What Is the Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record?

The Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record is the document U.S. Customs and Border Protection creates when a foreign national is admitted to the United States, and it is the primary proof of your lawful immigration status while you are in the country. For arrivals by air and sea, CBP now generates the I-94 electronically from airline and passport data instead of stapling a paper card into your passport. You retrieve it, save it, and correct it through CBP’s online systems or, in some cases, through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

What the I-94 Shows

Your I-94 carries three pieces of information that shape almost everything about your stay: the date you were admitted, your class of admission (the visa category you entered under), and the date your authorized stay expires.¹ The expiration date is labeled “Admit Until,” and it is the deadline that matters for immigration purposes. It can differ from the expiration date printed on your visa stamp, and when the two conflict, the I-94 controls how long you may remain.

F and J visa holders (students and exchange visitors) will usually see “D/S” in place of a calendar date. D/S stands for Duration of Status, meaning your authorized stay runs as long as you keep meeting the conditions of your program.¹ If you see D/S, your designated school official or program sponsor determines when your stay ends, not a date field.

The I-94 also gets used well beyond the border. Employers accept a printout of your electronic I-94 as one of the documents that establishes work authorization on Form I-9.² Applications for an Employment Authorization Document on Form I-765 can require a copy.³ Social Security offices, state driver’s licensing agencies, and university registrars ask for it too.

What Happens If You Stay Past the Admit-Until Date

Remaining in the country past the “Admit Until” date starts the clock on unlawful presence. More than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence, followed by departure, triggers a three-year bar on reentry. One year or more triggers a ten-year bar.⁴ An overstay can also void your existing visa and make future visas harder to obtain. Checking your I-94 regularly is worth the small effort.

How to Look Up Your I-94 Online

You can pull your record from the CBP I-94 website at i94.cbp.dhs.gov or from the CBP Link mobile app on iOS or Android.⁵ Both show your most recent admission, including class of admission and authorized stay date.

The system asks for four pieces of information, and each must match your passport’s machine-readable zone (the two lines of coded text at the bottom of the data page):⁶

Your first and last name exactly as they appear in the MRZ. Enter all surnames if you have more than one. Replace chevrons (<) with spaces, and use the plain English-alphabet version — no tildes, accents, or umlauts.
Your date of birth in MM/DD/YYYY format.
The passport number from the passport you actually used to enter the United States.
The country that issued that passport.

Once the fields are filled in, select “Get Most Recent I-94,” acknowledge the security notice, and your admission details appear.

When the Search Doesn’t Return a Record

The lookup tool is strict about exact matches, and many searches fail on the first try. The problem is almost always a formatting mismatch, not a missing record. Try these adjustments before assuming something is wrong:

If you have multiple last names, try just one, or try adding or removing a hyphen. The name field caps at 25 characters, so truncate long names if needed.
For a passport number that mixes letters and numbers, try a space after the letters. Swap the letter O for the digit 0 and vice versa. If you recently renewed your passport, try the old number.
Try swapping the month and day of your birth date.
As a last resort, try your visa number in place of the passport number.

If none of that works, go to a CBP Deferred Inspection Site or a port of entry in person. An officer can look up your record in CBP’s internal systems.

Save the Record and Check Your Travel History

As soon as your I-94 comes up on screen, print it or save it as a PDF. The printed copy from the CBP website is your lawful record of admission and is what you hand over when anyone needs to see proof of status.⁷ Keep a paper copy and a digital backup you can reach offline. You don’t want to be troubleshooting a lookup during a job’s onboarding window.

The same portal has a travel history feature covering the past ten years, including port of entry or exit for each trip.⁶ Review it now and then. Missing departure records happen, and when CBP has no record of you leaving on a particular trip, the system can read that as an overstay even when you left on time. Catching a gap early is much easier than reconstructing your travel years later during a visa application.

Land Border Entries Work Differently

At a land border, CBP no longer hands out paper I-94 stubs at primary inspection. The record is issued electronically. You can still request a paper printout, but that happens in secondary inspection and takes longer.⁸

CBP encourages land travelers to apply for a provisional I-94 through the CBP Link app or the I-94 website up to seven days before arriving at the crossing. If you use that option, you must appear at a land port of entry within seven days of submitting the application, or the provisional record expires and you have to reapply and pay again.⁶

Land border I-94s carry a fee. For fiscal year 2025, the total is $30: a $6 processing fee plus a $24 charge required by Public Law 119-21. The fee adjusts annually for inflation starting in fiscal year 2026.⁹ A land-issued I-94 is valid for multiple entries unless the officer restricts it.

When USCIS Issues the I-94 Instead of CBP

Not every I-94 comes from CBP. If USCIS approves a change of status or extension of stay, the approval notice (Form I-797A) has a new I-94 printed at the bottom. That USCIS-issued I-94 replaces your CBP record and reflects your updated status and new authorized-stay date.¹⁰

Here is the part that trips people up. The CBP I-94 website may not reflect changes USCIS has made. The site itself warns that extensions of stay, changes of status, and adjustments of status processed by USCIS may not appear online.⁶ If USCIS approved your extension and printed a new I-94 on your I-797A, that paper I-94 is your controlling document, no matter what the CBP portal still shows. Keep the I-797A somewhere safe, because you cannot retrieve a USCIS-issued I-94 through CBP’s site.

Fixing Errors on a CBP-Issued I-94

If CBP recorded something wrong at entry — the wrong visa classification, a misspelled name, an incorrect admission date — get it corrected before it causes trouble with employment verification, benefits, or unlawful-presence calculations. Corrections go through CBP Deferred Inspection Sites, which are located at major international airports and some regional CBP offices.¹¹ Any deferred inspection location or CBP office at an international airport can help, regardless of where you originally entered.

Bring your passport, visa, and any documents that show the correct information, such as your travel itinerary, the physical entry stamp in your passport, and your I-20 or DS-2019 if applicable. The officer compares your documents to the electronic record and updates the system if the error is confirmed. There is generally no fee for correcting a CBP mistake made at entry. Some sites handle corrections by phone or email; others require an in-person appointment. Call ahead.

Do not file Form I-102 with USCIS for a CBP error. USCIS will send you back to CBP.¹²

Fixing Errors on a USCIS-Issued I-94

If your I-94 came from USCIS (attached to a Form I-797A) and contains an error, the correction goes through USCIS. File Form I-102, Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document, with a letter explaining the specific error and evidence showing the correct information.¹²

Form I-102 has a filing fee, and there is a change coming. Starting May 29, 2026, a $24 surcharge required by Public Law 119-21 applies on top of the standard USCIS fee. USCIS will reject any Form I-102 postmarked on or after that date without the proper total payment. Payment must be made by credit, debit, or prepaid card (with Form G-1450) or directly from a U.S. bank account (with Form G-1650). Personal checks, money orders, and cashier’s checks are no longer accepted for paper filings unless you qualify for a specific exemption.

Send the completed form to the correct USCIS lockbox. The mailing address depends on your situation and is listed on the USCIS “Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-102” page. Processing times vary, so file as soon as you spot the error rather than waiting until another application forces the issue.

Your I-94 and Automatic Visa Revalidation

The I-94 also matters in one situation many travelers miss. If your nonimmigrant visa has expired but you are still within your authorized I-94 stay, you may be able to take a short trip to Canada, Mexico, or certain adjacent islands and reenter without getting a new visa. The trip must be 30 days or less, and you must have a valid I-94 or admission stamp endorsed by DHS.¹³

Automatic revalidation does not apply if you have applied for a new visa (whether issued or denied), if you are a national of a state sponsor of terrorism, or if you traveled beyond the eligible neighboring countries. F and J visa holders who traveled to Cuba are also ineligible. The admit-until date and printed record on your I-94 are working travel documents, not just paperwork for the file.

1
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94 Expiration Dates Fact Sheet
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility
5
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Link Mobile Application
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94/I-95 Frequently Asked Questions
7
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94/I-95 Website
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W
9
Federal Register. CBP Immigration Fees Required by HR-1 for Fiscal Year 2025
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-94 Quick Reference Guide for Local, State and Federal Agencies
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Deferred Inspection Sites
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document
13
U.S. Department of State. Automatic Revalidation