When leaving the US after a visa overstay will I be delayed and miss my flight?

Question

European, overstayed for several years, leaving from LAX. No longer have original passport with the I-94 I entered the US on, just a (valid) renewed passport. It's also unlikely I will have a photographic match in the system when photograph is taken at boarding. I know many people online claim that there is never an issue in leaving the US and I'm sure this was true in the past but a recent CBP document says this:

"If the system checks yield no derogatory information, the CBP officer allows the traveler to board/continue travel. Based on the inspection results and the queries using the newly collected biometric and biographic data, if CBP finds actionable derogatory information on the traveler, the CBP officer may escort the traveler to the FIS area to conduct further questioning and take the appropriate actions under CBP's law enforcement authorities."

Section 7 No Match Procedures, 3rd and 4th paragraphs: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/19/2020-24707/collection-of-biometric-data-from

Answer 1

I answered this question in practice by actually doing it yesterday on the flight from LAX to London. Almost everybody who wrote an answer turned out to be wrong. There was indeed Biometric Exit which I failed as expected but fortunately on this occasion it was supervized by airline crew and not CBP and so I was not delayed unduly and made the flight.

Answer 2

There is international policy that would be relevant here: Article 13.2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

Basically, they cannot keep you from leaving, unless under proper jurisdiction have a legal right to detain you for a crime (which would be something more serious than an overstay).

In my own experiences with overstays, it greatly depends on the country and officer. I can't comment about the U.S., being a citizen. In the few instances I've had overstays in places...

Ecuador - total accident, immigration refused to take my extension over BS about their office hours, was stuck there several extra months - officer at exit simply smiled and stamped me out asking how my stay was

France - Technically I had an extra 90 days by way of an old treaty, but either way, they generally looked confused at my stamps and just stamped me out (had recently gotten my passport washed - washing machine incident...)

Spain - Known for being lax, I was simply stamped out as usual with a one month overstay, also somewhat unplanned

Cambodia - Ugh, they will fine you by the day, at no small cost - three days overstay was like a $50 fine, and nearly an hour of extra paperwork being stalled at the security checkpoint... don't recommend.

I guess the point here is you generally shouldn't worry. I would plan to go to the airport a couple extra hours early in case someone pulls you aside. Don't get nervous or defensive if this happens. You know what you've done, know that you have every right to leave the country, they may just want to ask the why of it all, and decide whether or not to apply a ban to your passport. Just building in this extra time may relieve some stress, though.

Don't worry, you should have no problem leaving. The question is more whether or not you'll be allowed the right to return. Be especially kind and respectful on exit, and hope you get away with just a regular exit stamp.