Removal and Overstay - a Fine, a Ban and a Decision a Court Can Suspend
In immigration law the most expensive mistake is a single day: a period that is "almost" observed is unlawful stay - with a fine, refusal to accept an application and the risk of an entry restriction. And this in the country where entry is easiest: the visa-free year convinces foreigners that deadlines are "flexible" until they are refused entry at the border or a removal decision arrives in the post.
This page describes what happens in the event of an overstay or removal and what can be done: how the fine is calculated and what follows it, why a "visa run" is a risk rather than a strategy, what procedure a removal decision requires and how it is suspended in court, which arguments work (family, children, health, danger in the country of return), how long an entry ban lasts and how it is lifted early, and what options remain for someone who has already overstayed. Residence permit refusals have their own page.
Updated · Practice area: Immigration lawyer
Five Situations and What Is Done in Each
There are several steps between an overstay and removal, and different action is still possible at each of them.
Challenging a Removal Decision - the Stages
Analysing the decision and the deadlines on day one
A removal act must be in writing, with a ground, a voluntary departure period and a statement of how it can be challenged; the lawyer checks the date of service, how the period runs, the authority of the issuing body and the duration of the entry ban, which is a separate act. The deadline is short - the challenge is measured in days, not weeks.
The motion to suspend
A request to suspend enforcement filed with the claim: an executed removal is irreversible - the person is outside the country, the family is split, and the case drags on. The motion describes the irreversible harm specifically: the children's school, medical treatment, the business, the marriage. This is the first and most urgent document.
The proportionality file
The court weighs removal between interests: on one side the state's interest and the gravity of the breach, on the other family life, the children's interests, health, the length of integration, danger in the country of return. The lawyer fills that side with documents - marriage certificate, school certificates, medical reports, business and tax records.
Reducing the gravity of the breach
The ground for removal is often an overstay - and its circumstances (a pandemic, illness, a lost document, waiting for the agency to decide an application) matter: the lawyer shows that the breach was not deliberate, the fine has been paid and the person has no other violations. A "first and unintentional" breach changes the proportionality assessment.
Parallel legalisation
Where a genuine ground for legalisation exists (a Georgian spouse, a citizen child, a business with turnover, property), the lawyer files a residence application in parallel - a granted application makes the removal moot. This strategy is faster than litigation where the ground really exists.
Lifting the ban and returning
Even after removal the entry ban is a separate matter: its duration and ground can be challenged, and early lifting can be sought on family, medical or business circumstances. The lawyer files the lifting application at the moment when the circumstance is documented most strongly - on the birth of a child or a need for treatment, for example.
One Day, a "Visa Run" and the Fine - How This Actually Works
The visa-free year runs in calendar days from the day of entry, and its expiry without a permit or visa is unlawful stay from the very first day - regardless of whether you work, study or have a family here. The fine grows with the length of the overstay and is paid on departure; an unpaid fine resurfaces at the next entry. But the main consequence is not the fine: after an overstay the agency as a rule no longer accepts a residence application - the route to legalisation closes by itself and has to be "reopened" by departing and paying the fine.
A "visa run" - crossing the border and returning to start a new year - formally works, but it is not a strategy: the border police have discretion to refuse entry, and they use it increasingly against people who actually live in Georgia and systematically "reset" at the border. On refusal the person stays outside the country - with a flat, a business and a family in Georgia - and the only way back is a residence ground, which is far harder to build from outside. So the lawyer treats a "visa run" as a one-off, planned step - taken when a residence application is already in preparation.
A separate question is what happens when the overstay has already occurred and departure is difficult - illness, a child's school, ongoing court proceedings, missing documents. The law provides narrow exceptions: family and humanitarian grounds, the asylum procedure (which suspends removal), a medical condition. The lawyer's job is a realistic assessment of those exceptions - in many cases the cheapest solution is a planned departure, payment of the fine and a properly prepared application from abroad, not "waiting for it to resolve itself".
What a Removal and Overstay Case Rests On
- The visa-free period
- One year from entry for citizens of more than a hundred countries, in calendar days; the period does not depend on your activity and does not renew automatically. It restarts on each entry, but admission lies in the police's discretion.
- Overstay fine
- In the statutory amount according to the length of the overstay, payable on departure; non-payment is a ground for restricting the next entry and for further sanctions. Paying the fine does not by itself legalise the stay.
- Removal procedure
- A written, reasoned decision with a voluntary departure period and a statement of how to challenge it; a challenge goes to court with a request to suspend enforcement. A breach of procedure (no departure period, no reasons) is an independent ground.
- Non-refoulement
- A person is not removed to a country where they face torture, inhuman treatment or persecution; removal is suspended while an asylum procedure is pending. This is an international obligation that applies directly in court.
- Entry ban
- Follows removal or a serious breach, for the statutory period; it is a separate act challenged separately, and early lifting is possible on family, medical or other weighty circumstances.
- Detention pending removal
- Permitted only where removal is genuinely possible and alternative measures are insufficient; the period is limited by law and subject to court review. Where removal becomes impossible, detention must end.
After a Removal Decision or a Fine - the First Steps
- The full text of the decision and the envelope with the date of service - the deadline runs from that date, not from the date of the decision.
- Recording the voluntary departure period and the duration of the entry ban - two different periods, challenged separately.
- Reconstructing the history of stay: entry and exit records, visas, permits, applications to the agency - how many days and why.
- Documents of family ties: marriage, children's birth and schooling, the spouse's citizenship - for the proportionality file.
- Medical documents if treatment is ongoing, and evidence of danger if there is a risk in the country of return.
- Business and property documents: company, taxes, employees, real estate - as a basis for parallel legalisation.
Three Removal and Overstay Cases
A removal from the family that the court suspended
A foreign father with a Georgian wife and two children was ordered removed with an entry ban after an overstay. The lawyer: a claim and a motion to suspend in the same week, a proportionality file (the children's school, the wife's citizenship, taxes paid) and the circumstances of the overstay (waiting for the agency to decide an application). The court suspended enforcement, then annulled the removal; residence was granted on the family ground.
Refusal of entry after a fifth "visa run"
A foreigner had lived in Georgia for several years, leaving at the border each year; on the fifth return he was refused entry. The lawyer: a request for the written ground and a challenge, and in parallel an entrepreneur residence application based on his Georgian company's turnover, filed through a representative. Residence was granted and entry restored; the lawyer's recommendation was to stop the visa runs.
A detention replaced by an alternative measure
After a long overstay a foreigner was detained for the purpose of removal, although his country of citizenship would not issue a document and removal was effectively impossible. The lawyer: a request for court review, proof of the impossibility of removal through correspondence with the consulate, a motion for an alternative measure (registration and a duty to report). The detention ended; in parallel an application for humanitarian status was filed.
Questions About Removal and Overstay
I have overstayed by two weeks. Is it better to leave or to apply for residence?
After an overstay a residence application is as a rule no longer accepted, so the first step is to "close the overstay": a planned departure with payment of the fine. Then a new entry (if no ban is imposed) and an application filed during lawful stay. The exceptions are narrow - family and humanitarian grounds, asylum. The lawyer checks your specific days, because the consequences of two weeks and two months differ.
A removal decision arrived and I have 10 days. Will a court manage in time?
The claim and the motion to suspend are filed the same or the next day; the court decides suspension urgently, often within days, and a suspended act cannot be enforced until the case is heard. If suspension is refused, voluntary departure within the remaining period is better than forced removal - it shortens the entry ban and makes a future application easier. The lawyer prepares both scenarios in parallel.
I have been banned from entering. Is that permanent?
No - a ban has a statutory duration that depends on the gravity of the breach; its duration and ground can be challenged, and early lifting can be sought if a weighty circumstance arises - a Georgian spouse, the birth of a child, medical treatment, a significant investment. The lifting application must be built on documents so that the authority has a concrete answer to the question "what has changed".
I was working and paying taxes but let the period slip. Does that count in my favour?
In the proportionality assessment - yes: taxes paid, employees, property and family show that the person is integrated and the breach is formal rather than systematic. It does not cancel the fine, but it weighs heavily on the questions of removal and a ban, especially in court. The lawyer attaches these documents to the claim rather than explaining them orally.
I have applied for asylum. Does that suspend removal?
Yes - while an asylum procedure is pending, removal of the person is suspended, and that follows from the principle of non-refoulement. But using asylum as a tool to avoid removal is dangerous: an unfounded application ends in refusal, removal resumes after it, and the application history is visible in future immigration cases. The lawyer first assesses the genuine ground - the danger must be individual and capable of being documented.
Lawyers for Removal and Overstay Cases
In a removal case the first document is the motion to suspend - an executed removal cannot be undone. Within 15 minutes the coordinator connects you with a lawyer who litigates removal and entry ban cases and knows how refusals at the border are challenged.
No published lawyers in this category yet
That does not mean we cannot help. Call us - we will match you with a specialist for a remote consultation or from a nearby city.
Call: 568 330 318A Removal Decision, a Fine or a Refusal at the Border - With the Deadline Counted in Days?
At a free consultation the lawyer tells you how many days you have to challenge, sets out which arguments the suspension motion must rest on and whether your overstay can still be cured through legalisation. The coordinator calls you back in 15 minutes, in English or Russian if you need it.