A crucial but often overlooked contributor to the illegal immigrant community within the United States is the inordinate number of expired visa holders who stay back instead of exiting the country. According to a report released by the Department of Homeland Security, nearly 740,000 foreigners have overstayed their visa period during a 12-month time-frame between October 2015 to September 2016. Indians constituted over 30,000 of these violators.
In 2016 alone, over 1 million Indians visitors came to the US on business or for tourism purposes and of these, 17,763 overstayed in the country beyond their visa dates. It is noted within the report that a little over 6, 000 Indians did leave after the expiration of their visas.
FY 2016 Overstay rates for nonimmigrants admitted to the United States for business or pleasure via air and sea POEs for non-VWP Countries below –
| Country of Citizenship | Expected Departures | Out-of- Country Overstays | Suspected In-Country Overstays | Total Overstays | Total Overstay Rate | Suspected In-Country Overstay Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INDIA | 1,004,245 | 2,040 | 15,723 | 17,763 | 1.77% | 1.57% |
The student and exchange visitors topped the category list with some countries averaging an overstay by 20%. 79,818 stayed beyond their authorized window for departure, resulting in a 5.48% overstay rate. Of the 79,818, 40,949 are suspected in-country overstays which accounts for 2.81%. The Indian share of these student-numbers are just as staggering wherein out of the 9,897 students or exchange scholars who were expected to depart by the end of the year, 4,575 Indian students overstayed their legal period. 3,014 are yet to leave while 1,561 students managed to depart, albeit only after their visa expired.
FY 2016 Overstay rates for nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors (F, M, J) admitted to the United States via air and sea POEs below –
| Country of Citizenship | Expected Departures | Out-of- Country Overstays | Suspected In-Country Overstays | Total Overstays | Total Overstay Rate | Suspected In-Country Overstay Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INDIA | 98, 970 | 1,561 | 3,014 | 4,575 | 4.62% | 3.05% |
While Canada topped the list of business travelers who overstayed, Germany, Colombia, China, India and Italy rounded out the top ten. These numbers are astounding given that there is a hawk-eyed scrutiny of illegal immigrants by the Trump administration. With 1.5% of the 50.4 million visitors accounting for overstays, the new leadership will continue its aggressive focus on keeping illegal immigrants out of the borders.
Staying beyond the time permitted on your non-immigrant visa is a violation of the US immigration laws and carries several penalties with it including permanent revocation. For ways to extend your visitor’s visa in accordance with the law requirements you may follow the procedures at USA Visitor Visa Extension.
View the entire report as published by the Department of Homeland Security at dhs.gov.
