What Is the I-94 Arrival/Departure Form Used For?

The I-94 form is used as the official U.S. record of your arrival, your immigration classification, and the exact date by which you must leave the country. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) creates it when a nonimmigrant is admitted, and federal agencies, employers, and state offices rely on it afterward to confirm that you are in the United States lawfully and under what terms. Since April 30, 2013, most I-94 records for air and sea arrivals are electronic, replacing the paper card that CBP once stapled into passports.¹

What the I-94 Proves and Controls

Federal regulation 8 CFR 235.1 requires every arriving nonimmigrant who is admitted to receive a Form I-94 as evidence of the terms of admission.² The record does three things at once. It proves that a CBP officer inspected you at a port of entry and admitted you. It sets the deadline by which you must leave. And it identifies the visa classification you were admitted under, which controls what you are allowed to do while you’re here.

Every I-94 shows an 11-character admission number unique to your entry. Since May 2019 those numbers are alphanumeric: nine digits, then a letter, then a final digit.³ It also shows your class of admission (B-2 for tourism, F-1 for academic study, H-1B for specialty work, and so on) and either a specific admit-until date or a “D/S” notation.

The Admit-Until Date Is Not Your Visa Expiration Date

This is the point where travelers get into the most trouble. The expiration date printed on the visa in your passport only controls how long you can use that visa to request entry at a port of entry. The admit-until date on the I-94 controls how long you can stay once you’re in.⁴ A visa that runs until December 2027 does you no good if your I-94 says you must depart by March 15, 2026. On March 16 you are out of status, regardless of what the visa says.

Duration of Status (D/S)

F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors usually see “D/S” on their I-94 rather than a calendar date.⁵ You may remain as long as you maintain the underlying status: for F-1, that means the program end date on your I-20 has not passed and you are enrolled in a full course of study; for J-1, that your DS-2019 is valid and you are actively participating. Dropping below full-time enrollment or otherwise falling out of status ends your authorized stay even though the I-94 shows no specific end date.

Who Receives an I-94

CBP issues I-94 records to nonimmigrants — people admitted temporarily. That covers B-1/B-2 visitors, F-1 students, H-1B workers, J-1 exchange visitors, and dozens of other classifications,⁶ as well as travelers entering under the Visa Waiver Program.

Several groups do not get one. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents don’t, because their status is documented differently. Most Canadian citizens entering for short-term business or tourism are exempt under 8 CFR 235.1(h).² Certain Mexican nationals visiting near the border for short stays are also exempt, depending on how far in they travel and for how long. Refugee I-94 records have been processed electronically since September 2015. CBP still issues paper cards to some land border arrivals and to certain parolees and asylees who lack a foreign passport.⁷

How to Retrieve Your I-94

Your electronic record lives on CBP’s site at i94.cbp.dhs.gov. To pull it up, enter your name exactly as it appears on your travel document, your date of birth, your passport number, and the country that issued your passport.⁸ Everything must match what CBP entered at your port of entry. A middle name typed differently can prevent the system from finding you.

Choose “Get Most Recent I-94” and accept the consent screens. You can then view, print, or save the record as a PDF. A copy from this site is official proof of your admission status.³ A separate “View Travel History” tab on the same site shows your arrivals and departures for the past 10 years; most classes of admission go back to 1983.⁸

Where the I-94 Gets Used After You Arrive

Once you have it, the I-94 is what proves your status to everyone who needs to check it.

Starting a Job (Form I-9)

When you’re hired, your employer completes a Form I-9 to verify identity and work authorization. A foreign passport together with a Form I-94 bearing a work-authorization endorsement is a “List A” document, which establishes both identity and work eligibility at the same time.⁹ Without a valid I-94, an employer can’t confirm your authorization to work.

Driver’s Licenses and REAL ID

State motor vehicle agencies use the I-94 to verify lawful presence when you apply for a driver’s license or state ID. Under federal REAL ID standards, a valid passport, visa, and I-94 together satisfy the lawful-status documentation required from nonimmigrant applicants.¹⁰ Individual states set their own additional requirements and fees.

Public Benefits (SAVE)

Agencies that administer benefits like Medicaid, housing assistance, and food assistance check status through SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements). The agency enters your I-94 admission number, and the system cross-references DHS databases and returns a determination, often within seconds.¹¹ If an instant match isn’t found, verification may take several additional business days and additional documentation.¹²

Social Security Numbers

If your immigration status makes you eligible for a Social Security number, the Social Security Administration will ask to see the I-94 as part of the application. It confirms that you were lawfully admitted and that your classification supports the SSN request.

What Happens if You Stay Past the Admit-Until Date

The date on the I-94 has teeth. The moment you overstay, your nonimmigrant visa is automatically voided under 8 U.S.C. § 1202, and you generally can’t use it to reenter.¹³ To come back you would normally have to apply for a new visa at a U.S. consulate, assuming you aren’t barred.⁴

Longer overstays trigger bars on future admission under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(9)(B):¹⁴

More than 180 days but less than a year of unlawful presence, followed by voluntary departure before removal proceedings: a three-year bar from the date of departure.
One year or more of unlawful presence: a ten-year bar from the date of departure or removal.
A year of unlawful presence followed by illegal reentry: a possible permanent bar.

These bars count unlawful presence accrued on or after April 1, 1997. Time before age 18 doesn’t count, and a pending good-faith asylum application can pause the clock.¹⁵ If you filed a timely, non-frivolous application to extend or change status before your I-94 expired, unlawful presence generally does not accrue while it’s pending.¹⁴

Fixing Errors on the Record

Mistakes happen. A misspelled name, a wrong class of admission, or an incorrect admit-until date should be corrected as soon as possible at a CBP Deferred Inspection Site.¹⁶ Locations are listed on CBP’s site under “Ports.” An incorrect classification (say, B-2 recorded when you should have been admitted as F-1) can block you from working or studying, so don’t wait. For corrections to other CBP records, the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP) or the CBP Information Center is the right channel.¹⁷

Extending Your Stay

If you need more time than the I-94 allows, file Form I-539 (Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status) with USCIS before your current admit-until date. USCIS recommends filing at least 45 days ahead and generally no more than six months in advance. Filing after the I-94 has already expired is only possible in limited circumstances involving extraordinary delays beyond your control, and only if you haven’t otherwise violated status and aren’t in removal proceedings.

An approval produces a new I-94 with a new admit-until date. While a timely, non-frivolous extension is pending, you are generally in a “period of stay authorized,” so unlawful presence does not begin accruing just because the original date passed.¹⁴

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, Information for Completing USCIS Forms
2
eCFR. 8 CFR 235.1 – Scope of Examination
3
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W
4
U.S. Department of State. What the Visa Expiration Date Means
5
Study in the States, Department of Homeland Security. What Is My Duration of Status
6
eCFR. 8 CFR Part 214 – Nonimmigrant Classes
7
CBP.gov. I-94 Automation Fact Sheet
8
Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94/I-95 Website – Official Site for Travelers Visiting the United States
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
10
Transportation Security Administration. REAL ID Frequently Asked Questions
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Verification Process
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Information for Aliens Applying for a Public Benefit
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1202 – Application for Visas
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility
16
Homeland Security. I-94/I-95 Frequently Asked Questions
17
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Information Correction Form