U.S. Customs & Border Protection Agency Phases Out Entry Stamps Upon Arrival for International Travelers
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) has begun a “stampless entry” system for international travelers arriving at U.S. airports, sea and land ports. This system eliminates the use of physical stamps in passports for travelers arriving in the U.S. from international travel. Instead, CBP will record all entries to the United States in it’s electronic I-94 system.
At this time, CPB officers are authorized to issue ink entry stamps to travelers upon request. All foreign nationals are encouraged to request that an ink entry stamp be placed in their passport upon entry to the United States. This is important because the electronic I-94 system is not always accurate, and it is crucial that foreign nationals have an accurate record of all of their entries and exits for purposes of maintenance of status, proving physical presence in the U.S. for purposes of naturalization, proving residence for tax purposes, and proving status to the Social Security Administration and the DMV.
Nonimmigrants as well as legal permanent residents should always check the CBP electronic I-94 website to make sure that their entry information is accurate as soon as possible after entry. If any errors are found, they should be reported to the nearest office of CBP as soon as possible. This is because the electronic I-94 system has been known to make errors, which can cause problems in proving physical presence in the U.S. for purposes of maintenance of status, and residence for tax purposes.
The elimination of entry stamps especially effects legal permanent residents, because the entry of legal permanent residents to the U.S. is not recorded in the CBP electronic I-94 system. This can cause problems with proving physical presence in the U.S. for naturalization purposes, since the burden is always on the legal permanent resident to prove his or her periods of physical presence in the U.S. when applying for naturalization. Because of this, legal permanent residents should always request an ink stamp in their passport when entering the Untied States. Further, they should keep contemporaneous records of their entries and exits to the U.S., such as boarding passes, flight status emails, travel itineraries, and receipts from hotels and other travel related expenses.