How to get rid of wanted tag?

This information is out of date as of version 1.3 of the game.

No, there is no timer. If you are Wanted you will have a bounty on your head. To clear the "wanted" tag you must pay the bounty.

You can do this by docking at any space station and going to Contacts -> Pilot's Federation. If you are currently docked, this is easy. If you are in space then if you will not be allowed to dock with a station that is controlled by the faction that you are wanted with (and they will shoot at you too). In this case you will need to fly to a station belonging to somebody else to pay the fine.

NB Information based on gamma test; may not apply to release version.

Maybe it's because I had a meager one(286cr) but it seems my fine was removed with a small wait and hyperspace jump.

As of the 1.3 Power Play update, this has now changed.

There are two types of status illict activities can net you:

• A Fine: Ships will not pursue you and will not attack you. You must pay this fine off at a station affiliated with the faction that issued the fine. If you do not pay off the fine, it will eventually turn into a bounty.

• A Bounty: You can no longer pay off your bounty. Instead, bounties will simply expire after some time. Currently that seems to range from 12 hours to 1 week.

If you do incur a bounty, you can simply leave that space until the bounty expires. If you choose the stay in the space, you will show up as 'Wanted' and other NPCs and CMDRs will target you for it.

It is also possible to buy a sidewinder and let a npc in the wanted space kill you. This allows them to collect the bounty and you will be able to pay a small insurance fee and respawn without the bounty.

The Transactions page tells you how long you have to pay the fine and how long any bounty will remain live. It gave me a scare when I got one (I was supposed to disable the ships in a mission, not kill them!). I got a 6.5K bounty and wanted status in that system for 6 days.

I accidentally shot a 'clean' one during a dog fight at one of the nav beacons. Got a 400cr bounty. Under transactions it said "On H-Jump". So I jumped to another system and the entry was gone from the transactions tab. However, after docking at the next station and going to the Local Security Office under Contacts there was a new entry under 'Legacy Fines' for 400cr from that earlier incident. There you select to pay the bounty that turned into a fine. A bit confusing how they change from bounty to fine.

In 2020, it seems if you are wanted, you can either:

• Get caught and destroyed by security ships. You will be transported to a detention center, and have to repurchase your ship.

• Turn yourself in to one of the contacts (at a station aligned with the faction you are wanted by). You will be transported to a detention center, but you get to keep your current ship.

• Pay off the bounty against you, by finding a contact who is an Interstellar Factor.

  Interstellar Factor contacts are generally found in systems with low security. To identify systems with an Interstellar Factor, open the Galaxy Map and set it to map mode. Then, select "Services" from the drop-down menu and check "Interstellar Factors".

In the op's case, if he cannot escape the station's security forces, than handing himself in might be the preferable option.