ESTA overstay and future visits to the US

Upvote:8

You likely can't claim the border guard seeing it, as people do all sorts of things with fancy flights and it's up to the traveller to ensure they're doing the right thing. You could have had a return from Australia to Los Angeles, then inbetween flown to South America and back, and wouldn't have overstayed, so it's not on the border guard to check this.

As for being allowed to leave - yes, there's no exit immigration check in the US. They're unlikely to fuss or cause you problems. However, getting back in will be difficult.

From visapro:

Some of the consequences of overstaying a visa are:

  • Overstays may be barred from returning to the US for ten years or three years depending on the period of overstay
  • Overstays may be further restricted from Extension of Stay or Change of Status
  • Overstaying will void your existing visa
  • Overstays generally are unable to obtain a new visa except in their country of nationality
  • Overstays may not be able to Adjust Status in the U.S.

In addition, let's say you accidentally cause a crime in the US. Traffic accident. Involved in a robbery. You're an illegal alien at this point, and that'd likely lead to further issues. Your insurance will be void.

However, don't think that the lack of exit immigration will let you 'sneak' out - they'll still track your entry/exit flights and know when you depart. So it'll still be recorded as overstaying. Many many examples are easy to find with googling eg ' how do they know?'.

So yes, you could do these extra few days and hope all is good. Or you could apply for an emergency extension at an embassy/consulate (don't know how long this might take). Or you could, and unfortunately probably should change your plans.

Note - hopping across to Canada/Mexico won't reset your 90 days either, sorry :/

Upvote:14

As Mark Mayo says, there are no physical exit checks in the US. Nothing will stop you from leaving.

You will have no ban. A 3-year ban is only triggered after accruing 180 days of "unlawful presence" and then leaving.

However, overstaying will cause you to not be able to use VWP in the future, which means you will have to apply for visas to visit. And the overstay may be factored into whether they grant you visas.

Changing your flight or buying another flight that leaves before the VWP is up is your best option. It's not possible to apply for extension of stay for people on VWP. In a real emergency situation, it's possible for people on VWP to get something called "Satisfactory Departure", but your situation doesn't sound like something that applies.

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