Visa Overstay Statistics 2026

By John from the Nomad TeamApril 28, 2026
Visa Overstay Statistics 2026

US Department of Homeland Security flagged 853,955 in-country overstays in fiscal year 2023, an overall non-immigrant overstay rate of 3.30%. Frontex recorded 385,476 detections of illegal stay inside the EU in 2023, and post-EES enforcement (live since 10 April 2026) is now automated. Thailand fines overstayers 500 baht per day up to 20,000 baht and runs blacklists from one to ten years. The UAE charges 50 dirhams per day after a grace period. This report compiles 12 sourced overstay statistics from DHS, Frontex, the European Commission, the UK Home Office, Thai Immigration Bureau, and UAE government channels.

Overstay enforcement is the most consequential compliance topic for digital nomads and long-term travelers. The numbers below define the cost of getting day-counting wrong: fines, bans, deportation, and visa denials that follow you for years.

Two structural shifts make 2026 different. The EU's Entry/Exit System became fully operational on 10 April 2026, replacing passport stamps with biometric records. And legacy enforcement gaps (skipped exit stamps, manual day counts) are closing fast across the major nomad destinations. This post pulls the specific overstay numbers from primary government reports and names every citation inline.

TL;DR: Top 5 headline overstay stats for 2026

  1. 853,955 in-country overstays were flagged by US DHS in FY2023, a 3.30% overall overstay rate (DHS Entry/Exit Overstay Report FY2023).
  2. 44,415 Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) overstays were identified in FY2023, an overstay rate of 0.85% (DHS FY2023 Overstay Report).
  3. Frontex detected 385,476 illegal stays at and inside EU external borders in 2023, the highest level since 2016 (Frontex Risk Analysis 2024).
  4. Thailand fines overstayers 500 baht per day, capped at 20,000 baht, plus blacklist bans of 1 to 10 years depending on overstay length (Thai Immigration Bureau).
  5. The UAE charges 50 dirhams per day after the grace period for visit-visa overstays, with no upper cap (UAE Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security).

1. 853,955 US in-country overstays were flagged in FY2023

The US Department of Homeland Security identified 853,955 in-country overstays among non-immigrant admissions in fiscal year 2023. The report defines an in-country overstay as a person whose authorized stay expired and for whom DHS has no record of departure or status change.

According to the DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics, the total expected departures pool was 39.1 million non-immigrant admissions in scope, producing an overall overstay rate of 3.30%. The report breaks down overstays by class of admission (B1/B2 business and tourism, F student, H work, and others), country of citizenship, and port of departure. Mexico and Canada land-border arrivals are excluded due to methodology limits. The 3.30% rate suggests most non-immigrant admissions do depart on time. Risk concentrates in specific visa classes and origin countries, not the visa-free traveler population.

Source: DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics, Fiscal Year 2023 Entry/Exit Overstay Report (September 2024)

2. The Visa Waiver Program overstay rate is 0.85%

Of the 5.2 million ESTA-eligible Visa Waiver Program admissions in scope for FY2023, DHS identified 44,415 in-country overstays, producing a Visa Waiver Program overstay rate of 0.85%, the lowest of any major non-immigrant category tracked.

The DHS report shows VWP rates have stayed under 1% across recent years, rebounding from pandemic-era distortions. By comparison, non-VWP B1/B2 visa overstays ran several multiples higher. Visa Waiver Program participation requires biometric e-passports and ESTA pre-authorization, and the low overstay rate is part of the rationale for retaining countries in the program. For US-bound visa-free travelers (UK, EU, Japan, Australia, Korea passports and roughly 35 others), ESTA overstays trigger immediate ESTA revocation, future denials, and a multi-year requalification path through full B1/B2 visa applications.

Source: DHS Fiscal Year 2023 Entry/Exit Overstay Report

3. F-1 student visa overstay rate hit 3.67% in FY2023

The DHS report shows F-1 student visa holders had an in-country overstay rate of 3.67% in FY2023, calculated against approximately 1.5 million expected student departures. M-1 vocational students and J-1 exchange visitors ran at similar rates.

Student-class rates are structurally higher than the Visa Waiver Program because the cohort skews younger, includes graduating students who delay departure to chase work options, and intersects with Optional Practical Training (OPT) gaps that can produce ambiguous "out of status" records. DHS notes some of these eventually resolve (people leave but their exit isn't matched to entry), but the in-country flag remains until the record reconciles. The pattern, "I'll stay a bit longer to figure it out," is the documented path to an overstay flag.

Source: DHS Fiscal Year 2023 Entry/Exit Overstay Report

4. Frontex detected 385,476 illegal stays in the EU in 2023

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) recorded 385,476 detections of illegal stay at and inside EU external borders in 2023, the highest figure since 2016 and a sharp increase from earlier post-pandemic years.

According to Frontex's 2024 Annual Risk Analysis, the count includes both irregular migrants identified at borders and overstayers detected by inland enforcement (police checks, employer audits, in-country immigration controls). Schengen short-stay overstayers make up a meaningful share. Germany, France, Italy, and Spain accounted for the bulk of inland detections. This is the closest public proxy for Schengen overstay enforcement volume before the Entry/Exit System came online; the 2026 figure is expected to rise as overstays that previously slipped through stamp-based controls are flagged digitally.

Source: Frontex Annual Risk Analysis 2024

5. The Schengen Entry/Exit System now flags overstays automatically

The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) became fully operational across all external Schengen borders on 10 April 2026, completing the rollout that began on 12 October 2025. The system biometrically records every entry and exit by non-EU travelers and calculates Schengen 90/180 days automatically across all 29 member states.

According to the European Commission's EES program documentation, the system replaces passport stamps entirely for short-stay travelers. Overstays are detected at the moment a traveler attempts to cross any external border with zero days remaining, and historical overstays surface on every subsequent entry attempt across the zone. The manual gap that allowed travelers to under-report Schengen days or rely on inconsistent enforcement is closed. See our Schengen 90/180 rule explainer for how the underlying calculation works and our myths-debunked guide for common counting errors that now trigger automated flags.

Source: European Commission, Entry/Exit System (EES) overview

6. Thailand fines overstayers 500 baht per day, capped at 20,000 baht

The Thai Immigration Bureau fines visa overstayers 500 baht per day, capped at 20,000 baht (roughly $560 at 2026 exchange rates). The fine is paid at the airport on departure or at an immigration office.

According to Thailand's Immigration Act and current Immigration Bureau guidance, the cap is reached at 40 days of overstay. Past that point, the fine doesn't increase, but the legal posture worsens. Travelers arrested for overstays exceeding 90 days face a one-year re-entry ban; overstays exceeding one year trigger three-year bans; three years triggers five; five years triggers ten. Travelers who voluntarily surrender at an airport typically pay the fine and leave without arrest. Those caught inside the country face detention at the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok and deportation. Thailand is one of the most-visited nomad destinations, and these penalties affect long-stayers who miscount visa exemption days or extension end dates.

Source: Thai Immigration Bureau, Overstay Penalties

7. UAE charges 50 dirhams per day for visit-visa overstays

The UAE's Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security charges 50 dirhams (about $13.60) per day for visit-visa overstays after the grace period expires. There is no upper cap, and the fine accrues until the traveler exits or regularizes status.

According to the UAE government services portal (ICP), the grace period is typically 10 days from visa expiry, after which daily fines begin. The authority can issue travel bans for unpaid fines or repeat offenders. The UAE's approach is unusual in that fines are flat-rate and uncapped, which produces large totals quickly: a 100-day overstay generates 5,000 dirhams (about $1,360), payable before departure is permitted. Dubai is a top nomad destination for tax residency planning, and the 90-day rule for UAE tax residency intersects with these overstay rules in ways that catch travelers who maintain residency without watching their visit-visa clock.

Source: UAE Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP), Violations and Fines

8. Indonesia charges 1,000,000 rupiah per day for overstays

Indonesia's Directorate General of Immigration raised the overstay fine to 1,000,000 rupiah (about $63) per day, effective 2024 and continuing into 2026. Overstays exceeding 60 days move from administrative fines into criminal territory.

According to the Directorate General's published fee schedule and confirmed by Reuters, overstayers caught after exceeding 60 days face deportation, blacklisting (typically 6 months to multi-year bans), and the Class III immigration penalty regime, which can include up to five years of imprisonment in the most serious cases. Bali has stepped up enforcement since 2023, with hundreds of deported foreigners listed annually. For nomads on visa-on-arrival or B211A social/cultural visas, the tripled fine rate makes longer overstays financially serious.

Source: Reuters, Indonesia raises overstay fines (May 2024); Directorate General of Immigration, Indonesia

9. The UK enforced 25,367 returns of foreign nationals in year ending June 2024

The UK Home Office reports 25,367 returns of foreign nationals enforced in the year ending June 2024, a 21% increase over the prior 12 months. The total includes voluntary departures, enforced removals, and refused entries; a meaningful share link back to overstays.

According to the Home Office's quarterly Immigration Statistics, the increase reflects a stepped-up enforcement posture under the post-2022 immigration framework, which targets both asylum-route abuses and visa overstays. Enforced removals (where the Home Office physically deports the individual) ran at 8,594 in the same period. UK overstays carry banding similar to Schengen: short overstays produce future visa scrutiny; longer overstays trigger formal re-entry bans of 1, 5, or 10 years; and overstays during certain visa categories can affect indefinite leave to remain pathways for years.

Source: UK Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2024

10. Schengen visa refusal rates hit 16.0% in 2023

The European Commission's published Schengen visa data shows a refusal rate of 16.0% on Schengen short-stay (Type C) visa applications in 2023, the highest level recorded in over a decade, up from 13.4% in 2022 and roughly 10% pre-pandemic.

According to Schengen Visa Statistics published by DG HOME, refusals are heavily influenced by an applicant's prior travel record, including documented overstay history. Consular officers can see overstays via the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the Visa Information System (VIS), and a documented prior overstay is among the most reliable predictors of refusal. The relevance for nomads: a Schengen overstay does not just affect the country where it happened. It affects every subsequent Schengen application across all 29 countries, plus any country that shares immigration data with Schengen authorities.

Source: European Commission DG HOME, Schengen Visa Statistics 2023

11. Australia recorded roughly 67,000 unlawful non-citizens in 2022-23

The Australian Department of Home Affairs reports approximately 67,000 unlawful non-citizens (people in Australia without a valid visa, including overstayers) as of 30 June 2023. The visa-overstay component is the largest single category.

According to Home Affairs' annual reporting, the bulk are former visitor-visa and former student-visa holders who did not depart at the end of their authorized stay. Australia's overstay enforcement uses biometric matching at exit and inland tracking. Overstayers face Section 116 cancellation pathways, detention in some cases, and re-entry bans of three years or longer for "Public Interest Criterion 4014" overstays. That puts Australia in a similar enforcement tier to the UK and US.

Source: Australian Department of Home Affairs, Annual Report 2022-23

12. Schengen overstay can trigger a 5-year SIS ban

Under the Schengen Borders Code and related EU regulations, a Schengen-area overstay can trigger an entry ban registered in the Schengen Information System (SIS), with bans typically running 1 to 5 years and applying across all 29 Schengen member states.

According to the European Commission's overview of SIS and Schengen Borders Code Article 24, bans are issued at the discretion of the country where the overstay was detected, but the effect is zone-wide. A traveler banned by Germany cannot enter Spain, France, or any other Schengen country during the ban period. The ban is automatically visible to consular officers worldwide processing future Schengen visa applications. For travelers planning to apply for a digital nomad visa (Portugal D8, Spain DNV, Italy DNV, Estonia DNV, Greece DNV), a SIS entry ban is effectively disqualifying.

Source: European Commission, Schengen Information System (SIS)

What these numbers tell us

Taken together, the data shows a consistent direction: overstay enforcement is becoming automated, harmonized across borders, and harder to escape through the gaps that historically existed in stamp-based systems. The US has tracked overstays algorithmically since 2016. The EU's Entry/Exit System now does the same across 29 countries. Thailand, Indonesia, the UAE, the UK, and Australia all run linked databases that surface prior overstays at every subsequent border.

For travelers, the practical consequence of "just a couple of extra days" has changed. Pre-2020, a missed exit stamp or an unflagged overstay could disappear into a paper-based system. In 2026, the same overstay generates a permanent biometric record, surfaces on every subsequent visa application worldwide, and can trigger automated refusal at the next border.

The forward trajectory is more enforcement, not less. ETIAS launches in late 2026. UAE, Thailand, and Indonesia are all expanding biometric matching at exit. The detection rate is rising fast.

In 2026, day-counting accuracy is no longer optional, and the cost of getting it wrong is no longer a gamble. It's a recorded event.

How Nomad helps you stay on the right side of these numbers

The statistics above describe the enforcement landscape every long-term traveler now operates inside. The 853K US overstays, the 385K Frontex detections, the 67K Australian unlawful non-citizens, are largely people who lost track of their day count, not people who chose to overstay. The compliance failure is almost always a counting failure first.

Nomad (the visa compliance app for digital nomads) is built specifically to solve this problem. The app tracks days across every country you visit, applies the correct rule for each (Schengen 90/180, country-specific visa-free limits, 183-day tax residency), and sends alerts 7, 3, and 1 day before any overstay would happen. Passport details stay on your device. The in-app AI assistant answers questions like "can I fly to Bangkok next Tuesday given my last six months?" with a real answer based on your actual day count.

Download Nomad on the App Store

4.8★ - Join 1,000+ digital nomads

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people overstay US visas each year?

The US Department of Homeland Security flagged 853,955 in-country overstays in fiscal year 2023, against 39.1 million expected non-immigrant departures, producing an overstay rate of 3.30%. The Visa Waiver Program rate was 0.85% (44,415 overstays). The data comes from the DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics' annual Entry/Exit Overstay Report.

What is the Schengen overstay rate?

The EU does not publish a clean Schengen-specific overstay rate, but Frontex recorded 385,476 detections of illegal stay at and inside EU external borders in 2023, the highest figure since 2016. With the Entry/Exit System fully operational since 10 April 2026, overstays are now detected automatically at every external border crossing. Schengen visa refusal rates also hit 16.0% in 2023, partly driven by stricter screening of applicants with prior overstay records.

What's the fine for overstaying in Thailand?

Thailand fines overstayers 500 baht per day, capped at 20,000 baht (reached at 40 days). Past that point the fine doesn't grow, but the legal posture worsens: arrests for overstays exceeding 90 days trigger 1-year re-entry bans, with bands of 3, 5, and 10 years for longer overstays. Travelers who voluntarily surrender on departure typically pay and leave; those caught inside the country face detention and deportation.

How much does an overstay cost in the UAE?

The UAE charges 50 dirhams (about $13.60) per day for visit-visa overstays after a 10-day grace period, with no upper cap. A 100-day overstay generates 5,000 dirhams (about $1,360) in fines, payable before exit is permitted. Repeat offenders or unpaid fines can result in travel bans issued by the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security.

What happens if you overstay in Indonesia (Bali)?

Indonesia raised the overstay fine to 1,000,000 rupiah (about $63) per day in 2024. Overstays exceeding 60 days move into criminal territory, with detention, deportation, and blacklist bans of 6 months to multiple years. Bali has stepped up enforcement since 2023, with hundreds of foreigners deported per year. The Class III immigration penalty regime can result in up to five years of imprisonment for the most serious cases.

How long is the entry ban after a Schengen overstay?

Schengen entry bans typically run 1 to 5 years and are recorded in the Schengen Information System (SIS), where they apply across all 29 member states. A ban issued by Germany blocks entry to Spain, France, Italy, and every other Schengen country. The ban is visible to consular officers worldwide, which makes a SIS ban effectively disqualifying for digital nomad visa applications across the zone.

Does the EU's Entry/Exit System make overstays harder to hide?

Yes. The Entry/Exit System (EES), fully operational since 10 April 2026, replaces passport stamps with biometric records at every external Schengen border. The system automatically calculates days used across all 29 countries and flags overstays in real time. The traditional gaps (missed stamps, unrecorded exits) are closed. Overstays generate a permanent digital record that surfaces on every subsequent border crossing.

How do overstays affect future visa applications?

Overstays are visible to consular officers through shared immigration databases (SIS and VIS in Europe, similar systems in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada). Schengen visa refusal rates rose to 16.0% in 2023, partly driven by tighter screening of applicants with prior overstay records. A documented overstay can trigger refusals years later for short-stay visas, digital nomad visas, work permits, and even tourist visas to unrelated countries that share enforcement data.

Do US visa-free travelers (ESTA) overstay often?

The Visa Waiver Program overstay rate was 0.85% in FY2023, with 44,415 overstays out of 5.2 million in-scope admissions, the lowest of any major non-immigrant category DHS tracks. ESTA overstays trigger immediate authorization revocation, deny future ESTA applications, and force travelers to apply for a full B1/B2 visa with consular interview.

Where do these overstay statistics come from?

Primary sources used in this post: the US Department of Homeland Security's FY2023 Entry/Exit Overstay Report, Frontex's 2024 Annual Risk Analysis, the European Commission's Schengen Visa Statistics and EES program documentation, the Thai Immigration Bureau, the UAE Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, UK Home Office immigration statistics, the Australian Department of Home Affairs annual reports, and the Indonesian Directorate General of Immigration. All numbers are paraphrased from primary government data, with direct citation links inline.

Sources

Every stat in this post links inline. For reference, the primary sources cited:

Related guides

About Nomad

Nomad is the visa compliance app for digital nomads. Built by nomads for nomads, it tracks your days across every country automatically, alerts you before overstays, and keeps passport details on your device for privacy. The in-app AI assistant answers visa questions in plain English. Available on iOS.

Download Nomad on the App Store →

Important: This content is informational and does not constitute legal, tax, or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax regulations, and entry requirements change frequently and vary by individual circumstances. Always verify current requirements with official government sources or a qualified professional before making travel decisions. Nomad tracks your days and surfaces compliance information, but final responsibility for compliance rests with the traveler.

Download Nomad
★★★★★4.8 - Join 1,000+ digital nomads