Overstay person leaving USA....

[enjoylife]

Friend of mine has overstayed his visa by over 2 years. His passport may expire soon too. He plans to leave US permanently and never return. Is there any thing special he will have to do? Will the airline let him travel if his passport is expired and is returning to his home country? Will INS ask or create problems? He still has his original I-94 that he will surrender while leaving.

[rocky7]

You cannot travel on a expired passport! Overstay and you are SCREWED!!!!!! He will also not to tell the embassy in his home country that he overstayed.

[rocky7]

He will also need to info the US embassy in his country of his overstay.

[vrajbhumi]

Friend of mine has overstayed his visa by over 2 years. His passport may expire soon too. He plans to leave US permanently and never return. Is there any thing special he will have to do? Will the airline let him travel if his passport is expired and is returning to his home country? Will INS ask or create problems? He still has his original I-94 that he will surrender while leaving.

As far as I know, he should have no problems leaving the US, except that INS may put a stamp on his passport debarring his entry for a certain period as per the law. Keep the home country embassy/consulate informed about the travel plans. You can even call the airline to check what happens in this case, and in that matter, as he has already decided not to come back, why not call the INS itself to check? But in all matters keep the home country embassy/consulate posted on the developments. In case something goes wrong, they are the ones who will get you out of trouble.

[hadron]

Ok, I don't have any personal experience with this issue, but from the little I know most of the advice in the previous replies sounds pretty confusing and probably incorrect.

- there is not 'exit control' by the USCIS when you leave the US. Usually you turn in your I94 to the airline (which gets scanned or filed away), and that's it. If you have 'lost' you I94, the airline won't care.

- I don't know about your friends homecountry but: one of the main functions of my home countries consulate is to renew passports for their expatriates. He might want to go to his consulate, get a new passport (or in some cases an extension stamp).

- He will need a valid passport in order to travel towards his homecountry, mainly if he has to stop along the way. (his homecountry usually will accept him with an expired passport. It is not like he lost his citizenship or something.)

- He might need a transit visa if the plane lands in a third country on the way home. This is what the airline cares about, that they don't have to fly you back from e.g. Frankfurt or Amsterdam bc. you are not allowed to leave the plane there.

- Unless he is in removal proceedings, he is not required to tell USCIS, the consulate in his homecountry or anybody else for that matter that he is leaving.

Now some illegal advice from me :

--- begin dangerous illegal advice ----
- If he leaves by air, he will leave a paper-trail. If he leaves by car or canoe, he won't leave a paper trail if he doesn't turn in his I94. If he never had a run-in with US immigration authorities while in the US (e.g. a 'notice to appear'), they don't even know he overstayed his visa. It is a well known fact, that the I94 system has gigantic holes with about 1/3 of I94s never beeing scanned in. This is the reason they want to start the US-VISIT system, to actually keep track of who leaves the country and who doesn't.

The reason I am bringing this up: If USCIS never finds out he overstayed, he might be able to re-enter on a visa as if nothing happened (it would require lying about your bio on the visa application....)
--- end of dangerous illegal advice ---

[rocky7]

True, we do not have exit control yet. Remember if you lie and you get caught you will be charged with fraud and you will be banned from the USA for 5 years. We have other ways of checking when you departed from the USA.

[hadron]

rocky:
Looks like you have a hidden agenda here. I am not sure what motivation you have to give this sort of false advice here.

[labordrags]

I dont think your friend will have any problem at the port-of-exit. The airlines just verifies the person bearing the passport is the right one, not too sure about the expired one. I am sure he will not face any issues even he doesn't have his I-94, you can say its lost. But if he is going back to India, may be Indian Immigration will create a little fuss about the overstay part, meaing if you can feed them with few indian grant, he will keep it low and let him go without any incident. I dont think he needs transit visa, if he wants to remain inside the airport. If I were you, once I go back home, I will try to forget that America even exists. No ties, no boundries.

[hadron]

I don't think everyone here is from india.

But anyway, why would indian immigration care about someone overstaying a visa to another country ?

[labordrags]

I have no way to determine who is from India or no.

They should not bother wheather or not someone is coming from overstaying in other countries, but they showed some interest as they are good in making few bucks out from you.

[rocky7]

I am a CBP officer. Once a person overstays a visa that visa is cancelled. You will need to get a new visa, but if you lie on your appl. for a new visa then that visa is not valid. If you are arriving at a port of entry and you lie about your overstay, you will every likely be processed for ER and that will have a ban of 5 years from entering the USA. Also, I do not see any US Embassy giving you a new visa after you have been charged with fraud.
I know what I am talking about. I am here to assist people. There are way to get around the system sure, but if you get caught you will be in a bad situation. Best to be honest. You will be shock to know that alot of question asked by CBP officers in secondary are question they already know the answer too. This is to see if you are honest and forthcoming in your answers.

[enjoylife]

Thanks for your input folks. My concern is will airline let him board the plane on an expired passport? Once he is on the plane he will make it to his home country. He does not plan to stop any where so he will not need a transit visa.

Also some of you recommended to keep the embassy/consulate informed. I am not sure which one you are talking about. Are you refering to the embassy/consulate of his home country in the US or the embassy of USA in his home country.
Thank you.

[enjoylife]

Rocky7 whats a CBP officer?

[az_vdub]

CBP = US Customs and Border Protection, a bureau under DHS, like USCIS.

http://www.cbp.gov/

[hadron]

If rocky7 is indeed a border patrol officer, it can only mean that they have done away with the requirement that their officers need a basic command of the english language. Classics like:

> He will also not to tell the embassy in his home country that he
> overstayed.

or

> You will be shock to know that alot of question asked by CBP
> officers in secondary are question they already know the answer too.

as well as the fact that most of the information he dissipates here is patently false tells me that he is just another sucker trying to pass himself off as important.

[kartheg2]

I have been reading several postings of Rocky7 & its obvious from his/her bad & broken English skills that he/she is from another country. Definately not from India. His/her conversational style English tells me he/she is of a low educated person who acquired the skill from conversations.

He seems to be a sociopathic & takes pleasure in intimidation.

The fact that he/she has so many wrong answers to very simple questions is evidence that he/she is not any kind of CBP officer. His lack of written English skills could not possibly get him/her a job as a CBP officer. Rocky7 was proabably a victim him/herself.

I guess in every group there is bound to be some imposter lurking around looking for victims !.