How to Report an Expired Visa

Co-authored by Clinton M. Sandvick, JD, PhD

Last Updated: November 14, 2019 References

Staying in the U.S. on an expired visa is a serious offense, and you should report the person to the appropriate authorities. Before reporting, you should gather helpful identifying information, such as the person’s name and address, if you have it. To report an expired visa, you should either call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or submit an online tip form to the same office.^{[1]
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Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Gathering Information

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Get the person’s name. ICE will ask for the person’s name, so you should write it down.^{[2]
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Research source} People might go by nicknames, so you should report all of the names that you know the person by.
2
Find out where the person lives. You need to report the location of the violation, which will be where the violator lives or goes to school.^{[3]
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Research source} If you know this information, then write it down. However, if you don’t know this information, then you can ask around.
- For example, you might be aware that a student at your school has overstayed their visa but not know where they are currently staying.
- Don’t do anything illegal to get information. For example, don’t stalk the person or steal their belongings in order to find out where they live.
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3
Write down other information. You should write down anything else that might be helpful, including the visa number, if you have it. For example, students might overstay their visa. In this situation, you should have their visa number in your school’s files.
- If the person is a tourist or a business traveler, then note that fact as well.
- Other helpful information includes country of citizenship, place of birth, or Social Security Numbers.^{[4]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Reporting the Expired Visa

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Call ICE. From the U.S. and Canada, you can report an expired visa to ICE at 1-866-347-2423. If you are outside the U.S. or Canada, then you can call 802-872-6199. You should also decide whether you want to report anonymously. If you do, then ICE can’t contact you to get follow-up information.^{[5]
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- You only need to report a violation once. Accordingly, if you report by telephone, then you don’t need to report online.
2
Report online. You can also make an online report at the ICE website. The online form will request the following information:^{[6]
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- your first and last name
- your email address
- your phone number
- the suspected violation (select “F/M Student Violations, Including OPT” if reporting a student visa violation, select “Other” if reporting all other visa violations)
- where the person is located
- any other relevant information you have
- the answer to a math question (to check that you are a living human being and not a spam bot)
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Receive a possible monetary payment. ICE does not provide updates about their investigations. However, they may contact you if they want to give you a monetary award, which they have discretion to do.^{[7]
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- You probably shouldn’t expect ICE to investigate a visa violation too aggressively. According to watchdogs, they do not systematically investigate visa violations.^{[8]
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Understanding the Consequences of Overstaying

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Understand “unlawful presence.” The deadline for leaving the country actually shows up on a person’s Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record. Although a visa might expire, the person must leave by the date on their Form I-94, which might come later. Once this deadline has passed, the person is considered to be in the country illegally. They then accrue unlawful presence.
2
Identify exceptions. Not everyone accrues unlawful presence. For example, the following people will not accrue unlawful presence for the amount of time they are in the U.S. past their Form I-94 departure date:^{[9]
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- Under age 18.
- Has a pending application for adjustment of status, extension of status, or change of status.
- Was a victim of trafficking.
- Has a pending asylum application that isn’t frivolous.
- Overstayed because of abuse and can prove they overstayed because of the abuse.
3
Calculate the time bars. Depending on how much unlawful presence a person accrues, they will be barred from applying for another visa to the United States. The bars are calculated as follows:^{[10]
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- Three-year bar: you accrued more than 180 continuous days of unlawful presence but less than a full year. You also left before any official removal proceedings were started.
- Ten-year bar: You have more than one year of continuous unlawful presence but you left before any formal proceedings were started against you.
- Permanent bar: You have more than one year in aggregate of unlawful presence or you are deported form the U.S.