I mean they can make all kinds of threats about penalties, but it is moot if the INS never has any way to find out.
As far as I understand it a record is only created when a traveler ENTERS the United States, not when the traveler leaves. When the traveler leaves, they just get on the plane and leave. There is no customs, no immigration check, no nothing. So if there is no record being created of the departure, it would seem to be impossible for INS to ever know about, much less prove a visa overstay. Am I missing something here?
Best Answer
Yes you miss something. The airline has to inform the authorities that you are on the plane and leaving.
If you leave via a land border or by boat your departure may also be recorded, if not in all cases.
If there is no record of you leaving, they may assume you are still in the country.
It has happened to many people that they tried to enter the USA or to get a visa or ESTA and were told they had overstayed while they had left but that record got lost.
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How does the US know if you overstay?
Travel Records It's pretty easy for foreigners in the U.S. to know if they've overstayed their visas. All they need to do is look at their I-94 arrival and departure cards, which clearly state how long they can stay.What happens if someone overstays their visa in the US?
If you have more than 180 days of unlawful presence, meaning you overstayed your visa by 181 days or more, you will be barred from returning to the United States for a certain amount of time. If you were unlawfully present for between 180 and 365 days, you will be barred from entering the United States for three years.How do they know if you overstay your visa UK?
Overstaying can result in a blemished immigration record, impacting any future UK immigration applications. The Home Office does not remind individuals of their visa expiry date. If you are unsure if you have overstayed, you should check your biometric residence permit or look for a stamp or sticker in your passport.Can my US visa overstay be forgiven?
Can my U.S. visa overstay be forgiven? Yes, there are cases where the government will forgive your visa overstay, and you can obtain a waiver.What is a Visa Overstay? Consequences and Solutions to Over staying a Visa
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Answer 2
As an addition to @Willeke's answer, there's a more generic question of "how do overstayers get caught". And the real answer is that a lot of times they aren't caught. Tens of millions of people around the world are in dubious immigration status and no authority is capable of identifying them all. Even China has illegal immigrants despite their extensive surveillance capacities. In which situations do immigration authorities end up finding overstayers then?
- When trying to leave and come back. As mentioned by @Willeke, if they don't have a record of you leaving they might just assume you've overstayed and refuse to let you in. Or in the case of countries with exit immigration, you'll receive an entry ban when departing the country. Living undercover isn't a pleasant experience so most of the time people will just end up going back home eventually.
- They eventually legalize their stay. I.e. three million people got their US immigration status sorted out during the 1986 amnesty. In the UK you can apply to regularize your status if you manage to stay illegally for 20 years.
- Someone reports them, usually a former friend or partner. You break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend, they get upset at you, and call the immigration services to report you.
- Via raids on known locations of visa overstayers. It happens periodically in the US though the vast majority of illegal immigrants will never see one.
And finally... some might never get caught. I'm sure there's millions of people who entered the US (perhaps not even via an official inspection point), stayed there for a few years, went back and CBP is still none the wiser. Just like there's people who got away with theft, tax evasion, sale of illegal narcotics, smuggling of goods, etc. But you'll still be better off if you follow all the immigration rules, even if there's a chance you could get away with it.
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