U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”)or CBP announced the elimination of admission or entry stamps in the passports of foreign nationals arriving in the U.S. This measure is already in effect for some airports, in other airports CBP is still issuing entry stamps. 

A passport entry stamp is an inked impression CBP makes in the foreign national’s passport at the port of entry upon the foreign national’s admission to the U.S. The stamp contains the location of entry point, the date of entry, the class of entry (B-2, H-1B, F-1, etc.), and the duration the foreign national is permitted to stay. In that regard, the passport entry stamp was a useful reference reflecting the tracking of a foreign national’s travel history and immigration status. The same information contained on the passport entry stamp is also reflected on a foreign national’s official admission record, the Form I-94. However, there are often discrepancies between the stamp in the passport and the Form I-94. The Form I-94 is not issued to the foreign national upon entrance, but is instead maintained and available online: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

CBP is eliminating the passport entry stamp to streamline the entry process. Foreign nationals will now only have the Form I-94 to reference as proof of their lawful immigration status. 

It is advisable to access and review the Form I-94 soon after entry to the United States, so that needed corrections can be actioned in a timely manner.

Big news for TPS:

On July 1, 2022, USCIS updated its policy regarding eligibility for adjustment of status of certain recipients of TPS.  USCIS clarified that TPS beneficiaries who travel abroad temporarily, with the prior consent of the USCIS (new travel authorization form I-512T), and who return to the USA in accordance with that prior authorization, may be inspected and admitted into TPS upon return, with certain exceptions. TPS beneficiaries whom DHS has inspected and admitted into TPS after such authorized travel are considered “inspected and admitted” and therefore eligible to apply for a green card through a process known as adjustment of status under INA 245(a) and INA 245(k). This is true even if the TPS beneficiary was present without admission or parole when initially granted TPS. USCIS  introducув a new form, TPS Travel Authorization (Form I-512T) for authorizing such travel. A TPS applicant has to be eligible to apply for a green card, in one if the categories, this didn't change.

Briefly in Russian:

1 июля 2022 USCIS опубликовал официальный меморандум, который изменил стырые правила по ТПС. Теперь человек в статусе ТПС, может получить разрешение на поездки за границу, новую форму, которую вводят специально для ТПС, и по возвращении в США, ему или ей будет разрешен официальный въезд в США на основании инспекции офицером на границе. С этим официальным разрешением на въезд, человек сможет подать на грин карту через процесс известный как adjustment of status, даже если до этого они въехали без визы и проживали нелегально в США. Естественно, человек должен иметь основания для подачи на грин карту, в соответствии с законом.

To be eligible for adjustment of status under INA 245(a), a noncitizen must have been inspected and admitted or inspected and paroled into the United States, unless exempt from this requirement. On June 7, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the interpretation that a noncitizen who enters the United States without having been inspected and admitted or inspected and paroled, and who is subsequently granted TPS, generally does not meet this requirement.1 USCIS is updating its guidance to reflect the decision of the Supreme Court. USCIS is also updating the effect of authorized travel by a TPS beneficiary on eligibility for adjustment of status under INA 245(a). On August 20, 2020, USCIS adopted a decision by the Administrative Appeals Office in Matter of Z-R-Z-C- as agency policy.

Matter of Z-R-Z-C- held that treating TPS beneficiaries who were paroled upon returning from travel authorized under INA 244(f)(3) as parolees for purposes of eligibility for adjustment of status under INA 245(a) was contrary to the language of the statute, as such noncitizens should not be considered to have been paroled, despite the issuance and use of parole documents for reentry into the United States. The adoption of this holding as the agency’s policy position significantly changed the agency’s position on the effect of authorized travel and return to the United States by TPS recipients. Matter of Z-R-ZC- also held that being “inspected and admitted” after TPS-authorized travel does not constitute being inspected and admitted for purposes of adjustment of status under INA 245(a).  

USCIS has reviewed its interpretation of the relevant statutory authority3 and the effect of TPS authorized travel on eligibility for adjustment of status, and on July 1, 2022, rescinded its designation of Matter of Z-R-Z-C- as an adopted decision.

USCIS is updating its guidance to clarify that TPS beneficiaries who travel abroad temporarily, with the prior consent of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and who return in accordance with that prior authorization, may be inspected and admitted into TPS upon return, with certain exceptions. TPS beneficiaries whom DHS has inspected and admitted into TPS after such authorized travel are “inspected and admitted” for purposes of adjustment of status under INA 245(a) and INA 245(k).

This is true even if the TPS beneficiary was present without admission or parole when initially granted TPS.

USCIS is also updating its guidance relating to how it authorizes TPS beneficiaries to travel pursuant to the Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Nationality Amendments of 1991 (MTINA).

USCIS is introducing a new form, TPS Travel Authorization (Form I-512T) for authorizing such travel and will no longer be using Authorization for Parole of an Alien Into the United States (Form I512L) for this population. Presenting with a valid Form I-512T allows a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at a port-of-entry to admit the named bearer into TPS.

USCIS is also removing guidance and reserving the affected Policy Manual section regarding the effect of TPS and TPS-authorized travel on whether a naturalization applicant was lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as required under INA 318.

The removed guidance did not reflect the 2021 Supreme Court decision that conferral of TPS was not an admission, and it applied the rescinded policy in Matter of Z-R-Z-C- to TPS beneficiaries who returned from authorized travel. Guidance reflecting these changes will be issued subsequently. USCIS is also updating its guidance relating to when adjustment of status applications are in the jurisdiction of USCIS, as opposed to the jurisdiction of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

The update also clarifies that jurisdiction is based on whether or not DHS places a noncitizen into removal proceedings as an “arriving alien.” This guidance, contained in Volume 7 of the Policy Manual, is effective immediately and applies prospectively to applications adjudicated on or after July 1, 2022. The guidance in Part B, Chapter 2, Section A, Subsection 5, Temporary Protected Status, also applies retroactively to past travel in all cases arising under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit under the recent decision Duarte v. Mayorkas, 27 F.4th 1044 (5th Cir. 2022), as well as in individual cases arising elsewhere where USCIS has determined that retroactive application is appropriate, as explained in the guidance. The guidance contained in the Policy Manual is controlling and supersedes Adjudicators Field Manual Chapter 54.4(a)(3)(A), TPS Advance Parole Procedures, and any other related prior guidance on the topic.

Policy Highlights:

• Incorporates the Supreme Court’s decision in Sanchez v. Mayorkas.

• Reflects the rescission of Matter of Z-R-Z-C- as an adopted decision.

• Clarifies that if a TPS beneficiary is inspected and admitted into TPS following a return from authorized travel, this meets the requirements of INA 245(a) and 245(k) for adjustment of status.

• Provides that USCIS may deem past travel under advance parole to have been an admission into TPS in certain cases.

• Clarifies the circumstances under which USCIS or EOIR have jurisdiction over adjustment of status applications following a TPS beneficiary’s inspection and admission into TPS after a return from authorized travel.

• Clarifies that jurisdiction over an adjustment application by a noncitizen in removal proceedings is based on whether or not DHS placed the noncitizen into those proceedings as an “arriving alien.”

• Removes and reserves guidance discussing TPS when considering whether a naturalization applicant was lawfully admitted as a permanent resident as required under INA 318. Summary of Changes Affected Section: Volume 7 > Part A > Chapter 3 > Section D, Jurisdiction

• Makes revisions throughout to clarify basis for jurisdiction and to incorporate new policy on effect of TPS-authorized travel. Affected Section: Volume 7 > Part B > Chapter 2 > Section A, “Inspected and Admitted” or “Inspected and Paroled” • Revises Subsection 5 (Temporary Protected Status), in its entirety. Affected Section: Volume 12 > Part D > Chapter 2 > Section C, Effect of Change in Law 

• Removes text under Subsection 2 (Case Law), Temporary Protected Status and Admission or Parole into the United States for Adjustment of Status, and reserves section.

Citation

​Volume 7: Adjustment of Status, Part A, Adjustment of Status Policies and Procedures, Chapter 3, Filing Instructions [7 USCIS-PM A.3]; Part B, 245(a) Adjustment, Chapter 2, Eligibility Requirements [7 USCIS-PM B.2]. Volume 12: Citizenship and Naturalization, Part D, General Naturalization Requirements, Chapter 2, Lawful Permanent Resident Admission for Naturalization [12 USCIS-PM D.2]. 

USCIS Memo, dated July 1, 2022.

Read another post on this topic here - I-512T Travel Authorization for TPS Beneficiary v. Advance Parole for I-821 pending.

Starting in May 2019, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will start issuing I-94 Admission Record with letters in addition to numbers. The new format will include nine numbers, followed by one letter and one number.

Current I-94 Admission Record also have eleven characters, but only numbers. Examples of new I-94 numbers include: 111111111A1; 000000001B2; 123456789C3.

​I-94s in the current number-only format will remain valid through the listed “Admit Until Date”.

As a reminder, an I-94 record not only documents a foreign national’s current nonimmigrant status, but also governs the amount of time the individual is allowed to remain in the United States in that status. As such, it is extremely important to review and print I-94 record from the CBP website after each admission into the United States. Errors on I-94 records can be corrected if caught early. 

​CBP launched an updated website for accessing I-94 admission records, and travel history to USA records.

To access your CBP records, you have to enter your information exactly as in your passport at: 

​https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home