What are the penalties for overstaying the duration of the visitors visa in the U.S.?
There are many variations and penalties depending upon the circumstances. If a person has a visitors visa and then overstays by 180 days and then leaves voluntarily there is a three year bar to coming back. If you overstay a whole year and then leave voluntarily there is a ten year bar. Persons who are out of status and wish to apply for permanent status cannot complete their cases without leaving unless a petition or labor certification was filed for them before January 14, 1998. (There are certain exceptions, such as persons applying for green card based on marriage to a U.S. citizen.) Apart from the consequences indicated above, there is also the possibility of being apprehended and being placed in removal proceedings or actually being removed from the United States involuntarily. So the penalties that apply do depend on the circumstances. ALIENS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT (INA 212(a)(9)(B)) (i) IN GENERAL. Any alien (other than an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence) WHO (I) wa
