Your I-94 controls how long you can stay in the United States, here is everything you need to know about reading, checking, and correcting your record in 2026.
Form I-94 (Arrival/Departure Record) is the official record of your admission to the United States. Since 2013, I-94s are issued electronically by CBP (Customs and Border Protection) rather than as the paper white card that was previously stapled into passports. Your I-94 is accessible online at cbp.gov/i94 using your passport information.
The I-94 is the document that controls your authorized period of stay, not your visa stamp. This distinction is critically misunderstood by millions of visa holders. A 10-year B-2 visa stamp in your passport means you can seek admission to the U.S. up to 10 years; your actual authorized stay for each visit is shown on the I-94 issued at each admission, typically 90 or 180 days.
For employment-based visa holders, H1B, L-1, O-1, TN, your I-94 shows either a specific expiration date matching your petition approval period or 'D/S' (Duration of Status). For H1B holders, the I-94 date matches the I-797 H1B approval validity period. Staying beyond the I-94 date, even by one day, begins accruing unlawful presence.
Check your I-94 every time you enter the United States and verify: (1) the visa category shown matches your actual visa class (H1B should show H-1B, not H-4 or B-2); (2) the Admit Until date is correct (it should match your I-797 or petition approval period); (3) your name, date of birth, and passport number are correct. I-94 errors are common and can cause serious problems if not corrected.
Access your I-94 at cbp.dhs.gov/i94. You will need to enter: last name, first name, date of birth, passport number, passport country of issuance, and passport expiration date. The system returns your most recent I-94 record, including the I-94 admission number, admit until date, and class of admission.
If your I-94 does not appear, try with slight variations in name (if your name has hyphens, accents, or abbreviations that may have been entered differently). If it still does not appear after trying multiple variations, the record may not have been electronically created, or there may be a data entry error. Contact CBP through their Deferred Inspection process to resolve the issue.
The I-94 website also allows you to view your travel history, prior admissions to the United States going back several years. This is useful for determining continuous residence periods, counting days in the U.S. for tax or green card purposes, or preparing for naturalization applications that require accurate travel history.
Print or save a PDF copy of your I-94 after each entry to the United States. This serves as contemporaneous documentation of your authorized admission period. Many landlords, employers, and government agencies request proof of immigration status, a printed I-94 combined with your visa stamp and I-797 approval notice is the standard evidence package.
Admit Until date: A specific date shown on the I-94 means you must depart (or have a change/extension of status approved) by that date. Common for B-1/B-2 tourist visas, where CBP officers typically admit visitors for 90–180 days.
D/S (Duration of Status): This notation on an I-94 means you are authorized to stay as long as you are maintaining valid status in the admitted category. F-1 students are admitted D/S, they can stay as long as they are enrolled full-time in a qualifying program plus the OPT period. J-1 exchange visitors are also typically admitted D/S. H1B, L-1, and many other employment-based categories are admitted to a specific date (matching the I-797 approval period), not D/S.
The practical difference: for date-specific admissions, you must track the calendar carefully and ensure status is extended before the date. For D/S admissions, you must track your compliance with status requirements, full-time enrollment, maintaining a qualifying relationship with your program or sponsor, rather than a calendar date.
Confusion about D/S vs. date-specific admissions is a common error. An F-1 student who sees 'D/S' on their I-94 sometimes assumes this means they can stay forever. In fact, D/S ends when the program end date shown on their I-20 passes, when they drop below full-time enrollment, or when their OPT period expires. Check your I-20 program end date, not just the I-94 D/S notation, to understand when your authorized stay ends.
I-94 errors occur when CBP officers mistype information at the port of entry. Common errors include: wrong visa category (typed L-1 instead of H-1B); wrong admission date or Admit Until date; misspelled name; wrong passport number. These errors can create serious downstream consequences, employment verification systems may reject your work authorization, USCIS may question your status in future applications, and you may be denied boarding by airlines checking your status.
If you discover an I-94 error after entering the United States, go to CBP's Deferred Inspection office at the nearest port of entry (major airports and land border crossings have Deferred Inspection offices). Bring: your passport, the erroneous I-94 printout, your I-797 approval notice (for employment visas), and any boarding passes or entry documentation that shows what visa class you were admitted under. CBP can correct the I-94 on the spot.
For errors discovered after you have left the original port of entry and are not near a Deferred Inspection office, CBP has an online inquiry process at cbp.gov. However, online corrections are slower than in-person Deferred Inspection visits. If the error is urgent, affecting work authorization verification or an upcoming immigration application, visit the nearest Deferred Inspection office in person.
Document the correction thoroughly. After CBP corrects your I-94, immediately re-check the record at cbp.gov/i94 to verify the correction was made. Save a new PDF of the corrected record. Keep both the original erroneous record and the corrected record for your files, the history of the correction may need to be explained in future immigration applications.
I-9 employment eligibility verification: When starting a new job, your employer is required to complete Form I-9 within 3 days of your start date. For most visa holders, the I-94 printout plus your passport and visa stamp are the documents used for I-9 verification. Your I-94 must show a valid, unexpired admission period in a work-authorized category.
Visa stamp renewal at a U.S. consulate: When renewing your visa stamp abroad, the consulate will ask for your I-94 history. CBP's online travel history portal provides the full record of your U.S. admissions and departures, which is used to document compliance with visa terms during prior visits.
For naturalization (N-400): USCIS requires a complete record of all absences from the United States during the statutory residence period (typically 5 years). The CBP travel history from I-94 records is the primary source for this information. Discrepancies between your stated travel history and CBP records can cause delays or denial.
For green card adjustment of status (I-485): Your attorney or the USCIS officer will verify that you entered the U.S. lawfully and maintained status throughout the relevant period. The I-94 record documents each admission. Any gap between an I-94 expiration and a status extension approval must be explained, even brief gaps can trigger questions about maintenance of status.
H1B Visa Jobs Editorial Team
Senior Immigration Attorney
15+ years specializing in employment-based immigration. Has helped thousands of professionals navigate U.S. visa processes.