Question: Why does OISS keep telling me to print my I-94 after I travel and what happens if I do not do this?
Answer:
Your I-94 is an important part of your immigration record and changes each time you travel outside the U.S. Further, your I-94 record is something that can be easily overlooked. That is, until you need it. This is why our office does our best to remind students to log in (print off) and save a digital copy of your I-94 after each time you travel.
When you print off your I-94, there are important things you want to check for (See sample photo).
- First, you want to make sure that your name and travel information on it is recorded correctly. This means making sure your name is spelled correctly and your most recent travel dates are accurate.
- Check that the “Class Admission” field is correct. Your Class Admission should always read, “F1”.
- Check that the “Admit Until Date” field is correct. This should only read, “D/S”, which stands for “Duration of Status”. There should never be a date recorded in this field. If there is anything other than “D/S” then you want to get this corrected immediately.
- Lastly, you will want to check to make sure that the information on your I-94 matches the information on your stamp (i.e. D/S and entry same date)
If you are not sure or it appears that your I-94 has a discrepancy, you should reach out to your advisor as soon as possible. Your advisor will help you through the process of getting anything corrected should that be needed.
Additionally, it is important to save your I-94 record each time because the record will automatically expire after a certain amount of years. This can become problematic if you are applying for things like OPT or Change of Status and the information is gone. Saving a digital copy and having a hard copy is the only way to ensure that you will always have a record of your most recent I-94.
Written by: Lara Jennings, International Student Advisor