How to Get Your I-94 After Asylum Is Granted

After your asylum is granted, USCIS issues a Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, stamped “asylum granted indefinitely,” and how you get your I-94 after asylum is granted depends on who decided your case. If a USCIS asylum officer approved your application, the I-94 is mailed to you with your approval notice. If an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals granted asylum, USCIS creates and mails the I-94 after the decision becomes administratively final, and you can prompt them if it does not arrive.¹

If a USCIS Asylum Office Granted Your Case

An affirmative grant comes with a package in the mail: the approval notice and the I-94 card stamped “asylum granted indefinitely,” sent to the address you have on file with USCIS.² If the approval arrives but the I-94 is missing, or something on it looks wrong, contact the USCIS asylum office with jurisdiction over where you now live.³

Confirm your mailing address is current before the interview and update it right away if you move. You can change your address through the USCIS Change of Address tool online or by calling the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283. A stale address is the most common reason the I-94 goes astray.

If an Immigration Judge or the BIA Granted Your Case

A judge’s grant becomes administratively final when the appeal period passes with no appeal filed, or when the BIA issues its final ruling. USCIS then generally creates and mails your I-94 without requiring you to appear in person.¹

If 45 days pass after the decision becomes final and nothing has arrived, take one of two steps:

Call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY: 800-767-1833). Have the judge’s final order and an identity document in front of you.
Book an in-person appointment through the myUSCIS appointment tool at my.uscis.gov, selecting “Immigration Judge Grant” as the reason.⁴

Bring a copy of the final order from the immigration judge or the BIA to your appointment, along with identity documents such as a passport, driver’s license, or USCIS-issued employment authorization document.⁵ An officer can verify the court’s decision and provide the I-94 during the visit.

Checking for an Electronic I-94 Online

U.S. Customs and Border Protection runs an online portal at i94.cbp.dhs.gov where some travelers can retrieve an electronic I-94.⁶ The portal is built primarily for people processed at a port of entry, so if you were already inside the United States when asylum was granted, your record may not be there. It’s worth checking anyway, especially if you entered at a port of entry.

To search, enter your first and last name exactly as recorded during the asylum process, your date of birth, and either your passport number or your Alien Registration Number (A-Number). Your A-Number is the letter “A” followed by seven, eight, or nine digits, assigned by the Department of Homeland Security.⁷ You’ll find it on your asylum approval notice, prior USCIS correspondence, or your employment authorization document. If the number has fewer than nine digits, pad it with a zero after the “A” to reach nine.

If the portal returns no result or shows incorrect information, go back to USCIS using the phone or appointment methods above. The CBP portal is a lookup tool, not the office that issues an asylee I-94.

What Your Asylee I-94 Should Show

An asylee I-94 does not look like the departure-dated card given to tourists. When it arrives, check that the admission stamp shows:⁸

A legend reading “Asylum status granted pursuant to section 208 of the INA valid to (date).”
A validity period, generally shown as “indefinite,” meaning no expiration date on your authorized stay.
An action date, which is the date asylum was granted.
Your A-Number, typed or handwritten on the front or back of the card.

The physical asylee card does not display a class of admission code, unlike records for most other immigration categories.⁸ It may carry the notation “Employment Authorized” and sometimes a photo. An electronic record pulled from the CBP portal, by contrast, may show an admission class code such as “AY.” The card itself is the document you’ll rely on with employers and the Social Security Administration, so verify each field against your approval notice or judge’s order the day it arrives.

Fixing Errors on Your I-94

A misspelled name, wrong date of birth, or incorrect grant date on the I-94 can cause problems with employers, Social Security, and later immigration filings. The correction route depends on who issued the document.

If a USCIS asylum office issued the I-94, contact the asylum office with jurisdiction over your current residence to request a corrected record.³
If CBP issued the I-94 at a port of entry, visit a CBP Deferred Inspection Site. Any designated site or CBP office at an international airport can help, regardless of where the original was issued. These offices generally do not handle mail-in requests, so call ahead and book an appointment.⁹
If you received an ADIT stamp (temporary Green Card) on a Form I-94 that contains an error, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY: 800-767-1833) to arrange a corrected document.³

When the error was the government’s rather than something you wrote incorrectly, you generally don’t pay a fee to fix it.³ Bring the flawed I-94, a government-issued ID showing your legal name and date of birth, and a short written statement of what needs to change.

Documents to Have Ready Before You Contact USCIS

Whether you’re calling, booking an appointment, or heading to a CBP office, gather these first:

The asylum approval letter from USCIS, or the signed final order from the immigration judge or BIA.
Your A-Number, taken from the approval notice or prior USCIS correspondence.⁷
A government-issued photo ID, such as a passport, driver’s license, or USCIS-issued employment authorization document.
Your full legal name as it appears on the asylum grant, date of birth, and any passport or travel document numbers.

Names and dates need to match across every document you show. A single-character mismatch between the grant notice and an ID can stall the process.

I-94s for Your Spouse and Children

If your spouse or unmarried children under 21 were included in your original asylum application, they receive derivative asylee status with the grant and should receive their own I-94 records. A qualifying family member who wasn’t on the original application, or who is abroad, needs a separate Form I-730, Refugee/Asylee Relative Petition, filed within two years of your asylum grant.¹⁰

For a relative already in the United States, USCIS issues a document reflecting derivative asylee status when the I-730 is approved. For a relative abroad, USCIS forwards the approved petition to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in that country, and the person receives an I-94 upon admission to the United States.¹⁰ The two-year deadline can be extended for humanitarian reasons, but file as early as you can.

What Your I-94 Does and Doesn’t Do

The stamped I-94 is your proof of asylee status and of the right to stay indefinitely. It also authorizes you to work: for Form I-9, an asylee I-94 is a List C document, so an employer will pair it with a List B identity document such as a state driver’s license or ID card.¹¹

What it is not is a green card. Lawful permanent residence is a separate application, filed on Form I-485 after you have been physically present in the United States for at least one year following your asylum grant.¹² The clock starts on the action date shown on your I-94, so keep the card and the approval notice together in a safe place — you’ll need both again.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Notice to Individuals Granted Immigration Benefits by an Immigration Judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Affirmative Asylum Process
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration Documents and How to Correct, Update, or Replace Them
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Schedule an Appointment
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Asylees and Refugees
6
Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94/I-95 Website — Travel Record for U.S. Visitors
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A-Number/Alien Registration Number/Alien Number
8
Social Security Administration. POMS RM 10211.207 – Evidence of Asylee Status When Form I-94 Is Submitted
9
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Deferred Inspection Sites
10
eCFR. 8 CFR 208.21 – Admission of the Asylee’s Spouse and Children
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 7.3 Refugees and Asylees
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1159 – Adjustment of Status of Refugees