Immigration attorneys are urging non-immigrant visa holders, especially those on visitor visas, to immediately check and print their digital I-94 record upon arrival in the United States. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may grant a stay shorter than the typical six months at the port of entry, and failing to verify the I-94 can lead to unintentional overstays.
Some individuals from Nepal, assuming they had a six-month stay, later discovered their I-94 authorized a shorter period. According to immigration attorneys, this resulted in arrests, deportation, unlawful presence, and visa bans.
Historically, CBP officers would stamp a foreign national’s passport with an entry stamp and the authorized duration of stay or issue a paper I-94 form. This process has now been replaced with a digital system, which has led to confusion. Many mistakenly believe a visitor visa automatically grants a six-month stay, but the I-94 record determines the actual authorized duration.
According to New York-based lawyer Basu Phulara, this is a common and costly mistake. The visitor visa (B-1/B-2) only permits an individual to request entry into the U.S., while the I-94 Arrival/Departure Record determines the actual length of legal stay. This record can grant stays of varying lengths, such as 90 or even 30 days, not always the six months people expect.
Phulara has seen cases where visitors only discovered their shorter stay after their authorized period had already expired, resulting in an illegal presence in the country. This can lead to visa cancellation, difficulty obtaining future visas, and multi-year bans from re-entering the U.S.
Phulara advises visitors to access the CBP website immediately upon arrival to check and print their I-94 record, keeping a copy for reference. If a longer stay is needed, travelers should apply for an extension with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) before the I-94 expires. Some visitors misinterpret a five-year visa stamp as permission to stay for the entire visa’s validity, but the I-94, not the visa stamp, dictates the legal stay duration.
CBP also clarifies on its FAQs: “Travelers can print their own Form I-94 from this website using the ‘Get Most Recent I-94’ query or by using the same option on the CBP Link Mobile Application. Once the traveler retrieves their I-94, there is a ‘print’ button at the bottom of the results page which will give you the option to print the information displayed. To retrieve your most recent I-94 form, your travel history, or apply online for a new I-94, enter the information exactly as it appears on the travel document that you used to enter the United States. Generally, this document is your passport or border crossing card.”
Under current policy, no passport stamps are issued at U.S. ports of entry for most visitors. Instead, visitors receive an electronic I-94, accessible online or via the CBP mobile app. The electronic I-94 is now the primary proof of legal status and stay duration, critical for employment authorization and compliance. Visitors must not stay beyond the I-94’s expiration date and should download their I-94 each time they enter the U.S. to avoid immigration violations and their serious repercussions.
The CBP website states, “If someone requests your admission information, this is the form you would provide. CBP may provide each traveler with an admission stamp that is annotated with a date of admission, class of admission, and ‘admit until’ date. The CBP admission stamp is listed as an alien registration document found in 8 CFR 264.1, Registration and Fingerprinting, which requires that certain non-immigrant aliens be registered, fingerprinted, and photographed at the port of entry (POE) at the time the non-immigrant aliens apply for admission.”
If a traveler was admitted incorrectly to the United States, CBP suggests they visit a local CBP Deferred Inspection Site to have their admission corrected.
According to CBP, most travelers can access their most recent admission record (Form I-94) on the I-94/I-95 website if it was created after 1983. The website will only return the most recent I-94 information that matches the provided name and date of birth. For example, if a traveler arrived in 2005 and again in 2017, only the 2017 I-94 information will be displayed.
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Kishor Panthi
View More PostsKishor Panthi is the founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas and NepYork. He is the author of three books, “Kampan,” "UNTRANSLATABLE" and “Zero Mile.” He writes about social issues, immigration, and politics.
