“Visa” refers a form of travel authorization document permitting foreign individuals to seek entry to the United States. U.S. embassies/consulates are primarily responsible for visa issuance to foreign individuals. Visa is usually stamped in foreign traveler’s passport with the traveler’s biographical information and a visa validity during which to allow the traveler to seek entry to the U.S. In practical sense, “visa” refers to the stamp/sticker adhered in the foreign individual’s passport. Upon arriving at a U.S. border, one must show that he/she has the required travel document (visa) in order to be inspected and admitted to the U.S.
“Status” refers to one’s immigration classification in the U.S. It is often annotated by the Customs and Border Patrol inspectors at airports or land border. Status is usually accorded by the type of visa that the individual presented to the Customs Inspectors.
Visa only functions at the time of entering the U.S. Once the visa is inspected by Customs inspectors, the foreign individual is given a “status” according to the visa. How long can the foreign individual stay in the U.S. is determined by the “status”, not “visa”. In other words, once a traveler is admitted in certain “status”, the visa has served its purposes and the traveler’s authorized U.S. stay is determined by the validity of the “status” to the foreign traveler, and not by the visa validity. A foreign traveler’s status can be checked and looked up in the Customs’ arrival-departure database, also known as I-94 record and it is publicly available at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/recent-search
SHARE: