Updated November 7, 2026

CBP Deferred Inspection: how to fix Form I-94 errors and handle a Form I-546 appointment

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operates over 70 Deferred Inspection Sites across the United States and its outlying territories for two jobs: finishing an entry decision when you lacked documents at the border, and fixing errors made on your arrival record (Form I-94) at entry.

You do not have to return to the airport where you landed, because any designated Deferred Inspection Site or CBP office inside an international airport can fix an entry error, and 33 of the 72 listed offices accept I-94 correction requests, inquiries, or deferred inspection contact by email.

What is CBP Deferred Inspection?

CBP Deferred Inspection Sites handle two different situations after you arrive in the United States. The first is a scheduled follow-up from your entry inspection, and the second is fixing a mistake on your arrival paperwork.

When you arrive at a U.S. port of entry, a CBP officer decides your immigration status and how long you can stay. You can see what happens at the booth in our guide to arriving in the US and what the CBP officer checks at entry. If the officer cannot make an immediate decision on your status because you lack required documentation, the port of entry can schedule you on a case-by-case basis to report to a Deferred Inspection Site at a future date.

When that happens, the officer gives you an Order to Appear-Deferred Inspection, Form I-546. Form I-546 explains what information or documentation you must bring to resolve the discrepancy. Often, the site you report to is near your final destination rather than the first airport where you landed.

The same over 70 Deferred Inspection Sites (as of CBP's November 3, 2026 directory) also help travelers who were admitted to the U.S. but noticed an error on the arrival documents or endorsements issued at the port of entry.

• Scheduled deferred inspection (Form I-546): You lacked documentation at the border and were ordered to appear at a CBP Deferred Inspection Site with the missing paperwork.
• I-94 and entry document correction: You were admitted, checked your electronic or paper Form I-94, and found a mistake made by CBP at the time of entry.

Which errors can CBP Deferred Inspection fix?

CBP Deferred Inspection Sites only correct errors made at the time of entry. Specifically, CBP says site staff can review your arrival record and issue documents to fix three types of entry mistakes, when appropriate: an improper nonimmigrant classification, inaccurate biographical information, or an incorrect period of admission.

Many travelers go to a CBP Deferred Inspection office for problems that actually belong to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or other channels. Use the table below to match your issue to the agency or action that fixes it.

Where to fix Form I-94, entry, and travel record issues

How to find and contact a CBP Deferred Inspection Site

You do not need to travel back to the airport or land border where you entered the United States to fix an I-94 error. CBP states that any designated Deferred Inspection location, or any CBP office located inside an international airport, should be able to assist you regardless of where the original arrival document was issued.

Before you go in person, keep three CBP rules in mind:

• No mail-in fixes: Mail-in procedures are generally not available at Deferred Inspection Sites.
• Call ahead for non-airport sites: If the Deferred Inspection Site is not located inside an international airport, CBP encourages you to contact the office first to establish an appointment if necessary.
• Check for walk-in limits: Some airport offices do not take walk-ins for I-94 fixes. The Charlotte Douglas International Airport office, for example, states that walk-in I-94 correction requests cannot be accommodated and requires all I-94 requests to go through email first.

Email options for Form I-94 corrections

Although CBP does not offer mail-in corrections, many individual Deferred Inspection Sites accept I-94 correction requests by email. By our calculation from CBP's Deferred Inspection Sites directory of 71 listed locations, 33 sites publish an email address for I-94 corrections, inquiries, or deferred inspection contact, 1 site (Cleveland) lists a dedicated phone number to call for I-94 corrections, and 36 sites list only general office phone numbers and walk-in or appointment hours.

Local rules differ on what happens when you send an email. At offices such as Detroit and Charlotte, you submit your correction request and document scans directly by email, and Charlotte contacts you only if an in-person appointment is needed. At the Port of Louisville, by contrast, CBP states that the port cannot make I-94 corrections via email and uses its email address only for an officer to respond to I-94 correction inquiries.

Below are the CBP Deferred Inspection Sites that publish a dedicated email address for I-94 corrections or inquiries on CBP's directory:

CBP Deferred Inspection Sites with published I-94 email addresses

Checklist: what to bring or attach for a Deferred Inspection or I-94 correction

What you need to prepare depends on whether you were ordered to appear with a Form I-546 or you are asking CBP to fix an error on your Form I-94. Our team put together this step-by-step preparation checklist using CBP's national deferred inspection guidance and the Detroit Deferred Inspection office's published I-94 submission list.

• 1. Pull your current Form I-94 first: If you entered the U.S. on or after April 30, 2013, get your electronic Arrival/Departure Record from the CBP I-94 website or the CBP Link mobile app using the 'Get Most Recent I-94' option, and print or save a copy.
• 2. Check your I-94 number format: Since May 2019, CBP issues 11-character alphanumeric I-94 numbers formatted as 9 digits, followed by a letter in the 10th position, and a digit in the 11th position. Unexpired numeric-only 11-digit I-94s remain valid until their Admit Until Date.
• 3. If you were scheduled for Deferred Inspection at entry: Bring your Order to Appear-Deferred Inspection (Form I-546) and the exact documentation or information written on the form to resolve the discrepancy. Note that some sites have specific hours for criminal record reviews, such as Atlanta, which handles 'Deferred for Judgment and Conviction Records' on Wednesday only from 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• 4. If you are requesting an I-94 correction (by email or in person): Prepare a brief, plain-English description of the error that needs attention (classification, biographical typo, or period of admission).
• 5. Include clear photos, scans, or originals of your entry records: Following CBP Detroit's published instructions, include your passport biographical page, your U.S. visa page (if applicable), your most recent U.S. admission stamp (if applicable), and any other relevant supporting documents that prove your eligible status or entry period.

What happens if you are ordered to appear with Form I-546?

When an arriving traveler lacks the documentation needed for an officer to make an immediate decision on immigration status at the port of entry, CBP can defer the inspection instead of resolving it at the border. To see why questions escalate at the airport or land border, read our guide on what CBP officers ask at the US border and how border decisions differ from expedited removal.

On a case-by-case basis, the port of entry gives you Form I-546 (Order to Appear-Deferred Inspection). This form tells you where and when to report and lists the information or documentation required to resolve the discrepancy.

Before your appointment, check the hours for the specific Deferred Inspection Site on CBP's directory. Many sites operate only a few days a week or only a few hours a day. For example, Charleston is open only on Tuesday from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m., Norfolk and Oklahoma City are open only on Wednesdays, and Portland, Oregon is open only on Thursdays from 09:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If your site is not inside an international airport, call the number listed in the directory to confirm whether you need an appointment.

[PRACTICE_BOX]

Worked example: how to spot and fix an I-94 admission error

Here is a worked example created by our team to show how the CBP I-94 correction process works from start to finish. The traveler and dates are invented.

1. Spotting the mistake: Priya enters the United States at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The next day, she opens the CBP I-94 website and selects 'Get Most Recent I-94' to download her 11-character alphanumeric I-94 record for her employer's I-9 verification. She sees that the officer recorded an inaccurate passport number and an incorrect Admit Until Date that cuts her authorized period of admission short.

2. Choosing the right CBP office: Priya flew from Chicago on a connecting flight to Detroit, Michigan. Because CBP allows any designated Deferred Inspection Site or international airport CBP office to fix entry errors regardless of where the document was issued, she does not have to travel back to Chicago O'Hare.

3. Submitting the fix by email: Priya checks CBP's directory for the Detroit Deferred Inspection office at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Instead of driving to the McNamara Terminal during its Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. window, she uses Detroit's published email option (dtwi94corrections@cbp.dhs.gov). She writes a three-sentence explanation of the passport typo and admission period error, and attaches clear scans of her passport biographical page, her visa page, her most recent U.S. admission stamp, and her approval document.

4. Verifying the updated I-94: Once CBP corrects her entry record, Priya goes back to the I-94 website, clicks 'Get Most Recent I-94' again, and prints the corrected Form I-94 showing the accurate biographical information and Admit Until Date.

How to check your updated I-94

CBP gathers arrival and departure information automatically from electronic travel records for air, sea, and land entries, so travelers no longer fill out paper I-94 stubs at the border. If you need a paper copy for an employer, school, or government agency after your record is fixed, use 'Get Most Recent I-94' on the I-94 website or the CBP Link mobile app to print it yourself.

What to do about unrecorded land departures

An unrecorded land border departure cannot be fixed by walking into a Deferred Inspection Site for an I-94 edit, and CBP has separate rules for it.

When you leave the U.S. by air or sea, CBP records your departure electronically from carrier manifests. If you received a paper Form I-94, you surrender it to the commercial carrier, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), or CBP when you leave. However, if you received an electronic I-94 and depart via land into Canada or Mexico, your departure may not be recorded accurately unless you re-enter the U.S. before the expiration date stamped in your passport. If you are not a resident of Canada or Mexico, leave by land, and do not re-enter before your stamp expires, CBP advises traveling with evidence of your departure, such as an entry stamp requested from CBSA or Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM), transportation tickets, pay stubs, or other receipts.

Want to practice explaining your travel history, visa purpose, and documents clearly before speaking with an officer? Try our US Port of Entry interview practice with AI.

Visaful is an AI mock interview app for US visa interviews: an AI officer asks your visa's questions out loud and shows what to fix.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or any government agency.