Why don’t some countries (notably USA) have exit immigration?
Of the countries I’ve travelled to, the USA seems fairly unique in not having exit immigration checks or exit stamps on passports. (Thanks commenters for noting some others)
What’s the history behind this? Doesn’t not having exit controls make catching criminals or overstayers so much more difficult? Or following the null hypothesis, why have exit controls in the majority of other countries?
Best Answer
Historically, it hasn't been needed as the US doesn't need to stop people from leaving. Unlike some other countries, the US doesn't fine or imprison overstayers, so there's no reason to stop an overstayer from leaving (the penalty for an overstayer caught in the US is deportation, and if they're leaving they're already doing the same thing) as long as the US knows that they've overstayed so they can take it into account the next time the person comes to the US. (But even if the US doesn't know when exactly a person left, when in doubt, the burden is on the person to prove they left on time.)
And the other main reason is that it's very expensive to implement it now. At land border crossings, implementing exit checks means having to double the manpower and infrastructure at all border crossings (currently there is only facilities on the entering side; they will need to have it on both the entering and leaving side), which is very expensive given the volume of traffic across land borders.
At airports, it also requires re-configuring airports because having exit checks means that there must be an "international waiting area" for people who have passed exit checks that is separate from the domestic waiting area, but many airports currently use the same gates for both domestic and international departures. And it requires finding the space to house the exit checks (whereas right now all departing passengers have to go through is security checks); having to add immigration exit checks in addition to security checks would require a lot more space that might be difficult to find in some airport terminals.
So basically it is a ton of additional cost, for unclear benefit.
Pictures about "Why don’t some countries (notably USA) have exit immigration?"
Do you go through immigration when leaving US?
As there is no specific CBP interview or check by any customs officers as part of the exit process, no one will put an US Exit stamp on your passport. Your passport will only have the entry stamp from Port of Entry, that's about it. No US exit immigration stamp !Is it illegal to leave a country?
According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country".Why do other countries require visa before entering their territories?
Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a territory and thus are, in most countries, distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country.Why do I get sent to secondary inspection US citizen?
Anyone, including US citizens, may be sent to secondary inspection if the CBP officer has reservations about admitting them. Secondary inspection is a more detailed inspection to determine whether you should be admitted to the US.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Lara Jameson, Pixabay, Charles Parker, Uriel Mont