Frequently Asked Questions: I-94 Arrival/Departure Record

The following FAQs and additional information can be found here: Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W

What is a Form I-94?

Form I-94 is the DHS Arrival/Departure Record issued to aliens who are admitted to the U.S., who are adjusting status while in the U.S. or extending their stay, among other things. A CBP officer generally attaches the I-94 to the non-immigrant visitor’s passport upon U.S. entry. The visitor must exit the U.S. on or before the departure date stamped on the I-94.

How will the new I-94 automation impact international travelers’ entry to the U.S.?

I-94 automation will not impact a traveler’s ability to enter the U.S. CBP will continue to create an I- 94 record for all travelers who require one, but the paper form will be created in an electronic format and not provided to the traveler. If a traveler requires a paper version of Form I-94, it will be available at www.cbp.gov/I94

Will CBP provide a traveler with any documentation or evidence showing status and time allowed in the U.S.?

Yes. CBP will provide each traveler with an admission stamp that is annotated with date of admission, class of admission and admitted until date. The electronic arrival/departure record can be obtained at www.cbp.gov/I94.

Will travelers need to do anything differently when exiting the U.S.? How can they be sure their departure will be recorded properly with this new the I-94 automation process?

Travelers will not need to do anything differently upon exiting the U.S. Travelers issued a paper Form I-94 should surrender it to the commercial carrier or CBP upon departure. The departure will be recorded electronically with manifest information provided by the carrier or by CBP. If travelers did not receive a paper Form I-94 and the record was created electronically, CBP will record their departure using manifest information obtained from the carrier.

How does a traveler revalidate a visa without their I-94?

The I-94 admission record is created electronically and maintained in CBP systems. CBP will verify the I-94 electronically to re-validate an expired visa if the traveler meets the conditions of automatic revalidation. If entry occurred prior to automation, a paper form must be presented in order to comply with validation requirements. 

Will CBP still issue a paper Form I-94 once the automation begins?

No. Rather than distributing a paper Form I-94, CBP will scan a traveler’s passport, generating an electronic arrival record with data elements found on the current paper Form I-94. CBP will make the electronic I-94 available at www.cbp.gov/I94. Travelers may visit this website to print their electronic I-94 number before applying for immigration or public benefits, such as a driver’s license or a Social Security number. Since automation only affects air and sea arrivals, a paper Form I-94 is still issued at the land border ports of entry. Also, CBP intends to continue to provide a paper Form I-94 to certain classes of aliens, such as refugees, certain asylees and parolees, and whenever CBP determines the issuance of a paper form is appropriate.

What should a traveler do if he or she was admitted incorrectly to the U.S.?

If an applicant was admitted incorrectly to the U.S., the applicant should visit a local CBP Deferred Inspection Site or port of entry to have his or her admission corrected. A list of Deferred Inspection Sites and ports of entry can be found at www.cbp.gov, under the “Ports” link at the bottom of the page. If an applicant received an incorrect I-94 from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the applicant should refer to Form I-102 available at www.uscis.gov/ forms.

Will the process help expedite passenger processing time?

The I-94 automation will expedite passenger processing. CBP automated the I-94W process in 2010, which independent studies show has resulted in an approximate 20- second time savings per passenger. CBP estimates that I- 94 automation will result in similar time savings.

What is the I-94 website (www.cbp.gov/I94)?

Travelers may visit www.cbp.gov/I94 to retrieve their electronic I-94 number. Upon entering the U.S., travelers will receive a paper with instructions on how to access the website.

CBP to Rollout New Arrival/Departure-Record Process for Foreign Visitors

From CBP.gov, 04/02/2013

Foreign visitors arriving in the U.S.—only via air or sea—who need to prove their legal-visitor status—to employers, schools/universities or government agencies—will be able to access their U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrival/departure record information online when the agency starts its records automation on April 30, 2013.

When the electronic rollout begins April 30, CBP will no longer require international non-immigrant visitors to fill out a paper Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record upon arrival to the U.S. by air or sea. The agency will gather travelers’ arrival/departure information automatically from their electronic travel records. This automation will streamline the entry process for travelers, facilitate security and reduce federal costs. CBP anticipates that the automated process will save the agency an estimated $15.5 million a year. 

Because advance information is only transmitted for air and sea travelers, CBP will still issue a paper form I-94 at land border ports of entry.

CBP will phase-in the Form I-94 automation at air and sea ports of entry through April and May. Foreign visitors will continue to receive the paper Form I-94 until the automated process arrives at their port of entry. Following automation, if travelers need the information from their Form I-94 admission record to verify immigration status or employment authorization, the record number and other admission information will be available at CBP.gov/I94.

With the new CBP process, a CBP officer will stamp the travel document of each arriving non-immigrant traveler. The admission stamp will show the date of admission, class of admission, and the date that the traveler is admitted until. Travelers will also receive on arrival a flier alerting them to go to CBP.gov/I94 for their admission record information.

Travelers will not need to do anything differently upon exiting the U.S. Travelers previously issued a paper Form I-94 would surrender it to the commercial carrier or to CBP upon departure. If travelers did not receive a paper Form I-94, CBP will record the departure electronically via manifest information provided by the carrier or by CBP.

PLEASE NOTE: CBP.gov/I94 will not be live until the end of April, 2013.

Implementation Schedule 

Implementation will begin on April 30 at five pilot ports of entry and will continue to the remaining ports of entry over a total of four weeks.

Week 1	04/30/2013	Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Las Vegas Airport, Chicago O’Hare and Miami International Airport
Week 2	05/07/2013	Major Air and Sea Ports within the following field offices: New York, Boston, Buffalo, Baltimore, Detroit, Atlanta, Tampa, Puerto Rico, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans and Houston
Week 3	05/14/2013	Major Air and Sea ports within the following field offices: Pre-Clearance, San Francisco (includes Hawaii and Guam), Tucson, El Paso, Seattle, Portland (includes Alaska), Los Angeles, San Diego and Laredo
Week 4	05/21/2013	All remaining airports and seaports

H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Cap Season

On April 1, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began to accept H-1B cap filings for employment in Fiscal Year 2014, which begins October 1, 2013. For FY 2014 there are 85,000 cap slots – 65,000 standard cap numbers and 20,000 additional numbers for holders of U.S. advanced degrees. Projections indicate the cap will be exhausted quickly, but not all H-1B filings are subject.

The cap does not apply to institutions of higher education or their related research centers. It also does not apply to nonprofit research or government research organizations. Therefore Georgia Tech is not subject to the H-1B cap. 

Cap Amounts

The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000. Not all H-1B nonimmigrants are subject to this annual cap. Up to 6,800 visas are set aside from the cap of 65,000 during each fiscal year for the H-1B program under the terms of the legislation implementing the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements. Unused numbers in this pool are made available for H-1B use for the next fiscal year.

How USCIS Determines if an H-1B Petition is Subject to the FY 2014 Cap

The information provided in Part C of the H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement (Form I-129, pages 17 through 19) determines whether a petition is subject to the 65,000 H-1B numerical limitation (the "cap"). Some petitions are exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption provided to the first 20,000 petitions filed for a beneficiary who has obtained a U.S. master's degree or higher. Unless otherwise exempt from the cap, petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries who have obtained a U.S. master's degree or higher will be counted against the regular cap once USCIS has received sufficient petitions to reach the advanced degree exemption.

How to Determine if your H-1B Petition is Subject to the FY 2014 Cap

Petitions for new H-1B employment are exempt from the annual cap if the beneficiaries will work at institutions of higher education or related or affiliated nonprofit entities, nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations. Petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries who will work only in Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are exempt from the cap until Dec. 31, 2014. Employers may continue to file petitions for these cap-exempt H-1B categories seeking work dates starting in fiscal year (FY) 2013.

Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap also do not count toward the congressionally mandated H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to process FY 2013 petitions filed to:

• Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States.
• Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers.
• Allow current H-1B workers to change employers. 
• Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

When to File an FY 2014 H-1B Cap-Subject Petition

USCIS began accepting H-1B petitions that are subject to the FY 2014 cap on April 1, 2013. You may file an H-1B petition no more than 6 months in advance of the requested start date. H-1B cap petitions received no later than April 5, 2013 have the best chance of being accepted for processing, and employers should do their utmost to file cases so that they are received at USCIS by this date. But employers who are unable to file by April 5 should nonetheless continue to submit their cap petitions. The H-1B cap is likely to be reached in the first five days of the filing, but in the event that it is not, cases filed after April 5 could still secure a cap number.

Find additional details on the USCIS on the H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Cap Season website.