Overstayed on US visa - will this affect future trips?

The only way that i can think of where you could have a problem is if you broke the law in any other way other than overstaying your visa and it did not come to the notice of the police until after you had left the country if you did not do anything out of order during your stay then you should have no problem getting back in to America
 
Hi

when you say 'green form' - is it the size of a standard passport page & is it usually stapled in? From memory there could be something like that in mine!!! and as i was planning to go back to USA in 6mts time, i'm VERY curious!!

S
 
The Visa Waiver Programme rules are quite clear. If you outstay your 90 days you will not be able to use it again and as a result you have to apply for a visa for any future travel to the USA which will not only be hassle but you may not even get one if they think you could do the same again.

The green card in your passport has to be returned to US Immigration or else you will not get in to the country in the future. When travelling over the border to Canada and you are definitely not returning to the USA you have to hand it into Canadian Immigration who will pass it back to their US counterparts.

As previous posters have stated you can declare you departure when you get back home and if you still have that green piece of paper you have to return it to the appropriate officials with proof that you left e.g. boarding cards, immigration stamps to another country.

I was flying out of Chicago about a year ago and you could process your departure on a self service kiosk i.e. fingerprints, photo & passport just like when you enter the country. this would alleviate any fears that airlines don't pass back your green card to US Immigration. Apparently this is being rolled out over all US airports.
 
Not completely relevant to the discussion, but just a comment on the post by Brooklyn - and a warning to anyone who is thinking of overstaying, while there are no exit controls normally - and you think you can just fly back home after overstaying, no hassle - there are random exit controls placed on flights and you may be caught and if you are impolite or unco-operative they can toss you in a cell.
 
The US used to be extremely lax on exit controls pre 9/11, and I left the country on 2 occasions with the green visa waiver form still stapled in my passport and no exit stamp, and I've been back 2 or 3 times in the last few years with no problems.
If it was me, I wouldn't apply for a visa if you're staying less than 90 days.
 
hi
i recently noticed that the green slip had not been taken from my passport from my last visit in oct 2006
i rang embassy and was told that it was my responsibility to ensure it had been removed from passport
anyway the way i got around it was to send as much information that i could to show i indeed did return when i said i did
they were looking for a boarding card which i did not have but the following worked for me
(a) a letter from employer stating my travel was business and that i returned on the said date
(b) work time sheet
(c) flight details with people i travelled with as they have access to the airline names anyway so could see i was indeed on the plane
all these details were sent to washington and i was told to keep copies as it could take 6 months for it to be actioned
anyway all was sorted 3 days after they recieved it and i got a very nice mail stating all was ok
 
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