What Is An I-94 Record?
Question: What is an I-94 record, and why is it important for temporary visitors and workers?
Reply: An I-94 document is issued to all non-immigrant / temporary visitors to the U.S., and governs the length of time an individual can remain in the U.S. Find out why it is critically important to check your I-94 record after each entry in the U.S. in our latest video, or keep reading…
Sample I-94 record from USCBP
The I-94 record is distinguishable from a person’s visa stamp that has been placed in their passport by the U.S. Consulate in their home country. The visa stamp in a passport only governs a person’s ability to travel to the U.S. and to seek entry to the U.S. An I-94 record is issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the U.S. port-of-entry after a person has been interviewed or inspected by the border officer. If an individual has established that they qualify for their particular visa classification, the CBP officer will approve their entry to the U.S. and issue an I-94 record that has their name, visa classification, and the expiration date of their allowed period of stay. In the past, the I-94 record was a paper document that the officer stapled into one’s passport. Now an I-94 has to be retrieved online through USCBP’s website.
Often the expiration date of a person’s I-94 record will not be the same as the expiration date of their visa stamp. Different time frames can govern the validity date of a visa stamp and a visa classification’s authorized period of stay. For example, a person can obtain a TN visa stamp valid for 4 years, but may only be admitted to the U.S. and issued an record I-94 valid for up to 3 years. Even people coming to the U.S. as a visitor without a visa stamp, e.g. Canadian citizens who are exempt from the visa stamp requirement in many instances, will have an I-94 record in the system.
It is important to look that up your I-94 record during each entry to the U.S. - ideally before you leave the immigration office to make sure that (1) you have been admitted to the U.S. under the correct visa classification; (2) you know what your authorized period of stay is (i.e. when you must depart the U.S. or seek an extension); (3) you have been admitted for the correct time period, and that you have not been short changed any time; and (4) your name and DOB is correct. It is very common for errors to occur in the processing of an I-94 record, and it is much easier to fix any errors while you are at the office as opposed to after the fact.
Also, if a person does not notice an error until months down the road this can create major headaches, and can result in significant immigration penalties. For example, if you are entering the U.S. as a TN visa worker and instead of receiving a 3 year I-94 record, the CBP officer mistakenly issued you a 6-month I-94 record as a B-1/B-2 visitor, and you remain in the U.S. beyond the I-94 expiration date, then from the government's point of view you have overstayed your visa stay. An overstay by itself can pose issues for a person’s immigration status. But if it has been 6 months or more since that I-94 expired, not only have you overstayed, but you have also accumulated unlawful presence, which could lead to be being barred from the U.S. for 3 to 10 years. Sometimes these mistakes can be cleaned up at a CBP Deferred Inspection office or through other channels, but it can take time, money (if using an attorney), and effort. And CBP is not always willing to correct an error if they feel that the classification or expiration date was properly issued based on their alleged discretionary authority.
To avoid these issues, every temporary visitor / worker to the U.S. needs to get into the habit of checking their I-94 record at each entry before they leave the immigration office. I also recommend downloading each new I-94 record and saving it for your files. Not only will you potentially need old I-94s for certain immigration applications, but if an officer makes a mistake on your next I-94 record, you can use that originally issued I-94 record to help correct it.