Your US class of admission is the specific immigration category recorded when a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer admitted you into the country or when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved a change or adjustment of your status. It appears as a short code on your immigration documents and controls how long you can stay, whether you can work, and what activities are permitted while you’re here. You’ll be asked for it on benefit applications, employment paperwork, and any future immigration filing, so knowing yours and where to find it matters.
Class of Admission Is Not the Same as Your Visa
People often use “visa” and “class of admission” interchangeably, but they do different jobs. A visa is permission to travel to a U.S. port of entry and request admission. The class of admission is the status a CBP officer actually grants when you arrive, or that USCIS grants when it approves an application to change or adjust your status inside the country.
In most cases the two match. An F-1 student visa holder is normally admitted in F-1 status. They can diverge, though. Someone with a B-1 business visitor visa might be paroled rather than admitted if CBP needs more time to review the case. The class of admission on your Form I-94 is what governs your legal standing, not the label on the visa stamp in your passport.
Where to Find Your Class of Admission
The document you check depends on whether you hold temporary (nonimmigrant) or permanent (immigrant) status.
Form I-94 for Nonimmigrants
The primary record for nonimmigrants is Form I-94, the Arrival/Departure Record. Since April 2013, most I-94s have been created electronically at entry.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, Information for Completing USCIS Forms You can retrieve yours on the CBP I-94 website, where it shows your class of admission and your “Admit Until Date,” the last day you’re authorized to stay.2I-94/I-95 Website – Official Site for Travelers Visiting the United States. I-94/I-95 Website – Official Site for Travelers Visiting the United States
Duration of Status (D/S)
Some nonimmigrants won’t see a specific date. The “Admit Until Date” field instead reads “D/S,” which stands for Duration of Status. This is common for F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors. For an F-1 student, D/S means you can remain in the country as long as you maintain your student status, including any approved period of optional practical training (OPT) and a 60-day grace period after your program or OPT ends.3Study in the States (Official website of the Department of Homeland Security). What is My Duration of Status Your authorized stay is tied to compliance with the rules of your status, not to a calendar date.
Green Card and USCIS Notices
Lawful permanent residents find their class of admission listed as a “Category” code on the Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551, the green card).4DSHS. Reading a Permanent Resident Card The code identifies the immigrant preference category you were admitted under. USCIS approval notices on Form I-797 also list the class of admission for petitions and status changes.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-797A/I-797B, Notice of Action
What the Common Codes Mean
Nonimmigrant Codes
Nonimmigrant classes cover temporary stays, and each carries its own rules.6eCFR. 8 CFR Part 214 – Nonimmigrant Classes The ones you’ll see most often:
- B-1 for business visitors and B-2 for tourists, with stays capped at one year and extensions in six-month increments.
- F-1 for academic students enrolled full-time at an approved institution; spouses and children enter as F-2.
- J-1 for exchange visitors in approved programs such as research, teaching, or cultural exchange; family members enter as J-2.
- H-1B for workers in specialty occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
- L-1 for intracompany transferees moving from an overseas office to a U.S. office in a managerial, executive, or specialized-knowledge role.
- O-1 for individuals with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.
- TN for professionals from Canada and Mexico admitted under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. TN USMCA Professionals
Most primary classes have a corresponding dependent class for spouses and children (H-4 for H-1B families, L-2 for L-1 families, TD for TN families, and so on).8OHSS. Nonimmigrant Classes of Admission The dependent’s own code matters, because it determines whether a spouse can apply for work authorization.
Immigrant Codes
Immigrant classes apply to lawful permanent residents. The codes also distinguish between people who received their green card at a consulate abroad and people who adjusted status while already in the United States.9OHSS. Immigrant Classes of Admission The main groupings:
- Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens: spouses (IR1 for new arrivals, CR1 if conditional, IR6 or CR6 for adjustments), children, and parents. This category has no annual numerical limit.
- Family-sponsored preferences for more distant relatives of citizens and relatives of permanent residents, such as F21 (spouses of permanent residents, new arrivals) and F26 (adjustments).
- Employment-based preferences, including EB-1 for people with extraordinary ability or multinational executives (E11/E16), EB-2 for professionals with advanced degrees (E21/E26), and EB-3 for skilled workers and professionals (E31/E36).10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card Eligibility Categories
- Diversity Visa lottery winners: DV1 for new arrivals and DV6 for adjustments.
A spouse of a U.S. citizen who adjusts status inside the country receives code IR6 rather than IR1, and that updated code appears on the new green card.9OHSS. Immigrant Classes of Admission
Refugees, Asylees, and Parolees
Humanitarian categories have their own codes, and the code you hold directly affects work authorization. Refugees are admitted with the code “RE,” which carries automatic work authorization; an electronic I-94 showing RE serves as proof of identity and employment eligibility for 90 days while the refugee obtains an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).11USCIS. 7.3 Refugees and Asylees Asylees receive the code “AY” and are also authorized to work.
Parolees have a range of codes tied to the program they entered under: UHP for Ukrainian humanitarian parolees, CHP for Cuban parolees, HHP for Haitian parolees, NHP for Nicaraguan parolees, VHP for Venezuelan parolees, and OAR for parolees admitted under Operation Allies Welcome.12SSA – POMS: Program Operations Manual System. Employment Authorization for Non-immigrants Unlike refugees and asylees, most parolees need a separate EAD before they can work.
Why the Code Matters on Forms
You’ll be asked for your class of admission when applying for work authorization, requesting a change of status, or filing for permanent residency. It also appears on Form I-9, the employment eligibility verification your employer completes at hiring.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Entering the wrong code on an immigration application can trigger delays, requests for evidence, or denials, and in some situations can put your status at risk.
Fixing an Error in Your Record
Mistakes happen at the border. A CBP officer might enter the wrong visa classification, misspell your name, or record an incorrect admission date. The correction path depends on who made the error.
If CBP created the incorrect record at a port of entry, you visit a CBP Deferred Inspection Site in person. These offices review and reissue documents to correct nonimmigrant classification or admission period errors made at entry. Any deferred inspection location or CBP office at an international airport can help, regardless of where you originally entered. Sites not at an airport generally require an appointment, and corrections by mail are usually not available.14U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Deferred Inspection Sites
If USCIS issued a Form I-94 with incorrect information, for example after an extension or change of status, you file Form I-102 with USCIS and include a statement explaining the correction along with supporting evidence.15Form I-102 Instructions (OMB No: 1615-0079). Table of Changes and Instructions for Form I-102 Don’t use Form I-102 for CBP errors; CBP handles its own.
The Admit-Until Date Is the One to Watch
Your class of admission comes with an authorized period of stay. Remaining past that date triggers what immigration law calls unlawful presence, and the consequences escalate.
Accumulate more than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence and then leave voluntarily, and you become inadmissible for three years from the date you departed. Accumulate one year or more and then leave or be removed, and the bar extends to ten years.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility “Inadmissible” means you cannot reenter or get a new visa during the bar period without a waiver, which is hard to obtain.
A permanent bar applies if you accumulate more than one year of unlawful presence in total across all stays, leave or are removed, and then reenter or try to reenter without being inspected and admitted by an officer. Under that scenario, you cannot apply for readmission for at least ten years, and even then you need special permission.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility Once the permanent bar attaches, there is almost no path back in. The admit-until date on your I-94 is the single most important date on any immigration document you hold.
Retrieving Your Class of Admission
If you don’t have your documents on hand, several options exist.
The fastest route for nonimmigrants is the CBP I-94 website. You enter your name, date of birth, passport number, and country of citizenship, and the site pulls up your most recent I-94 record going back to 1983 for most admission classes.2I-94/I-95 Website – Official Site for Travelers Visiting the United States. I-94/I-95 Website – Official Site for Travelers Visiting the United States The printout counts as your lawful record of admission.
If you can’t retrieve your I-94 online and need a replacement or initial arrival-departure record, file Form I-102 with USCIS.17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-102, Instructions for Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document The filing fee is $560 as of March 2026.18G-1055 Fee Schedule. G-1055 Fee Schedule Confirm the current fee on the USCIS website before filing.
As a last resort, submit a Freedom of Information Act request for your immigration records, which will include your class of admission. You can file online through the USCIS FOIA portal or use Form G-639, and requesting specific documents rather than your full file speeds up the process considerably.19U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Request Records through the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act