Does the US know how long a tourist stays?

[choirgirl 0]

I need information for a friend. Does the US know how long a tourist stays in the country? As far as I know, if you leave the US you don't have to go through customs. So when you re-enter, does the officer know how long the person stayed last time? Because in the passport, there is just a stamp saying when the tourist has entered the US, but not when he or she left. Is this correct or do they in fact know when a person has left the country? Thanks in advance for any help

[Lornaevo 48]

Yes. The Airline collects the I-94 and forwards it to USCIS.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Yes, they know through airline/ shipping etc records.

[jaycali 415]

Yes. They have 2 ways to find out..

1. The airline collects the I-94 slip stapled in the back of the tourist's passport, and hands it to CBP.

2. The airline flight manifest.

In the case of a visa waiver tourist, there is no I-94, but they will still know from the flight manifest.

If there is no record of the person departing, it will be the visa holder's burden of proof to show that they left on time. Otherwise, it will be assumed that he/she overstayed. If you are worried about not having proof of your departure, the best evidence of having left on time is having your passport stamped at the first non-US immigration booth you get to.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Jay Jay

[Harsh_77 718]

Exactly as Jay Jay said tourist has I-94 issued to them which is collected back when they leave and when one leave the passport information + flight manifest is collected which tells them when one left US.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

They know his name, his parents' names, his birth date, his place of birth, his weight, eye color, hair color, address, siblings' names. They know when he came, with what airline, in what seat, what he ate, and how often he went to the bathroom.

We spent $140,000,000 on a state-of-the-art intergallactic entry-xit system, and you can trust that the federal database and its computers are a bit more efficient than your friend's Apple iPod.

When he leaves the US, his data will be submitted by the airline to the DHS database. If the database detects overstay or can't match the exit data to entry data, the red lights go on and a screaming siren alerts the federal officers about a tourist who thought he is smarter than a polar bear but isn't.

[Xanax 349]

Yep