To check your I-94 expiration date online, go to i94.cbp.dhs.gov and select “Get Most Recent I-94.” You’ll need your passport in hand. The date you’re looking for is labeled “Admit Until Date,” and it’s the last day you’re legally authorized to remain in the United States, regardless of what your visa stamp says.1CBP.gov. I-94 Expiration Dates The lookup takes about two minutes.
Pulling Up Your Record on the CBP Website
After you agree to the terms of service, the site asks for five pieces of information: first name, last name, date of birth, passport number, and the country that issued your passport.2U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W Every field has to match your passport exactly. A slight variation in name spelling is the most common reason the system returns nothing.
Once your record loads, it shows your admission number, class of admission, date of entry, and the Admit Until Date. Save it as a PDF or print it. Do this within a few days of arriving so you catch any mistake while it’s still easy to fix.
The CBP Link Mobile App
The CBP Link app does the same lookup on your phone.3U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Link Mobile Application It’s free and available nationwide.
Travel History on the Same Site
The I-94 site also has a “Get Travel History” option showing your U.S. arrivals and departures over the past ten years.4Homeland Security. I-94/I-95 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) It’s worth a look if you want to confirm CBP recorded a past departure. A missing departure can create the false appearance of an overstay.
What the Admit Until Date Actually Means
People confuse the I-94 date with their visa expiration constantly, and the mistake causes accidental overstays. Your visa is an entry document. It lets you show up at the border and ask to come in. Your I-94 is the stay document, and it tells you when you have to be gone.1CBP.gov. I-94 Expiration Dates
A visa stamp can be good for ten years. If your I-94 says you can stay only until a date three months from now, three months is your limit. Staying past it starts unlawful presence even if the stamp in your passport is still valid.
“D/S” Instead of a Date
Some categories don’t get a calendar date. F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors usually see “D/S” on their I-94, which stands for Duration of Status.1CBP.gov. I-94 Expiration Dates That means your stay lasts as long as you’re enrolled and following the terms of your program. If you’re an F-1 student and your I-94 shows a hard date instead of “D/S,” flag it with your school’s international student office immediately. A specific date will cut your stay short regardless of how long your program runs.5Study in the States. F-1 Students: Remember to Check for D/S on Your Form I-94
When Your Passport Cuts the Date Short
CBP will not grant a stay that runs past your passport’s expiration. If your passport expires in four months but your visa category would normally allow six, your I-94 will show four months.6Foreign Affairs Manual. NIV Issuances – 9 FAM 403.9 Some countries have agreements treating passports as valid for six months past their printed date, but that’s the exception. Renew your passport well before it expires if you plan to enter or remain in the U.S.
The Compliance Check and Email Reminders
CBP has a built-in compliance check on the I-94 site. Click the “View Compliance” tab after your record loads and it will tell you whether you’re still within your authorized stay.7U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Traveler Compliance CBP also emails travelers when they have ten days or fewer remaining, and sends notifications about potential overstay violations. Those emails only reach people whose contact information CBP has on file, so don’t wait for one. Check the site yourself.
What Happens If You Stay Past the Date
Overstaying is one of the most consequential immigration mistakes you can make, and the penalties scale sharply with the length of the overstay. The day after your authorized stay ends, you begin accruing unlawful presence.
- Your visa is voided immediately. Under federal law, a nonimmigrant visa is automatically void the moment you stay past the end of your authorized admission. You generally have to apply for a new one from a consulate in your home country.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1202 – Application for Visas
- Three-year bar. More than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence, followed by a voluntary departure, triggers a three-year bar on reentry.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
- Ten-year bar. One year or more of unlawful presence, followed by departure or removal, jumps the bar to ten years.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
- Permanent bar. More than one year of unlawful presence total, followed by leaving and then reentering or trying to reenter without being formally admitted, makes you permanently inadmissible. Overcoming that requires ten years outside the country and then applying for consent to reapply.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility
Narrow exceptions exist. Time under age 18 doesn’t count toward unlawful presence, and neither does time while a bona fide asylum application is pending.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens For most people, a few weeks of carelessness can lock them out of the country for years.
Extending Your Stay Before the Date Passes
If you need more time than your I-94 gives you, you can apply to extend your stay with Form I-539.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status USCIS recommends filing at least 45 days before your Admit Until Date and generally no more than six months ahead of it.12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status Not all categories can use I-539. H-1B workers, for example, extend through an employer-driven petition instead.
Timing is the whole game. If USCIS receives your application after your status has already expired, you’re out of status and face a much higher bar. Late filings are excused only when the delay resulted from extraordinary circumstances beyond your control, the delay was reasonable, you haven’t otherwise violated your status, and you aren’t in removal proceedings.12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status That exception is rarely granted in practice. File early.
Fixing a Wrong Date or Other Error
If your I-94 shows the wrong expiration date, a misspelled name, or an incorrect class of admission, act fast. The fix depends on who created the record.
For errors on an I-94 that CBP issued at a port of entry, visit a CBP Deferred Inspection Site. These sit at major international airports and handle corrections to both electronic and paper records. Bring your passport, visa, and documentation supporting the correct information. Your admission stamp often shows the right date even when the electronic record doesn’t. For simpler electronic errors where your passport stamp is correct, you may be able to request a fix through CBP’s Traveler Communication Center without going in person.
If USCIS issued the I-94 as part of an approved extension or change of status and that record contains a mistake, the correction goes through USCIS. File Form I-102 with a letter explaining the error and evidence of the correct information.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-102, Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document The filing fee is $560.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-102, Instructions for Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document If USCIS made the error, attach the original form with the mistake so the agency can see what went wrong.