[rtpg]

I am a bit flummoxed how you can stay in the country after a permit expires. I’m not for stricter rules but I’ve heard this from several people (I think people in the US as well) and it seems like “permit to enter/leave” is a very weird structure instead of “permit to be here”.

I think most immigration offices in the world are pretty much black boxes, mainly because that’s their coping mechanism to deal with the influx of bargaining from rejections they would otherwise have. But it would be nice to have… some proof of progress.

[troupo]

> I am a bit flummoxed how you can stay in the country after a permit expires.

In many countries this is viewed as "it's not your fault, it's the state's fault that the state hasn't processed your application yet, so we will not punish you for the state's tardiness"

[rtpg]

Hmmm… that makes more sense. My experience was getting a visa automatically extended for N months on application, and applications not ever being processed slower than that. But I can totally see the US having wild backlog, for example

[troupo]

In Sweden I waited for my citizenship for almost two years, but yeah it surely sucks

[csomar]

> I am a bit flummoxed how you can stay in the country after a permit expires.

I think most countries are like this. Essentially, you are in a "on-hold" status until immigration decides your fate. It's supposed to be temporary but it can take years depending on the country and the circumstance.

[ant6n]

This exists in Canada as well. Ad long as u apply for the next resident permit (e.g. student permit) before the old one expires u have an „implied status“ that continues as long as u don’t leave the country.