How are Federal Agencies Responding to Phase-Out of I-94 Card?

As an update from a recent blog: CBP Mulls Elimination of I-94 Card, the Office of Field Operations (OFO) is implementing an interim process to serve as a transition to the elimination of Form I-94.
As reported earlier, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) plans on eliminating the paper Form I-94 card. Instead, a foreign national’s nonimmigrant entry would be recorded in that person’s passport with a written notification of visa classification and period of admission.
However, this elimination is causing many issues. One major impact is that many federal and state agencies  require the Form I-94 as proof of status to be eligible for the benefits of that agency. Therefore, to help in this transition period, OFO is considering a two-year plan that would allow the paper Form I-94 to still be issued for admissions at a land border. While this transition period is occurring, OFO will assist those federal and state agencies to stop relying on the paper I-94 cards and use the nonimmigrant’s passport and passport number instead.
In fact, one agency that has already changed their policy is the Social Security Administration (SSA). CBP has reported that SSA no longer requires the I-94 number but now only relies on the nonimmigrant’s passport number.
Berardi Immigration Law is continually monitoring this historic change.  If you have any questions please contact us.