Overstaying a tourist visa in Chile, any other penalties despite a small fine?

12/13/2016 3:08:58 AM

Besides Tom’s great answer, there are two more reasons.

First is that overstay laws can change, and might introduce much harsher penalties. For example, a fine might increase 100x, or jail time may be introduced. Those changes might be implemented very quickly in certain political situations (i.e. “terrorism”), and you might not be able to leave quickly enough to escape them. Or the procedure of paying fine may change, suddenly making it very inconvenient (for example forcing you to go to your port of entry to pay the fine). Latter is especially true when collection of overstay fines is regulated by some ministry, as those regulations can change overnight and you might not even know about those changes until you appear at the airport.

Another reason is that once you overstay, you’re usually breaking the law of the country. This means if for any reasons law enforcement stops you, and checks your paperwork (or you’re a victim of a crime and go to the police), they may detain you, and eventually deport you. Whether this would really happen depends on the country and the area, but those things are volatile. Thus even if the country law enforcement historically was lax toward overstayers, an act of terrorism, unrest in neighbor country or regime change may change this overnight.

12/9/2016 12:31:03 PM

Let’s say money is the only factor here, and then indeed, you may be fine with it. That’s still a bit of cash for others.

However, if anything eventuates that you need a clean record for – remember, they’ll have a record of this. You want a permanent visa? Odds are that’s a black mark against your application. Background check? Another issue.

Further to that, if it’s on your international record (many countries share information) you are often asked in other countries if you’ve ever overstayed. Assuming you’re answering honestly, you’re going to have more trouble. Then if they have the info from Chile anyway, and you lie, there are even bigger problems as you’ve now lied on an official form.

So yes, it might be just a little bit of money, but the long term impacts might be greater than you can foresee from your situation now :/

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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