What should I do if my visa expires and stays abroad?

In many overseas countries, if the visa fails to return to China as required, it will be regarded as "illegal detention". After the entry and exit records are affected, there is a great risk of being refused visas in the future, and you may also face serious situations such as high fines and lifelong exclusion.

Therefore, because of the special reasons of the epidemic, many countries have extended the "blockade order" one after another, and when to "lift the ban" is still unknown.

What if some China compatriots stranded overseas cannot leave because their visas are about to expire?

Don’t panic！

Many countries have obviously thought of this and have introduced visa extension policies.

United States of America

On April 13, the US Immigration Bureau issued a notice to extend the legal status of non-immigrants in the United States.

According to the notice, most non-immigrants can apply for extended stay (EOS) or change their status to stay in the United States.

USCIS is now receiving and processing applications for extension, and many forms can be found in official website.

If the application can be submitted in time before the identity expires, the immigration bureau has received the submitted materials, and the application status is displayed as pending approval, then it is not illegal residence.

If the materials are not submitted in time before the expiration of the status, there must be sufficient evidence that the failure to submit the materials in time is caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, and the US Citizenship and Immigration Service will evaluate each case.

Earlier, the US Immigration Service (USCIS) indicated that China citizens who stay in the United States for a short period of time, such as visas B 1 and B2, can apply for an extension of their visa stay online on the visa extension application page in advance according to their special humanitarian circumstances.

Britain, England

On March 24th, the Home Office of the United Kingdom updated the visa and residence guide for COVID-19 epidemic, and announced that foreign citizens who are currently in the United Kingdom and hold a British visa that expires between October 24th and May 24th of 3 1 KLOC-0 can extend their visas to five days if they cannot leave the United Kingdom as scheduled due to travel restrictions or self-isolation regulations caused by COVID-19 epidemic.