Updated November 12, 2026

United States visa status: how to check your Form I-94, track USCIS petitions, and extend or change status

Checking your United States visa status depends on where you are in the process: inside the U.S., you can verify your authorized nonimmigrant status and expiration date on your 11-character Form I-94 Arrival-Departure Record via the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) I-94 website or CBP Link mobile app. For pending extensions, status changes, or domestic petitions, check USCIS Case Status Online, while consular visa applications abroad remain with the Department of State. Under USCIS guidance, travelers eligible to remain longer should apply to extend their stay on Form I-539 or Form I-129 at least 45 days before the expiration date on their Form I-94.

Which U.S. agency tracks your visa status

People searching for United States visa status usually mean one of three separate records, and each one belongs to a different federal agency. Checking the wrong portal leaves you looking at an empty search screen or misreading the date you must leave the country.

Before you look up a record, match your stage to the government agency that holds your file. As USCIS notes in its employment-based adjustment inventory guidance, USCIS case records do not include Department of State visa inventory, and border admission records sit with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Where to check your U.S. immigration or visa status by stage

How Form I-94 shows your authorized nonimmigrant status

Inside the United States, your Form I-94 Arrival-Departure Record is the record used to verify your legal-visitor status or employment authorization for employers, schools, universities, and government agencies. Travelers can retrieve their admission number and electronic Form I-94 record online through the CBP I-94 website or the CBP Link mobile app.

Under USCIS guidance, your authorized status and the date your status expires appear in the lower right-hand corner of your Form I-94 Arrival-Departure Record. To remain longer or change the purpose of your visit, you or your employer must file a request with USCIS on the appropriate form before that authorized stay expires. USCIS warns that if you fail to maintain nonimmigrant status or stay longer than authorized, you may be removed (deported) or barred from returning to the United States.

When employers, universities, or local, state, and federal benefit agencies verify your status through USCIS's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, they look at one of three arrival-departure records listed in the USCIS SAVE quick reference guide. If you lose a paper arrival record or need an initial or replacement nonimmigrant arrival-departure document from USCIS, Form G-1055 lists Form I-102, Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document.

Three Form I-94 document types recognized by USCIS SAVE

How to check your Form I-94 status online and record land exits

Foreign visitors no longer fill out paper Form I-94 cards on airplanes or ships, and CBP also issues electronic Form I-94 records at U.S. land borders instead of stapling a paper I-94 stub into your passport. CBP collects arrival and departure details automatically from electronic travel records so travelers can verify immigration status or employment authorization for employers, schools, universities, and government agencies online.

Beginning in May 2019, CBP transitioned Form I-94 admission numbers from numeric-only digits to an alphanumeric format so the agency would not run out of numbers. Every Form I-94 number remains 11 characters long: 9 digits, followed by a letter in the 10th position, and a digit in the 11th position. Unexpired Form I-94 records issued earlier in the 11-digit numeric-only format remain valid until the Admit Until Date printed on the paper record or displayed on the CBP I-94 portal.

Follow these steps to retrieve, check, and protect your CBP Form I-94 record from entry through departure:

• Retrieve and print your current status: Open the CBP I-94 website or the CBP Link mobile app and select Get Most Recent I-94 to view your 11-character admission number, class of admission, and Admit Until Date, or to print a paper copy for an employer, school, or licensing office. You may ask for a paper Form I-94 during border inspection, though CBP handles all paper requests in secondary inspection.
• Apply in advance before a land-border crossing: CBP encourages travelers who need an I-94 at a land port to apply ahead of arrival on the CBP I-94 website or CBP Link mobile app. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travelers crossing by land must also hold an approved Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before arriving at the U.S. land border.
• Fix admission errors promptly: Check your electronic Form I-94 right after every entry. When an incoming traveler's documentation needs extra review or a correction, CBP refers cases across over 70 Deferred Inspection Sites throughout the United States and outlying territories.
• Turn in any paper Form I-94 when leaving: If you still hold a physical paper Form I-94, surrender it upon exit to your commercial carrier, to the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), or directly to CBP.
• Keep proof of timely land departures: When you leave by air or sea, CBP records your exit automatically from carrier or CBP manifest data. However, if you hold an electronic I-94, are not a resident of Canada or Mexico, and exit by land without re-entering the U.S. before the expiration date stamped in your passport, CBP warns that your departure may not record accurately. Carry proof you entered Canada or Mexico on time, such as a passport entry stamp requested from CBSA or Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM), transportation tickets, pay stubs, or dated receipts.

How to extend your stay with USCIS before your I-94 expires

If you need more time in the United States under the same nonimmigrant purpose, you or your employer must request an extension of stay (EOS) from USCIS before the date in the lower right-hand corner of your Form I-94 expires. Depending on your visa classification, petitioners file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (or Form I-129CW for CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Workers), while nonimmigrants filing for themselves generally submit Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (plus Form I-539A for co-applicants where applicable). Eligible applicants can file online through a USCIS account.

USCIS recommends filing to extend your stay at least 45 days before your authorized stay expires. Worked case written by our team (the traveler and dates are invented): Suppose you enter the United States in valid nonimmigrant visitor status on April 16, and your Form I-94 Arrival-Departure Record shows an Admit Until Date of October 15 in the lower right-hand corner. Your authorized stay expires on October 15. Counting back 45 calendar days from October 15 (15 days in October plus 30 days in September) puts your recommended Form I-539 target filing date on or before August 31.

Under USCIS rules, you may apply to extend your stay only if you meet all five conditions below, and you do not hold one of the six barred admission categories:

• Lawful admission: You were lawfully admitted into the United States with a nonimmigrant visa.
• Active status: Your nonimmigrant visa status remains valid at the time of filing.
• Clean criminal record: You have not committed any crimes that make you ineligible for a visa.
• Compliance with admission terms: You have not violated the conditions of your admission, such as working without authorization.
• Unexpired passport: Your passport is valid now and will remain valid for the entire duration of your requested stay.
• Categories barred from extending stay: You cannot apply to extend stay if you entered under the Visa Waiver Program, as a crew member (D visa), in transit through the U.S. (C visa), in transit without a visa (TWOV), as the fiance(e) of a U.S. citizen or dependent (K visa), or as an informant on terrorism or organized crime and accompanying family (S visa).

How to change your nonimmigrant status inside the U.S.

If the purpose of your stay changes while you are inside the United States, such as arriving as a tourist and deciding to enroll in a university degree program, you or your sponsoring employer must file a change-of-status request with USCIS before your Form I-94 expires. USCIS recommends filing as soon as you realize you need a different nonimmigrant category.

One rule catches applicants off guard more than any other: until USCIS approves your request, do not assume your new status is granted and do not start the new activity. For instance, USCIS states that a nonimmigrant tourist must not begin attending classes as a student until USCIS authorizes the change of status. Starting early violates your current status and can lead to removal or a bar on returning.

Not every change in plans requires a USCIS filing. If you entered in B-1 business visitor status and wish to stay for pleasure before your authorized stay ends, you do not need to apply for a change of status. Spouses and children of principals lawfully admitted in A, E, G, H, I, J, or L status may also attend school in the United States without applying to change status. Spouses and children of F academic or M vocational students may attend elementary, middle, or high school without changing status, though they must apply to change status before starting full-time post-secondary study. By contrast, several categories face strict statutory bars on changing status inside the U.S.

Categories restricted from changing nonimmigrant status with USCIS

How to check a pending USCIS case and read processing times

Once you or your petitioner submit Form I-539, Form I-129, Form I-130, Form I-485, or Form I-765, USCIS provides five self-help tools on its portal to monitor progress: Case Status Online, Check Case Processing Times, Change of Address, E-Request, and Online Account and Technical Support. If USCIS approves a domestic change of status, it issues Form I-797A to the applicant as a replacement Form I-94 arrival and departure record showing that you can legally continue to remain in the United States.

Beyond individual receipt checks, USCIS publishes Check Case Processing Times by form type and responsible field office or service center, Historic Processing Times showing national median timelines, and quarterly operational datasets (such as the Fiscal Year 2026, Quarter 3 reports covering April to June 2026). Those quarterly reports list total receipts, approvals, denials, pending backlogs, and Request for Evidence (RFE) counts for nonimmigrant worker petitions, Form I-765 employment authorization categories, Form I-130 family petitions, and Form I-485 adjustment filings.

If you have a pending employment-based Form I-485 Adjustment of Status application, USCIS also publishes Pending Applications for Employment-Based Preference Categories inventory spreadsheets (including the October 5, 2026 inventory report). You can look up your preference category, country of chargeability, and priority date month and year to see how many pending Forms I-485 sit ahead of yours at USCIS. Keep in mind that overall wait times also depend on statutory per-country caps and visa supply and demand across both USCIS and the Department of State.

Checklist to avoid Form I-539 or Form I-129 fee and edition rejections

A rejected extension or change-of-status package does not protect your status if your Form I-94 expires before you refile. Under Form G-1055, Fee Schedule (edition 10/26/26, published October 28, 2026), USCIS rejects any application, petition, or request sent with an incorrect fee or mismatched form pages.

Work through this six-point filing checklist written by our team before submitting a status application to USCIS:

• Confirm the current fee on Form G-1055: Check the 10/26/26 edition of Form G-1055 right before filing. Unless your category lists zero as fee-exempt or qualifies for a fee waiver, an exact fee payment is mandatory.
• Check Public Law 119-21 add-on fees: Certain forms carry an additional fee under Public Law 119-21 that adjusts annually, cannot be waived, and requires a separate payment submitted alongside the base filing fee (even if the base USCIS fee is zero or waived, with narrow litigation pauses as of February 5, 2026 for confirmed Ms. L. v. ICE Settlement Class members and Qualifying Additional Family Members).
• Use an accepted payment method: Online filings pay through Pay.gov. Mailed Lockbox packages must use Form G-1450 for a credit, debit, or prepaid card or Form G-1650 for a U.S. bank ACH transfer, unless you qualify for a paper-payment exemption and attach a signed Form G-1651. At a USCIS office, you must pay via Pay.gov or EFT on Form G-1650, because USCIS never accepts cash for filing or biometric fees.
• File paper if requesting a fee waiver: For most eligible forms, you cannot request a fee waiver online. Mail a paper Form I-912 (or written fee-waiver request) together with the paper benefit form, while still enclosing any non-waivable Public Law 119-21 fee separately.
• Verify every page's edition date: On paper filings, check that the mm/dd/yy edition date and page numbers are visible at the bottom of every sheet and that all pages come from the exact same form edition, or USCIS may reject the filing.
• Keep your address updated: Report any move promptly through USCIS's Change of Address self-help tool or Form AR-11, Alien's Change of Address Card, so Requests for Evidence and Form I-797A approval notices reach you on time.

What officers ask about your U.S. status at future interviews

Every past U.S. entry, extension, change of status, and departure stays in your travel history. When you apply for a new visa abroad or seek admission at a U.S. port of entry, officers compare your spoken answers against CBP entry-exit records and USCIS filings. Prepare the exact dates and records for these four common status questions without memorizing a recited script:

• Why did you stay in the United States longer than the trip length on your prior visa application? What it checks: Whether you overstayed your Form I-94 or misrepresented your plans. How to prepare: Know your original Form I-94 Admit Until Date, the date you timely filed Form I-539 before expiration, the reason plans changed, and your departure date, backed by your Form I-797A approval notice or timely filing receipt and exit boarding pass.
• Did you study or work before USCIS approved your change of status? What it checks: Whether you violated nonimmigrant conditions while a request was pending, since USCIS forbids changing your activity before approval. How to prepare: Be ready to state the approval date on your Form I-797A replacement Form I-94 and confirm that your classes or authorized employment began only on or after that date.
• CBP records show an entry two years ago with no matching departure. When did you leave? What it checks: Unrecorded land-border exits into Canada or Mexico that look like an unlawful overstay. How to prepare: Carry the departure proof CBP recommends for electronic I-94 holders leaving by land, including CBSA or INM passport entry stamps, bus or train tickets, pay stubs from abroad, or dated receipts.
• Have you ever changed status inside the United States or had an extension denied? What it checks: Full candor and whether any period out of status triggered a return bar. How to prepare: Answer truthfully with exact filing and decision dates, and carry every Form I-797 notice and departure record from that stay.

Practice example

Your last visit to the United States lasted nine months on a B-2 visitor visa. How did you remain in lawful status for that long?

State your original entry date, the initial Admit Until Date on your CBP Form I-94, and the date you filed Form I-539 with USCIS before your authorized stay expired. Explain the specific, temporary reason you requested an extension of stay and state the exact date you departed the United States. Carry three records in your interview folder in case the officer asks to verify your timeline: a printout of your electronic CBP Form I-94 from that trip, your USCIS approval notice (such as Form I-797A issued as a replacement Form I-94, or your USCIS receipt notice and proof of timely departure if you left while the application was pending), and your return airline boarding pass or foreign entry stamp. Keep your explanation factual, brief, and consistent with the travel history you listed on your visa form, without guessing at dates.

Consular and border officers check whether a long prior visit involved an unauthorized overstay, which can trigger a bar from returning to the United States. Giving exact filing and departure dates backed by your Form I-94 and USCIS notices shows you maintained lawful nonimmigrant status under USCIS rules.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.