Overstayed in Germany by a day, applying to work at US university

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Your decision on how to proceed here (reveal or not reveal what happened in Germany) carries significant risk. If you do not reveal what happened in Germany, and whoever’s looking at your denial discovers that you’ve not been truthful, you risk having your employment offer rescinded and your visa application denied.

The prospective employer might not care enough to investigate a “no” answer. Even if they did investigate, their access to past immigration records of another country might be spotty or non-existent. The chances of being caught out here are unknown. But if you were caught out, you'd be seen to have lied on your application, which is unlikely to go over well.

You also need a US visa for this job. This increases the stakes substantially, as the US State Department visa examiner will look at both the substance of what you say in your application, as well any conflicts or differences between what you say in the application and what’s shown on other governmental records available to the examiner.

The visa examiner has significantly greater and easer investigative reach than the university. The US is party to significant international immigration information-sharing through the Five Eyes agreements. Australia is a member too. It’s reasonable to assume that the US State Department visa examiner will want to know whatever Australia knows about you. It’s also reasonable to assume that Germany, knowing your name and passport number, reported its actions to the Australian Passport Office, of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

If the Passport Office reports a German violation to the US State Department, and your visa application omits mentioning the issue, then you’ll be caught lying on your visa application. Your application will be denied.

On the other hand, if you answer truthfully, you will have a better chance that the violation will be seen as inconsequential, and ignored. Your overstay was short and the result of miscalculation, an inadvertence. People (including those who travel) err. This should not be seen by anyone as a serious and disqualifying misstep.

Thus, the consistent advice given on this site: answer all the questions truthfully. You don’t have to answer questions not asked, but explain as necessary. Your statements should be clear, concise, and without emotion.

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