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- General Information about Form I-94/I-94W
- Procedures of Arrival/Departure to and from the U.S.
- Replacing Lost or Stolen Form I-94/I-94W
- Returning Form I-94/I-94W from Abroad
- How to Proof Your Departure Without Returning I-94
- Why it is Important to Document Your Departure
- Potential Problems if Your Departure is not Recorded
- List of all USCIS (formerly INS) Offices Nationwide
- U.S. Embassies and Consulates Directory
- Application Forms
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I-94 Form General Information
Unless the person is a citizen of one of the 27
visa waiver countries and has a machine-readable passport, most visitors to the
United States need to apply for a visa before entering the United States. The
Form I-94/I-94W is used to record the arrival and departure information of all
visitors to the United States. Citizens of visa waiver countries can enter the
United States for up to 90-days without a visa.
All visitors must complete either Form I-94 (white) or Form I-94W (green)
regardless of whether the visitor is entering the U.S. under the Visa Waiver
Program, or if he or she possesses a visa.
Differences between Form I-94 and Form I-94W
White Form I-94 is issued to visitors who hold a valid U.S. visa, such as B-1,
B-2, F-1, H-1B, etc. Green Form I-94W is issued to visitors who enter the U.S. under the Visa Waiver
Program. The "W" stands for "waiver” which means that you waive your rights to
review or appeal any decision regarding admissibility in the U.S. and in most
cases and prevents you from extending your stay in the U.S. or changing
immigration status. It is not usually a problem, but it is important for you to
know if you will possibly be changing your status after you enter the U.S.
Form I-94 and Form I-94W consist of two parts:
- Arrival Record: kept by the immigration officer upon arrival – the top portion
- Departure Record: this must be returned upon departure – the bottom portion
Urgent: If you
lose your departure record or forget to turn it in when departing from the U.S.
you will have a problem and your file will remain open. Once you have exceeded
the amount of days you were legally admitted to stay in the U.S., your
classification will become as an “overstay.” This can lead to a serious problem
the next time you attempt to enter the United States. You could possibly
experience a denial of entry and/or cancellation of any United States visa you
may have.
The visitor is responsible to prove that he or she departed the U.S. within the
amount of days indicated he or she was admitted to stay. Whether you lost or
misplaced your Form I-94/I-94W departure record while in the United States, or
you forgot to turn it in before departing the United States, there are specific
procedures to follow if this happens.
You can find solutions to the following situations in the Form I-94/I-94W Information Guide:
- Lost, Mutilated or Stolen I-94/I-94W departure record while in the United States
- Departure from the United States with the I-94/I-94W departure record still in your possession
- Departure from the United States without the I-94/I-94W departure record
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF THIS U.S. IMMIGRATION BOOK Our publications are available free of charge to any community organization or library located in the United States. Please contact us for more information.
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