United States visa overstay: fines and penalties
The United States does not charge a daily overstay fine — it converts unlawful presence into multi-year bars and voids the visa you entered on.
Key facts
- Permitted stay
- 90 days on ESTA/Visa Waiver, or the date on your I-94 for visa holders
- Overstay fine
- No routine per-day fine; penalties are re-entry bars
- Entry ban
- 3 years after 180+ days of unlawful presence, 10 years after a year or more
Overstay penalties in United States
- More than 180 days but less than a year of unlawful presence triggers a 3-year bar once you depart.
- A year or more of unlawful presence triggers a 10-year bar once you depart.
- Any overstay automatically voids a visitor visa, so future applications must go through a consulate in your home country.
- Overstaying on ESTA removes Visa Waiver eligibility permanently, requiring a B visa afterwards.
How to avoid an overstay
- Rely on the admit-until date on your electronic I-94 record, not the visa expiry date.
- File Form I-539 for an extension well before the I-94 date if your plans change.
- Check the I-94 record online after each entry — officers sometimes grant less time than expected.
Travl records each border crossing automatically and counts the days against United States’s limit in the background, with alerts before the allowance runs out. For a one-off check, use the Schengen 90/180 calculator or the 183-day tax residency calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a fine for overstaying a US visa?
There is no standard per-day fine. The penalty is unlawful presence, which produces a 3-year or 10-year re-entry bar depending on how long you stayed past your I-94 date.
Does overstaying ESTA cancel the Visa Waiver Program?
Yes. An overstay on ESTA ends Visa Waiver eligibility, and future visits require a visitor visa obtained at a US consulate.
Penalty amounts and entry-ban lengths change. Treat this as a planning reference and confirm the current position with United States’s immigration authority or your embassy before acting on it.
Other overstay guides
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