Washington: Over 21,000 Indians who were supposed to leave the US at the end of their permissible limits last year overstayed their visas, the department of homeland security (DHS) said on Wednesday.
While the percentage of Indians overstaying and not leaving the US after the expiry of their visas is not very high compared to some other nations, but India ranks among the top 10 countries whose citizens come to the US legally and continue to stay illegally.
DHS in its latest annual report said 7,01,900 foreigners who entered the country through an air or sea Port of Entry overstayed their visas between October 2016 and September 2017. It said in 2017, more than 10.7 lakh Indians visited the US on the B-1, B-2 visas, which is issued to those who come to the US for business, visit or tourism purposes.
Of these, 14,204 overstayed in the country. According to the report, 1,708 of these Indians left the US later after the expiry of their visas, while there is no record of 12,498 Indians leaving the country. This could be presumed that they continue to stay in the US as an illegal immigrant.
In 2017, the report said, 1,27,435 Indian students and research scholars came to the US. Of these 4,400 Indians overstayed in the country. Figures indicated that 2,833 Indians are still in US. Among other categories of non-immigrants, more than 4 lakh Indians were expected to leave the US in 2017, of which 9,568 of them overstayed. Among them, 6,612 are suspected to be illegally staying in US. (PTI)
