Paperless Immigration

From CBP's website:

"CBP to Rollout New Arrival/Departure-Record Process for Foreign Visitors"

Foreign visitors arriving in the U.S.—only via air or sea—who need to prove their legal-visitor status—to employers, schools/universities or government agencies—will be able to access their U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrival/departure record information online when the agency starts its records automation on April 30, 2013.  When the electronic rollout begins April 30, CBP will no longer require international non-immigrant visitors to fill out a paper Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record upon arrival to the U.S. by air or sea. The agency will gather travelers’ arrival/departure information automatically from their electronic travel records. This automation will streamline the entry process for travelers, facilitate security and reduce federal costs. CBP anticipates that the automated process will save the agency an estimated $15.5 million a year. Because advance information is only transmitted for air and sea travelers, CBP will still issue a paper form I-94 at land border ports of entry. CBP will phase-in the Form I-94 automation at air and sea ports of entry through April and May. Foreign visitors will continue to receive the paper Form I-94 until the automated process arrives at their port of entry. Following automation, if travelers need the information from their Form I-94 admission record to verify immigration status or employment authorization, the record number and other admission information will be available at CBP.gov/I94. ( CBP.gov/I94 )  With the new CBP process, a CBP officer will stamp the travel document of each arriving non-immigrant traveler. The admission stamp will show the date of admission, class of admission, and the date that the traveler is admitted until. Travelers will also receive on arrival a flier alerting them to go to CBP.gov/I94 for their admission record information. ( CBP.gov/I94 )  Travelers will not need to do anything differently upon exiting the U.S. Travelers previously issued a paper Form I-94 would surrender it to the commercial carrier or to CBP upon departure. If travelers did not receive a paper Form I-94, CBP will record the departure electronically via manifest information provided by the carrier or by CBP.

 

 

Week 1	4/30/13	Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Orlando International Airport, Las Vegas Airport, Chicago O’Hare and Miami International Airport
Week 2	5/7/13	Major Air and Sea Ports within the following field offices: New York, Boston, Buffalo, Baltimore, Detroit, Atlanta, Tampa, Puerto Rico, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans and Houston
Week 3	5/14/13	Major Air and Sea ports within the following field offices: Pre-Clearance, San Francisco (includes Hawaii and Guam), Tucson, El Paso, Seattle, Portland (includes Alaska), Los Angeles, San Diego and Laredo
Week 4	5/21/13	All remaining airports and seaports

^ It's good that they are going to start doing this electronically. I know many foreigners who had problems because the airline forgot or misplaced their form when they left and so they had problems when they wanted to return to the US. This should no longer be the case as it will be US Immigration and not the airlines doing it - as it should have always been. ^

     http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/i-94_instructions/i94_rollout.xml