US to phase out I-94W arrival forms by end of (US) Summer

[Mal]

DHS: Secretary Napolitano Announces Elimination of Paper Arrival/Departure Form to Streamline Secure Visa Waiver Program Travel

Following a successful seven-month pilot program conducted with the support of the Government of New Zealand on Air New Zealand flights from Auckland to Los Angeles International Airport, the use of paper I-94W forms will be eliminated for VWP travelers with an approved Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) arriving in the United States at all airports by the end of this summer. CBP will activate automated processing for U.S. airports on a rolling basis over the next several months.

 

[serfty]

Cool, I've used it twice on AirNZ now and it saves some time.

After this is fully implemented, we'll only need to fill out the blue/white "Customs" form.

 

[blueflamenco]

Great! I wonder if this will make getting through immigration any faster.

 

[serfty]

Great! I wonder if this will make getting through immigration any faster.

Not really.

(Although there may less confusion on departure as to why you don't have yon little green slip stapled into your passport ...)

 

[TanyaGordon]

This was by far the best question...
"Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude?

 

[hazel]

I liked the "do you advocate the overthrow of the US government by force or subversion?" and the related apocryphal stories of little old ladies thinking it was a multiple choice question.

 

[Mal]

This was by far the best question...
"Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude?

You'll only have to answer them once every 2 years now, or when you change address, or passport ! (As they are still required on your ESTA application).

At least that means I'm less likely to accidentally tick the wrong box

 

[serfty]

This was by far the best question...
"Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude?

It still will exist ... on the ESTA ...

 

[liamg]

This was by far the best question...
"Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude?

I always liked the naz_ question. As if it wasn't okay to be a naz_ between 1939-1945, but before and after is fine by them.

L.

 

[Sprucegoose]

This was by far the best question...
"Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offense or crime involving moral turpitude?

Charged, not convicted!!!!!!!!

 

[richard_ham2001]

I have a question which i hope someone may be able to help me with. I entered the US in July through Atlanta from the UK and didn't fill in/hand in a I-94w and as such didn't recieve the green slip as usual. At the time i thought this odd, but this was obviously part of the phase out of the I-94w form. My question is this: How do you get hold of your I-94w admission number now should you need it? I'm currently in the process of applying for perminant residence status as i'm married to a US citizen and the relevant forms require this infomation.

 

[serfty]

You still get an admittance stamp in your passport; maybe send a scan of that.

Also, you would have used an "ESTA" - you should be able to include a printed copy.

 

[richard_ham2001]

I applied for ESTA online so I only have the registration number. I'll send that along with the scan of the passport stamp, but I'm concerned that if I don't enter a correct I-94 number on the form it will slow down or even invalidate the forms (which are expensive to process and non-refundable).

 

[serfty]

You can use the registration number to update the approval.

Here's the link: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

Once updated, you are "re-approved" and you can then use the print

facility.