In an effort to streamline and digitize the entry process for travelers arriving in the United States, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began a pilot program in 2021 to eliminate ink stamps in passports for foreign nationals arriving in the United States. This means foreign nationals requesting admittance may not receive an entry stamp in their passport as they have in the past. Foreign nationals must still present a valid visa to request entry into the United States and admission is at CBP’s discretion. Many airports across the United States have already discontinued stamping passports with an entry or admission stamp. Instead of receiving an entry or admission stamp in the passport, the foreign national will be required to visit the CBP website at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home and retrieve their I-94 record. This record contains the same information as the entry stamp including the foreign nationals’ class of admission or visa status and the length of their stay in the United States.

It is important that foreign nationals retrieve their I-94 records after each entry into the United States as the record updates every time the foreign national is admitted into the United States. I-94 records are extremely important for religious workers who are in the country and need to prove their status, extend their status, or change their status in the United States. We encourage religious workers to retrieve their I-94 records upon entry to the United States and to keep this record in a safe space.

If you have any questions about this, please contact your RIS assigned attorney.