CBP Announces Elimination of Paper Form I-94 and New Streamlined Admissions Process

Beginning April 30, 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) will no longer require international visitors arriving in the U.S. by air or sea to fill out a paper Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record. CBP will begin to gather travelers’ arrival/departure information automatically from their electronic travel records. CBP expects this new automated process to save the agency an estimated $15.5 million a year and increase its efficiency, reduce operating costs and streamline the admission process. CBP will still issue the paper Form I-94 to international visitors who arrive at land border ports of entry.

The Form I-94 automation process will be phased in at air and sea ports of entry through April and May. The automation process is expected to be completed by mid-May. Following automation, if foreign visitors need the information from their Form I-94 admission record to verify immigration status or employment authorization, the record number and other admission information will be available at www.CBP.gov/I94.

With this new process, the CBP officer will stamp the travel document of each arriving non-immigrant traveler. The admission stamp will show the date of admission, class of admission and the date that the traveler is admitted until. Travelers will also receive a flier directing them to www.CBP.gov/I94 for their admission record information. The paper Form I-94, in combination with a valid foreign passport, is commonly presented as a List A document for many foreign nationals during the I-9 employment eligibility verification process. Foreign nationals arriving by air or sea at a port using the automated I-94 process can print out their I-94 admission record for presentation during the I-9 process, since an admission stamp in the passport is not an acceptable List A document.

Travelers will not need to do anything different upon exiting the U.S. If travelers received a paper I-94, it will be surrendered to the airline or CBP upon departure. If travelers did not receive a paper Form I-94 upon arrival, CBP will record the departure electronically via manifest information provided by the airline or by CBP.