For all those nonimmigrants who plan to visit their home country and return back to the United States, make sure to print an I-94 if you come into the U.S. from abroad with a nonimmigrant visa.
A few months back, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped issuing I-94 documents to arriving nonimmigrants. This, in turn, has resulted in unanticipated problems that are not always obvious to foreign nationals coming to the United States.
CBP officers now place a stamp in the arriving nonimmigrant’s passport. This stamp shows the following
- Date and place of arrival
- The nonimmigrant visa category given
- The date of expiration of nonimmigrant status
or at least it is supposed to contain all of this information.Unfortunately, it is not at all uncommon to see stamps that are missing one or more of those required elements. Worse, we commonly see a difference between what the CBP officer’s hand writes in the passport and what is entered into the CBP database.
How to get a paper copy of I-94?
The only way to assure yourself that information has been entered accurately is to go to https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html and enter your personal information to see what the database actually shows. You may and should print a paper I-94 from that site to keep for your records.
Many arriving nonimmigrants discover that their data is not, in fact, available on that web site. This could be due to a mistake on the nonimmigrant’s passport, a mistake on the airline boarding manifest, or a mistake by the CBP officer. No matter the reason, if there is an incorrect or missing entry, you need to get it fixed.
Fortunately, almost everyone these days has a Smartphone. Before you leave the airport, go to https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html and verify the accuracy of your information. If it is inaccurate or missing, turn right around and go back to CBP and insist that they correct the problem immediately.
This is a Guest Post by Attorney Jim Gotcher, Global Immigration Partners. H1B Wiki would like to thank Jim for providing valuable information to H1BWiki visitors.
Hey I m in my home country and I need to go back and just realized my i94 status is missing so what should I do to go back to USA now?
I checked my travel history and it says i departed on XXX, but that is incorrect. I havent since Sep 2014. How do i fix this?
I am in the same boat. Can some please help how to correct it.
Hey Did you manage to get this corrected? I called up my Lawyer and he said that CBP has their own system to track arrival and departure and the online record is given for convenience purpose. They do not reply on them. He said i may not be possible to correct it.
In a hypothetical situation, I access my I94 information on my smartphone right after stamping and I find something wrong. How can I go back to the officer, when there are security signs specifically state ‘Exit only’ and ‘Do not go back’? Does anybody have encountered a similar situation? If so I find out later, can a call to USCIS will help fix the error?
I have tried to check my information using those links and I got the message, “Unable to get I-94 information. Please try again.” I came to US on August 12, 2011. I haven’t went back since then. Do you think that is the reason it is not yet updated yet? How can I make sure that I have the right data on my i94?
Harry, I think they started automating the i94 entry from Late Dec 2012, or start of 2013. In your case, you will have a paper i94 in your passport, and that should be enough. That might be the reason, there is no entry online for your case.
This is particularly useful to me as I am hoping to travel on an H1B visa in the not too distant future. Thank you so much.
U Freakin H1-B Losers…All of you should be kicked out of US…Go n work in your respective countries. Take your Black A**** out of our country…
Are you European or african or asian? If you are native , i respect you. Else time to pack up your bags too buddy.
US could able to survive just because of migration of such Intellectuals from Asia…other wise with dumbs like you…US would have become a mess !
The I-94 is available online for those who entered into US after 2011 April 30. You will get this error if you came before given date
Most recent date of entry must be after 2011 April 30 and no later than today’s date.
No I have entered in 2010 on F1 and I can see my I-94 dated for 2010..
None of the links are working
Ok I guess this is the link to I-94 retrieval. https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html;jsessionid=52bySK1JKSpbh45VvZYpTFGLzcqpGy5FntS89PTjy1Kp2MSF6Nyr!-1588311864
http://www.cbp.gov/i94 says “content not found”. could you please update the link?
Fazil, here is the link: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html;jsessionid=MHl1SK4fxSPRvvGZ2zyqf1hpqDGh7bKsC7W1J2nRmQpccSNYd1hY!271044983