How does the US know if someone has overstayed?
How does the US know whether you have overstayed your tourist visa without having an exit stamp on your passport? How is it really calculated?
Best Answer
The US uses what they call a "biographical entry/exit system," which means that your biographical data (passport information) is tracked to determine when visitors enter and exit the country.
Entrance data is collected by immigration officers at points of entry, but as you note, the US has no exit controls, so where do they get exit data? Generally from airlines and the Canadian and Mexican authorities. The system is not perfect: there are some ways in which people leaving through Mexico aren't properly tracked, and sometimes there are data mismatches when people enter and exit on different passports.
Sometimes, if the system has gone wrong, the US will accuse you of overstaying when you haven't. In this case, you will want to carry proof that you did depart on time: plane tickets, passport stamps from other countries (you can always request a stamp from Canadian or Mexican officials), etc...
If you think that your arrival/departure records may be incorrect, you can check them online at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94.
Pictures about "How does the US know if someone has overstayed?"
Does the US know when you leave the country?
Yes, they almost certainly do know you've left. The US processes passport details for all air passengers through a system called APIS, and ties that to the electronic I-94 (arrival and departure record). You can check your US arrival and departure history online.What happens if you overstay your time in USA?
If you overstay by one year or more, after you depart the U.S., you will be barred from reentering the U.S. for ten years. This is because unlawful presence is one of the many U.S. grounds of inadmissibility, with built-in penalties.Can I come back to the US if I overstayed?
Before that, people who overstayed their status could leave the United States, apply for an appropriate visa, and return. Nowadays, unlawful presence counts the days of unauthorized stay, either after a status expires, or after an entry without inspection.What to do if you have overstayed your visa in USA?
You can apply to become a green card holder from inside the United States (known as an adjustment of status) or abroad (through consular processing). As discussed earlier, if you have any unlawful status and leave the United States, you will have to get a new visa, and you will face a bar upon your return.What is a Visa Overstay? Consequences and Solutions to Over staying a Visa
More answers regarding how does the US know if someone has overstayed?
Answer 2
The airlines will tell them.
Remember in the good old days of the green I-94W forms (this might actually still happen today for some countries?), they used to staple a part of the form in your passport? The check-in agent was then supposed to collect that part of the form, and it was supposed to be used by INS to check for overstayers (and more), though it probably wasn't always very accurate.
Nowadays this is just sent directly from the airlines computer systems. Whether it actually works is another matter.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Taylor Hunt, Daniel Alvarado, Roberto Nickson, Intricate Explorer