Overstayer afraid to leave for fear of arrest @ exit check

I so desperately want to leave but I am so afraid of being arrested and detained when I leave. This is because I have overstayed my Visa. Do all the airports do exit checks? As in my case this could be defeating the purpose what's the point of arresting people who want to leave anyway? I want to go but I'm scared. I can't afford to spend time in Jail.

Help!

just go, you staying longer just makes it worse

I need to know about these exit checks. This will help me decide what to do (which airport to leave from if I leave). As it stands my options looks like this:

a) go at any airport and risk arrest and detention centre...

b) Stay and hold out for status granted on the basis of long term (14 years).
I have been here for 10 years (8 of them legal) and I didn't want to stay another 4 illegally but I will rather do that than live in a detention centre.

Staying in a detention centre is my worst nightmare that I am determined to avoid that at any cost.

Surely it is unlikely that you would be detained for any length of time if you are on your way out anyway - unless you have committed some offences other than overstaying. But in that case, you can pretty much forget about ILR at 14 years.

fatal wrote:I need to know about these exit checks. This will help me decide what to do (which airport to leave from if I leave). As it stands my options looks like this:

a) go at any airport and risk arrest and detention centre...

b) Stay and hold out for status granted on the basis of long term (14 years).
I have been here for 10 years (8 of them legal) and I didn't want to stay another 4 illegally but I will rather do that than live in a detention centre.

Staying in a detention centre is my worst nightmare that I am determined to avoid that at any cost.

Smaller airports would mean less chance of getting caught - Avoid all London Airports if possible - Edinburgh, Glasgow Prestwick, or International being good

jimquk wrote:Surely it is unlikely that you would be detained for any length of time if you are on your way out anyway - unless you have committed some offences other than overstaying. But in that case, you can pretty much forget about ILR at 14 years.

No I have not committed any other offences. It's just that you never know how these things go what with everything that's on the news I'm just scared I suppose.

gamma911 wrote:
Smaller airports would mean less chance of getting caught - Avoid all London Airports if possible - Edinburgh, Glasgow Prestwick, or International being good

Thank you for that.

What about Birmingham are there exit checks there?

For someone who is so afraid to taken to a detention center, I find it weird that you overstayed in the first place. Why are you now ready to leave?

SYH wrote:For someone who is so afraid to taken to a detention center, I find it weird that you overstayed in the first place. Why are you now ready to leave?

Like most immigrants legal or otherwise I stayed for economic reasons.
I needed to earn money to improve my family situation back home, put a few people through school/university, ease the number of dependants. If I had left at the time I was meant to all of us would have starved. Now everything is taken care of I want to leave, its not complicated.

fatal wrote:

SYH wrote:For someone who is so afraid to taken to a detention center, I find it weird that you overstayed in the first place. Why are you now ready to leave?

Like most immigrants legal or otherwise I stayed for economic reasons.
I needed to earn money to improve my family situation back home, put a few people through school/university, ease the number of dependants. If I had left at the time I was meant to all of us would have starved. Now everything is taken care of I want to leave, its not complicated.

Well it doesnt sound like they would detain you now that your job is done

SYH wrote:

fatal wrote:

SYH wrote:For someone who is so afraid to taken to a detention center, I find it weird that you overstayed in the first place. Why are you now ready to leave?

Like most immigrants legal or otherwise I stayed for economic reasons.
I needed to earn money to improve my family situation back home, put a few people through school/university, ease the number of dependants. If I had left at the time I was meant to all of us would have starved. Now everything is taken care of I want to leave, its not complicated.

Well it doesnt sound like they would detain you now that your job is done

I really hope so.
I came online to check and book my flight. Before I do this I thought I'd ask on an immigration board for advice with which airport to choose to minimise my chances of detention. I just want to leave with no trouble.
However if I'm going to get detained for overstaying I'd rather maintain the status quo.

My friend overstayed by a few weeks, and left via Heathrow about two weeks ago. He was also afraid of being stopped by immigration officials, but there were no such checks. So just bite the bullet, and hope for the best. Good Luck!

If you are stopped in a random exit check and you have overstayed, you will not be detained. Instead you will be questioned, fingerprinted and given a removal notice which is not the same as deportation. The fact that you overstayed will be recorded and will affect any future visa applications to the UK. But you can rest assured that you will not be detained. Why would they lock you up in a detention center if you are on your way out of the country anyway? Doesn't make sense.

Hi,

I overstayed my Visa for a few months before I decided to get back home.. I got an emergency passport, i wasnt checked or questioned.. Nothin of that sort happend (I thought like you did), i asked the guy wudnt u stamp my passport or anything, he said we dont keep recors of who leaves the country, we are intrested in who comes in... Neways that was last year in July, dunno if rules have changed. But I dont think u'd get detention for this act, the most will be a slap on the wrist...

Chow

The most you are likely to get is the removal notice IS151a on departure. There is almost no chance of being detained just because you have overstayed.

Victoria

There most definitely are random exit checks now at Gatwick and Heathrow terminals. However, they are random, and they are not fixed. Most often they consist of a few Home Office officials idly standing by just past the security area as you go through the security checks into the airside area of the airport.

From my observations of them they tend to randomly pick people who are walking past and who look "foreign", i.e. people of colour, or who look non-British, in whatever warped way you would expect an immigration officer to consider that to be.

You risk a detention centre more by staying than you would upon leaving....they may stamp your passport but doubt they would take you off your flight. I have only seen Immigration once and that was just near the departure gates...they were interested in a man but still let him board the plane.

Hi

be reassured that you will not be detained. detention is for those who refuse to leave. it costs a lot of money and involves many files and actions and i can assure you that no one likes to do that job. they would be happy if you leave that is one off their list .in fact they should thank you and give you a freebie(joke). but seriously the worst is a removal notice if they can be bothered ,you can then use it on your way out to wipe your mule with (sorry ).
if you have stayed more than 10 years i would say stick it. if not then Go home my friend and May God be with you. The earth is big and It is God who provide and not humans, they are only tools . and be 100% confident that whatever you earned is based on your hard work and not a freebie since you were not allowed any benefit so you are better than most of us who get some sort of rebate. oh if you have paid taxes make sure you get a tax back .
peace

Dawie wrote: From my observations of them they tend to randomly pick people who are walking past and who look "foreign", i.e. people of colour, or who look non-British, in whatever warped way you would expect an immigration officer to consider that to be.

I am still trying to understand what is the point of those checks - my wife was once randomly checked - she produced absolutely clean foreign passport without any single visa or stamp in it - the imm. officer looked through the passport and did not ask any single question at all - just gave it back.

She did have ILR in her old passport in her bag - but she was not asked about it ...

Was leaving from Manchester on the 30th Sept for Hong Kong via Heathrow - no checks in Manchester or Heathrow.

Best bet: leave through small airports - Manchester is good. If you are connecting at Heathrow - no checks and no even security checks - were went through security in Manchester only.

Tip: use smaller airports, if not possible, book a domestic flight to Heathrow or Gatwick and then connect there to your destination flight.

Even if you are checked,checks are random so you may not be checked at all, you will NOT be arrested NOR detained. The worst that will happen is that your personal details will be recorded as well as details of your passport. Should you ever venture back to the UK or seek to obtain a visa from abroad that is when your problems may well begin.

See also Chapter 20 - Evasion of control, Section 1 - Evasion of control:

3.1. Overstayers who come to notice when embarking

Persons who have overstayed a limited leave to enter should not be detained for prosecution nor should their departure be delayed by the examination. If the period overstayed is considerable, a report, quoting details of any relevant arrival numbers, should be submitted to the Warnings Index Computerised Unit (WICU) without delay.

A copy of the form IS128a or, in appropriate cases, completed report should also be sent to the WICU in such cases.

tinux wrote:Hi

Hi & thanks for your advice.

The following sentence caught my interest. How does one go about doing this?

tinux wrote: oh if you have paid taxes make sure you get a tax back .
peace

vinny wrote:See also Chapter 20 - Evasion of control, Section 1 - Evasion of control:

3.1. Overstayers who come to notice when embarking

Persons who have overstayed a limited leave to enter should not be detained for prosecution nor should their departure be delayed by the examination. If the period overstayed is considerable, a report, quoting details of any relevant arrival numbers, should be submitted to the Warnings Index Computerised Unit (WICU) without delay.

A copy of the form IS128a or, in appropriate cases, completed report should also be sent to the WICU in such cases.

It is not in the HO's interest to have to pay for overstayers' upkeep in a detention centre, pay for guards, administrative people and other personnel, plus pay for another ticket to send them home.

Regarding your query while leaving - you will not be detained.
As mentioned, unless of course , if there is some identity confusion or an unsettled serious legal matter involving you and the police.

There is a process in place that collects all passenger passport information and passed on to Homeland security via BIA. As far as I'm aware, this is not used for any immigration overstaying checks person-by-person basis, though it is clear that they do have the capability.

tinux wrote: oh if you have paid taxes make sure you get a tax back .
peace

Slightly misleading statement given above.
Since income tax/NI contribution is deducted at source, a refund is applicable only if
a) your total earnings so far for the current financial year is below your personal tax allowance (roughly around £5K for 07/08 )
b) you were paying over tax/NI (excess tax deduction from your pay using an incorrect tax code)
c) you've chosen to retire; taking yeilds from State pension ( don't think that will be applicable to you in any case)

fatal wrote:

tinux wrote:Hi

Hi & thanks for your advice.

The following sentence caught my interest. How does one go about doing this?

tinux wrote: oh if you have paid taxes make sure you get a tax back .
peace