Status When Last Admitted: I-94 Codes, D/S, and TPS

On a USCIS form, your status when last admitted is the class-of-admission code that appears on the I-94 record from your most recent physical entry into the United States. That is the letter-and-number designation a Customs and Border Protection officer assigned when they inspected you at the port of entry — B-2 for a tourist, F-1 for an academic student, H-1B for a specialty worker, DT for someone paroled in, and so on. If you were never inspected at a border, the honest answer is “no status.” The field appears as Item 24 on Form I-765 (“Immigration Status at Your Last Arrival”) and twice on Form I-485: Part 1, Item 11 asks for the status shown on your I-94, and Item 14 asks for your current status if it has changed since arrival.¹² The answer matters beyond form-filling: it feeds directly into whether you meet the “inspected and admitted or paroled” requirement for adjustment of status under INA § 245(a).³

Where to Find the Code

The Form I-94, officially the Arrival/Departure Record, is the government’s record of how and when a noncitizen entered the country. It shows the date of entry, the class of admission, and either a specific “admit until” date or the notation “D/S” for Duration of Status.⁴ For arrivals by air or sea, CBP generates the I-94 electronically. Land entrants may still receive a paper card.⁵

You can retrieve your most recent I-94 at i94.cbp.dhs.gov. The site lets you view and print the record, check travel history for the past ten years, and see the class-of-admission code and admit-until date.⁶⁷ The same lookup is built into the CBP Link mobile app, and records go back to 1983 for most admission classes.⁸

If the record shows the wrong classification, a misspelled name, or other biographical errors, contact the nearest CBP deferred inspection office to request a correction.⁴

Common Codes and What They Mean

Whatever code sits on your I-94 is what belongs in the form field. The most common nonimmigrant codes track directly to visa categories:

B-1 / B-2: business visitor / tourist or medical treatment visitor.
F-1 / F-2: academic student / dependent.
H-1B: specialty occupation worker.
J-1 / J-2: exchange visitor / dependent.
L-1: intra-company transferee.
O-1: individual with extraordinary ability.
TN / TD: professional worker under the USMCA (formerly NAFTA) / dependent.
K-1: fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen.

Parole categories carry their own codes:⁹

DT: parole granted at a port of entry or district office.
DE: deferred inspection.
CH: humanitarian parolee.
CP: public interest parolee.
CC: Cuban mass-migration parolee.
UHP: Uniting for Ukraine humanitarian parolee.¹⁰

Being “admitted” and being “paroled” are legally distinct. Admission means an immigration officer inspected you and authorized your entry. Parole allows you to be physically present without a formal determination of admissibility, and a parolee remains an “applicant for admission” even while inside the country.¹¹ Both count for the § 245(a) threshold, which requires that you were “inspected and admitted or paroled.”¹² Use the code that CBP put on your I-94, and note the parole distinction wherever the form asks for it.

When Your Current Status Is Different

Status at last admission and current status are not the same thing. Someone who entered as a B-2 tourist and later got USCIS approval to change to F-1 is currently an F-1, but the status they were admitted in was B-2. That is why Form I-485 has two questions: Item 11 for the I-94 status, Item 14 for current status if it changed after arrival.²

When USCIS approves a change of status, the Form I-797A approval notice includes a new I-94 in the bottom-left corner showing the new classification.⁴ The CBP online I-94 system does not update to match, because the USCIS and CBP databases are not linked. So if you changed status without leaving the country, the CBP website will still show your old class of admission. That is expected. Do not ask CBP to correct it; the I-797A controls your new status. If you then travel abroad and re-enter in the new classification, CBP should issue a fresh electronic I-94, and at that point your status at last admission and your current status line up again.¹³

Because Form I-765 asks specifically about status “at your last arrival,” an applicant who changed to F-1 after entering as a B-2 would report B-2 if they never left the country, or F-1 if they later departed and re-entered on the F-1 visa. University guidance confirms that most F-1 OPT applicants write “F-1 Student,” and J-2 dependents write “J-2.”¹⁴

What About “D/S” for F-1 and J-1?

Most nonimmigrants get a specific calendar date as their admit-until deadline. A B-2 tourist might be admitted for six months; an H-1B worker’s I-94 usually expires on the petition approval date.⁴ F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors are different. Their I-94 typically shows “D/S” (Duration of Status), meaning they may remain as long as they maintain their program status rather than until a fixed date. For F-1 students, the authorized stay is tied to the program end date on Form I-20, extended through any Optional Practical Training period plus a 60-day grace period.¹⁵

The class of admission you report is still F-1 or J-1. The “D/S” notation goes in whatever field asks for the admit-until date. If your I-94 shows a fixed date instead of “D/S” and you are an F-1 student, that is probably an error, and you should get it corrected through your designated school official and CBP, because the wrong notation can jeopardize your legal status.¹⁶

If You Entered Without Inspection

Someone who crossed the border without presenting themselves to an immigration officer — entry without inspection, or EWI — has no I-94 record and no class-of-admission code. On the form, the I-765 instructions acknowledge this by listing “no status” as an example response.¹

Under the standard § 245(a) pathway, a person who was never inspected and admitted or paroled cannot adjust status.³ Three narrow paths work around that:

INA § 245(i) permits adjustment for beneficiaries of a qualifying visa petition or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001, if the petition was approvable when filed. It requires a Supplement A to Form I-485 and a $1,000 penalty fee, and it does not waive other inadmissibility grounds.¹²
“Parole in place” is a discretionary USCIS grant of parole to someone already in the country. If granted before the adjustment application is filed, it satisfies the “inspected and paroled” requirement.³
VAWA self-petitioners and certain special immigrant juveniles are exempt from the admission-or-parole requirement by statute.¹²

Refugees, Asylees, and TPS Holders

Refugees are inspected and admitted at a port of entry, so their admission record and refugee classification are what they report. Asylees are more nuanced. An asylee who originally entered without inspection and was later granted asylum inside the country does not have an “inspected and admitted” entry. If that asylee later travels abroad and is inspected and admitted or paroled on return, the return trip satisfies the admission requirement for adjustment.³

Temporary Protected Status works similarly. A grant of TPS is not itself an admission. But a TPS beneficiary who travels abroad with prior DHS authorization and is inspected and admitted upon return is treated as “inspected and admitted” for adjustment purposes, even if the original entry was without inspection or parole.³ The USCIS Policy Manual states that for adjustment purposes, a person with TPS is “considered as being in and maintaining lawful status as a nonimmigrant” while TPS is in effect, without specifying a particular label to use beyond the status recorded when they are inspected and admitted after authorized travel.

1
USCIS. Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization
2
USCIS. Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
3
USCIS. USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part B, Chapter 2
4
Columbia University ISSO. Understanding Your I-94
5
UC Berkeley International Office. I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
6
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP I-94 Website
7
USA.gov. Arrival and Departure Record
8
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94 Information
9
Hartford Public Library. INS Class of Admissions Codes
10
USCIS. Parole Under Uniting for Ukraine
11
USCIS. USCIS Glossary – Parole
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. § 1255 – Adjustment of Status
13
Washington University OISS. I-94 Record
14
South Texas College of Law. I-765 Completion Assistance
15
Study in the States. What Is My Duration of Status
16
Study in the States. F-1 Students, Remember to Check D/S on Your Form I-94