US Immigration: 7,408 Nigerians Overstayed Their Visas In 2015

Under pressure from the US Congress to improve tracking of foreign visitors, the Department of Homeland Security has produced its first partial estimate of those who overstay their permits to be in the United States of America.

Expected departures for Nigerian citizens in 2015 stood at 183, 907, with 7,408 visitors overstaying their visas, while 627 people left the US in 2015 after expiration of their permit.

6,781 Nigerians have overstayed their visas and refused to leave after their visit in 2015.

The report released in January showed the nation with the most visitors who failed to leave at the end of their authorized stay was Canada, followed by Mexico and Brazil, according to the report.

The Entry/Exit Overstay Report was limited to foreigners whose permission to be in the U.S. expired during the 2015 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

It examined admissions for business or pleasure by air or sea, which were 85% of arrivals with visitor permits that expired in fiscal 2015.

The report indicates that the number of foreign visitors who overstay dwindles over time. In all, the report said that out of the 45 million arrivals who were supposed to depart in fiscal 2015, about 527,000 remained in the country after their permission to stay expired. 

The US Congress has required the government to improve its tracking of foreign visitors who overstayed their deadline to leave with the interest increasing after five of the Sept. 11, 2001, plane hijackers turned out to be foreigners on expired visas.

According to Immigration lawyers, staying past the expected departure date on your U.S. visa can carry some serious consequences. For example, your visa will be automatically voided, and you won’t be able to apply for a new visa at any consulate outside of your home country.

In some cases, you may be barred from returning to the U.S. for a number of years,  from 3-10 years, depending on how long you stayed and whether you fit into an exception or actually accrued “unlawful presence,” which is a separate definition under the law.

Source: Leadership