Penalty for Overstaying U.S. VISA?

What kind of Visa? Or is it the standard visitor’s ESTA (visa waiver) for multiple visits?

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

You are asking the wrong people. Is this something guest is planning to do? (If so, don’t do it) is something already done? Contact CBP immediately.

Cannot guaranty what will happen, but in 2018 my about to become daughter-in-law overstayed her student visa from Iceland by about 3 months. She ran into no issues when they left the US late that summer, nor any issues re-entering Iceland. The biggest hassle was with them marrying I needed her to apply for an ITN, which requires physical proofs. Live near Philadelphia and the IRS Regional office here has walk-in for this - and that is when I found out she was overstayed because they had to admit why they could not go in and get this. This amounted to a lot of nonsense down the road to get her this documentation, without which my son could not file the needed joint return (since among others, they needed the marriage to show through the records for her Green card. Oy.)

I suspect the exit passport scan will make it very clear to the Immigration official that the houseguest has overstayed his visa; I don't think it will go unnoticed. What will happen, I do not know.

“Staying beyond the period of time authorized, by the Department of Homeland Security, and out-of-status in the United States, is a violation of U.S. immigration laws, and may cause you to be ineligible for a visa in the future for return travel to the United States.”

Not sure I would want to test this in today’s political climate.

Margie just posted the official rule that I could not find right away. The consequence of over-staying is a possible ban on a return visit.

There is no immigration check when exiting from the US, nothing will be recorded that could be referenced in the future. It isn't a good idea to do it, though.

There is no immigration check when exiting from the US, nothing will be recorded that could be referenced in the future.

There is no immigration check, but that doesn't mean that nothing is recorded. There are various ways for the US government to create an exit record:

• Likely most relevant in this situation, airlines with flights to / from / through the US must share passenger data with the US government
• The Canadian border agency shares records of travelers exiting to Canada by land with the US government

Non-US travelers can check their arrival and departure records on the I94 website and, knowing several non-Americans in person and having helped them check their records, it's definitely not the case that only arrivals and not departures are recorded.

Check with an immigration lawyer. I know someone in this situation - the answers aren't as simple as many above suggest. Many factors can enter in.

With the information void, there is no way anyone here can provide a useful answer.

The 'contact CBP' is probably the best suggestion; whether an attorney is needed, will be driven by what CBP says, and whether he has any plans to return to the US.

If he is leaving late because he was mugged and hospitalized and couldn't leave at the correct time is not the same as choosing to leave 'late' because he couldn't count the days correctly or chose a cheaper airfare a few days later than his end date on the visa.

This isn’t exactly the same thing, but could apply. In 2003 my cousin in Germany asked if her cousin (other side of the family) could come stay with us for a short time. She had just graduated from high school and wanted to immerse herself in English because she wanted to go into the hospitality business. I asked how long and was told 3 months. Unbeknownst to me the cousin applied for a 6 month visa. It was denied. She appealed it and I wrote a letter explaining the relationship, that she wouldn’t be working for me or anyone else, that we would be supporting her, etc. They denied her again. The long term consequences have been that she can’t enter the U.S. She went to work for Volkswagen and travels internationally for her job. She just can’t come here.

If your house guest overstays it could result in something similar.

The useful answer is don't break the law and you have no worries.