Form I-94, the Arrival-Departure Record Card, is a form used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intended to keep track of the arrival and departure to/from the United States of people who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents (with the exception of those who are entering using the Visa Waiver Program or Compact of Free Association, using Border Crossing Cards, re-entering via automatic visa revalidation, or entering temporarily as crew members). While the form is usually issued by CBP at ports of entry or deferred inspection sites, USCIS can issue an equivalent as part of the Form I-797A approval notice for a Form I-129 petition for an alien worker or a Form I-539 application for extension of stay or change of status (in the case that the alien is already in the United States).
Issuance for arriving aliens
The responsibility of issuing Form I-94 is with the CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO), a subdivision of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), that processes entries and exits at ports of entry (land, sea, and air) as well as deferred inspection sites. Note that OFO is distinct from the United States Border Patrol, whose responsibility is to patrol the rest of the border to monitor for unauthorized border-crossing.
At a port of entry
The most common place of issue of Form I-94 is at ports of entry, including airports, sea ports, and land ports. The form is issued electronically at airports and sea ports but can be issued both electronically and as a paper form at land ports.
For air and sea travel, the process begins even before the alien has departed for the United States: the alien's air and sea carrier collect information about the alien (such as passport number) and send this information to CBP.
At the port of entry, the arriving alien is screened by an officer from the CBP Office of Field Operations. If the CBP officer is convinced, based on the alien's documentation and all other evidence submitted, that the alien can be admitted into the United States, the officer issues a Form I-94 to the alien.
At air and sea ports, the form is issued electronically and the officer also stamps the alien's passport. The I-94 can be retrieved at any time using an online retrieval tool. At land ports, only paper forms are issued for people who have not informed the CBP of their arrival in advance. However, in September 2016, CBP announced that land travelers who inform the CBP in advance and pay a $6 fee can get electronic Form I-94s issued at land ports of entry.
At a deferred inspection site
In some cases, the officer at the port of entry may not be able to make a decision as to whether to admit the alien. This could be due to missing documentation, need for further review of the case, need for a maintenance of status and departure bond, or other similar reasons. In this case, the port of entry can issue the alien a Form I-546, asking the alien to complete the process at a deferred inspection site, as well as a temporary Form I-94, with expiration date at most 30 days in the future. The process of admission of the alien and issuance of a long-term Form I-94 is then completed at the deferred inspection site.
Deferred inspection sites can also be used to correct errors in Form I-94s issued at ports of entry.
Exceptional cases where a Form I-94 is not issued
Form I-94 is only issued to people who are not United States citizens or permanent residents. Among these, it is not issued in the following cases:
For people from Mexico with Border Crossing Cards, if they are entering by land and plan to travel only a few miles into the United States for a short period of time. In case of longer durations of stay or travel deeper into the United States, the alien should obtain a Form I-94 at the (land) port of entry. For people entering via the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Historically, the CBP recorded arrival and departures under the VWP using Form I-94W. However, the I-94W is no longer used. It has been deprecated since 2010. For people entering the United States from one of the countries in the Compact of Free Association. These people may be issued a Form I-94A. For people re-entering the United States using automatic visa revalidation. In this case, the new entry is considered to have occurred using the I-94 issued at the previous entry, and a new Form I-94 is not issued. For crew members of air and sea vessels landing in the United States. These people are issued a Form I-95 instead.