Do you need to show a valid visa to Immigration authorities when you are moving out of country? For example I am citizen of country B and have been staying in country A for work. So when I am moving out of country A and have no plans to come back do I still need to hold a valid visa of country A?
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3MasterCard might work too. As long as you have money on the CC you show to Immigration you are good! :) – CodeAngry 2 days ago
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7To get a meaningful response, you'd need to specify which country you mean by "country A". Some countries will make you pay a fine, some may throw you in jail, some may only make it hard to get a future visa but won't do anything now. Some countries will require you to show a visa on exit, some won't. – Erwin Bolwidt 2 days ago
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2@Erwin Country A is Canada and Country B is India. – Sam 2 days ago
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Canada, like the US, does not require you to have a valid visa to be in the country. The visa only needs to be valid when you enter. When you're admitted, you're admitted for a certain period. The expiration of that period determines when you must leave or apply for an extension, not the expiration of the visa. – phoog yesterday
To put the other answers into context in light of your mentioning that the country in question is Canada, I would point out that the expiration of a Canadian visa does not make the bearer's presence in Canada unlawful. The allowed period of stay, which is determined by the immigration officer at the time of entry, is not bound to the visa's period of validity.
Before the end of the period of authorized stay, the visitor is supposed to leave or to apply for an extension. Taking extensions into account, it's possible to remain in Canada indefinitely with a long-expired visa.
There are probably three different questions in here
- do I still need to hold a valid visa of country A?
Your presence in country A must be legal at all times. In this regard exiting the country is no different then going to the super market. As long your are physically present, you need legal authorization to do so. This may require a Visa or Esta or permit etc, or nothing at all depending on the countries involved.
As long as you are legally in the country, you can legally exit (unless there are some pending criminal charges, tax evasion, etc., i.e. there is a court ruling that requires you to stay).
- Assuming I'm illegal, will I get caught when I try to exit
Depends a lot on the country, local policies and the way you exit. Some countries (e.g. US) don't have exit controls but they still may leverage airlines to check and record exits. Other countries have pretty strict exit controls (e.g. China). Some border crossing have no controls at all.
- What will happen when I get caught
Depends a lot on the country and on the specifics of your infraction. Most countries consider illegal presence to be a serious crime. Consequences range from a slap on the wrist to jail time.
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There are several countries that require exit visas, either for their own citizens or foreign residents. In the twentieth century this was common throughout the Soviet Union, but is now limited to a handful of countries like North Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. – Calchas yesterday
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@Calchas It’s a breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own.” – Mike Scott yesterday
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In Canada, as in the US, the validity of a visa (or eTA or ESTA) has no bearing on the legality of the person's presence. The visa (or electronic authorization) need only be valid at the time of entry. – phoog yesterday
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1@MikeScott the UDHR has no force of law in any country that I'm aware of (which is only a few countries). Regardless, the right to leave one's own country does not preclude an exit visa requirement. – phoog yesterday
This is highly dependent on the country, but authorities will often want to check that you didn't overstay.
If you did, the immediate consequences could range from nothing at all (they're happy you're leaving) to a fine (often computed as an amount per day over the allowed stay) to jail time (though countries usually prefer to throw people out rather than feed them -- but it may be the consequence of not being able or willing to pay the fine).
There's also a big chance the overstayer will be banned from returning for a period that could range from months to forever. Even if not outright banned, it will usually make future visa applications more difficult, as you would be considered not to be trustworthy.
Note that some countries share such data with others, so even if you don't intend to ever return to said country (and never is a very long time), it could affect your prospects elsewhere.
Some countries do not have exit checks at all (the US and the UK, notably), so there's very little chance you could be fined or prevented from leaving (unless you are wanted for other reasons, of course), but they will know when you left and will be aware of any overstays with the same consequences as above in terms of possible bans or difficulty re-applying.
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For example in Canada you get a work permit / student permit to stay legally. That determines your length of stay. The document specifies that certain date by which you should leave. In that case Visa becomes a travel document if you want to renter Canada. What would you suggest in that case? Still visa required? The reason I am asking is when you apply to extend your stay they don't issue a Visa but work permit or student permit etc. – Sam 2 days ago
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1@Sam, Ah, I think I now understand your issue. You don't need a visa in addition to a work permit. The work permit acts as a visa. If it's still valid, just present it at the border if requested (I don't know if the work permit is a separate document or a sticker/stamp in the passport). If the work permit is expired, then you have a problem. – jcaron 2 days ago
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Work permit is a seperate document other than the Visa stamped on passport. Also during the journey there are layovers and you board different flights. Will they check for the Valid Visa there? For example if you move from Canada to India you may have a layover at London or Frankfurt or Paris or Amsterdam etc. – Sam 2 days ago
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The airline only worry about your right to enter the destination country and transit at layover points. Unless you need a visa (from the country you are transiting through) at one of the layover points (because the flights are in separate bookings or you change airports, stay overnight, or other reason to go through passport control in one of those countries, or you need an airport transit visa), they don’t care much. You can check visa requirements for all transit points using iatatravelcentre.com – jcaron 2 days ago
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If you need a transit visa at any layover point, there are often exceptions for people going to/coming from Canada with a work permit or visa from Canada. Other than that specific situation, airlines won’t care about a visa for Canada. – jcaron 2 days ago
Exit visas exist:
Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates all have an exit visa requirement for alien foreign workers. This is part of their kafala work visa sponsorship system. Consequently, at the end of a foreign worker's employment period, the worker must secure clearance from their employer stating that the worker has satisfactorily fulfilled the terms of their employment contract or that the worker's services are no longer needed. The exit visa can also be withheld if there are pending court charges that need to be settled or penalties that have to be meted out.
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