Form I-94, the Arrival-Departure Record Card, is a form used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intended to keep track of the arrival and departure to/from the United States of people who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents (with the exception of those who are entering using the Visa Waiver Program or Compact of Free Association, using Border Crossing Cards, re-entering via automatic visa revalidation, or entering temporarily as crew members). While the form is usually issued by CBP at ports of entry or deferred inspection sites, USCIS can issue an equivalent as part of the Form I-797A approval notice for a Form I-129 petition for an alien worker or a Form I-539 application for extension of stay or change of status (in the case that the alien is already in the United States). Issuance for arriving aliens The responsibility of issuing Form I-94 is with the CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO), a subdivision of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), that processes entries and exits at ports of entry (land, sea, and air) as well as deferred inspection sites. Note that OFO is distinct from the United States Border Patrol, whose responsibility is to patrol the rest of the border to monitor for unauthorized border-crossing. At a port of entry The most common place of issue of Form I-94 is at ports of entry, including airports, sea ports, and land ports. The form is issued electronically at airports and sea ports but can be issued both electronically and as a paper form at land ports. For air and sea travel, the process begins even before the alien has departed for the United States: the alien's air and sea carrier collect information about the alien (such as passport number) and send this information to CBP. At the port of entry, the arriving alien is screened by an officer from the CBP Office of Field Operations. If the CBP officer is convinced, based on the alien's documentation and all other evidence submitted, that the alien can be admitted into the United States, the officer issues a Form I-94 to the alien. At air and sea ports, the form is issued electronically and the officer also stamps the alien's passport. The I-94 can be retrieved at any time using an online retrieval tool. At land ports, only paper forms are issued for people who have not informed