This is a posting where you either know what an I-94 card is or you don’t. If you do it’s because you see it when certain new hires complete the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (Form I-9). That being said, I’m going to start talking about this now so that you’re not blindsided when it happens. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is talking about eliminating the I-94 card and has been for some time now. My sense is that they are really, really, really serious about it this time. Citing cost, efficiency and redundancies, CBP wants to eliminate the I-94 card that is issued to non-immigrants when they enter the United States and instead make it a purely electronic transaction.
Why does this matter to employers? Here’s why —
Let’s say you hire an individual working in the United States in a temporary work visa category such as H-1B. Typically that individual will show you their passport and I-94 card. In fact, the instructions on the Form I-9 state the following: “In the case of a non-immigrant alien authorized to work for a specific employer incident to status, a foreign passport with Form I-94 or Form I-94A bearing the same name as the passport and containing an endorsement of the alien’s non-immigrant status….” are the acceptable List A documents. But what happens when the Form I-94 is no longer issued by CBP or in some instance US Citizenship and Immigration Services?
Rumors are flying about exactly what CBP will do to alleviate concerns that by simply eliminating the I-94 without updating the Form I-9 employers will be between a rock and a hard place and throw the I-9 process into turmoil. The issue being that an H-1B worker (or any other temporary worker) entering the United States, once the process is automated, will not receive a paper I-94 card. This means employers will only have a foreign passport with a stamp from CBP and therefore will not be able to fully comply with the requirements of the law. That’s a problem.
Stay tuned for more updates on this and other exciting topics!