740,000 Foreign Visitors Stayed Illegally in Fiscal Year 2016

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its FY 2016 overstay report revealing that 739,478 foreigners who were admitted for temporary stays and were required to depart during the year failed to do so. This was the second overstay report, and it provided more data than the 2015 report although it still does not include overstay data related to travelers arriving by land from Canada or Mexico. The number of overstayers represented about 1.5 percent of all foreign travelers.

The report divides the travelers into several categories:

Category	Due to Leave	Non-Departure Rate
– Visa waiver countries	21.6 million	0.60%
– Other tourist or business	13.8 million	1.90%
– Canada & Mexico by air	12.1 million	1.30%
– Long-term (e.g. students)	1.5 million	2.80%
– Others	1.4 million	2.10%

 

These data indicate that the short-term visitors from mostly Western European countries who benefit from being able to enter without visas for tourism or business represent the fewest overstays as well as the greatest number of visitors. On the other hand, the students and others who come for longer stays represent a greater overstay problem. They require a visa regardless of the country. The data in the report identify visitors from several Third World countries as sources of the higher rate of visa violation. Most of the high overstay rates below are for travelers entering with short-term tourism or business visas (B-1/B-2). Omitted are some countries with high overstay rates but with fewer than 1,000 persons who overstayed.

Country	Category	Overstays	Non-Departure Rate
- Bangladesh	B-1/B-2	1,082	3.60%
- Barbados	B-1/B-2	1,695	2.70%
- Brazil	Students	2,881	3.10%
- Burkina F.	B-1/B-2	1,173	25.50%
- China		18,075	2.10%
- Colombia	B-1/B-2	19,466	2.10%
- Colombia	Students	1,207	3.10%
- Dominican R.	B-1/B-2	9,653	2.70%
- Dominican R.	Other visa	1,140	12.10%
- Egypt	B-1/B-2	1,916	2.10%
- El Salvador	B-1/B-2	5,079	2.60%
- Georgia	B-1/B-2	1,056	13.90%
- Ghana	B-1/B-2	1,067	4.50%
- Guatemala	B-1/B-2	5,804	2.20%
- Guyana	B-1/B-2	1,924	8.50%
- Haiti	B-1/B-2	5.669	3.90%
- India	Students	4,575	3.10%
- Iraq	B-1/B-2	1,040	10.80%
- Jamaica	B-1/B-2	9,621	3.30%
- Jamaica	Other visa	2,728	6.70%
- Jordan	B-1/B-2	2,528	6.00%
- Korea	Students	5,111	2.10%
- Lebanon	B-1/B-2	1,028	2.40%
- Nicaragua	B-1/B-2	1,444	2.00%
- Nigeria	B-1/B-2	12,043	6.00%
- Nigeria	Students	2,094	22.70%
- Pakistan	B-1/B-2	2,641	2.80%
- Philippines	Other visa	6,523	24.60%
- Thailand	B-1/B-2	2,122	2.30%
- Thailand	Students	1,358	4.70%
- Turkey	Students	1,248	2.50%
- Ukraine	B-1/B-2	2,950	3.30%
- Ukraine	Students	1,203	12.90%
- Venezuela	B-1/B-2	23,821	4.20%
- Vietnam	B-1/B-2	3,082	3.40%
- Vietnam	Students	1,860	8.20%

The overstay rates for students and other longer program visitors from Brazil and China also merit close scrutiny. Both countries account for large numbers of overstayers (2,881 and 18,075 respectively). The Obama administration specifically called for expanding the issuance of visas in those two countries and the consular officers may thereby have been pressured to lower their vigilance against the entry of intending visa violators.This DHS report is useful in identifying weaknesses in the visa screening process and the visa waiver program. Most of the tourists from the 38 visa waiver countries have low overstay rates. The only ones with higher than a 1.0% rate were Austria (1.3%), Chile (1.5%), Czech Repub. (1.1%), Greece (1.7%), Hungary (2.2%), Italy (1.2%), Latvia (1.8%), Lithuania (2.0%), Portugal (2.4%), San Marino (2.0%), Slovakia (1.9%), and Spain (1.5%). These countries collectively accounted for about 50,000 overstayers and should all be considered for elimination from the visa waiver program – especially those with rates over 2.0%.