Definition of Form I-94 To Include Electronic Format, 18457-18473 [2013-06974]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
Vol. 78, No. 59
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains regulatory documents having general
applicability and legal effect, most of which
are keyed to and codified in the Code of
Federal Regulations, which is published under
50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by
the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of
new books are listed in the first FEDERAL
REGISTER issue of each week.
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
8 CFR Parts 1, 210, 212, 214, 215, 231,
235, 245, 245a, 247, 253, 264, 274a, and
286
[USCBP–2013–0011; CBP Dec. No. 13–06]
RIN 1651–AA96
Definition of Form I–94 To Include
Electronic Format
U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, DHS.
ACTION: Interim final rule.
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AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Form I–94 is issued by
the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) to certain aliens and is used for
various purposes such as documenting
status in the United States, the approved
length of stay, and departure. DHS
generally issues the Form I–94 to aliens
at the time they lawfully enter the
United States. This rule adds a new
definition of the term ‘‘Form I–94’’ that
includes the collection of arrival/
departure and admission or parole
information by DHS, whether in paper
or electronic format. The definition also
clarifies various terms that are
associated with the use of the Form I–
94 to accommodate an electronic
version of the Form I–94. This rule also
adds a valid, unexpired nonimmigrant
DHS admission or parole stamp in a
foreign passport to the list of documents
designated as evidence of alien
registration. These revisions to the
regulations will enable DHS to
transition to an automated process
whereby DHS will create a Form I–94 in
an electronic format based on passenger,
passport and visa information DHS
currently obtains electronically from air
and sea carriers and the Department of
State as well as through the inspection
process.
DATES: Effective date: This interim rule
is effective April 26, 2013. In the event
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that CBP receives public comment that
identifies a credible basis for the Agency
to conclude that automation of the form
I–94 should be delayed, CBP retains
discretion to extend implementation for
an additional thirty days. If CBP
concludes that such extension is
appropriate, the Agency will post the
new implementation date on its Web
site, www.cbp.gov, no later than April
29, 2013.
Comment date: Written comments
must be submitted on or before April 26,
2013.
You may submit comments
identified by docket number, by one of
the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments
via docket number.
• Mail: Regulations and Rulings,
Office of International Trade, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection,
Attention: Border Security Regulations
Branch, 90 K Street NE., 10th Floor,
Washington, DC 20229.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name and
docket number for this rulemaking. All
comments received will be posted
without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. For
detailed instructions on submitting
comments and additional information
on this rulemaking process, see the
‘‘Public Participation’’ heading of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read comments received, go to https://
www.regulations.gov. Submitted
comments may also be inspected on
regular business days between the hours
of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Regulations
and Rulings, Office of International
Trade, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, 90 K Street NE., 10th Floor,
Washington, DC. Arrangements to
inspect submitted comments should be
made in advance by calling Mr. Joseph
Clark at (202) 325–0118.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Suzanne Shepherd, CBP Office of Field
Operations by telephone (202) 344–2073
or by email,
Suzanne.M.Shepherd@dhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Public Participation
Interested persons are invited to
participate in this rulemaking by
submitting written data, views, or
arguments on all aspects of this interim
final rule. U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) also invites comments
that relate to the economic,
environmental, or federalism effects that
might result from this regulatory
change. Comments that will provide the
most assistance to CBP will reference a
specific portion of the rule, explain the
reason for any recommended change,
and include data, information or
authority that support such
recommended change. Written
comments must be submitted on or
before April 26, 2013. CBP will consider
those comments and make any changes
appropriate after consideration of those
comments. CBP expects to publish a
final rule, which will respond to
comments received, 18 months from the
close of the comment period.
Executive Summary
The Form I–94 is issued by DHS to
certain aliens upon arrival in the United
States or when changing status in the
United States. The Form I–94 is used to
document arrival and departure and
provides evidence of the terms of
admission or parole. U.S. Customs and
Border Protection (CBP), a component of
DHS, generally issues the Form I–94 to
aliens at the time they lawfully enter the
United States. Aliens use the Form I–94
for various purposes such as completing
employment eligibility verification (the
Form I–9), applying for immigration
benefits, or to present to a university to
verify eligibility for enrollment.
Information gathered on the Form I–94
is also used for statistical purposes.
Transition to an Automated Form I–94
The Form I–94 is currently a paper
form. For aliens arriving by air or sea,
the carrier distributes the Forms I–94 to
the aliens required to complete the form
while en route to the United States. The
alien presents the completed form to the
CBP Officer at primary inspection. The
officer stamps the Form I–94 and the
alien’s passport, detaches the bottom
portion of the form, which is the
departure portion, and returns it to the
alien along with the alien’s passport.
The admission stamp contains the port
of arrival and date of arrival and is
annotated with the class of admission
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and admitted-to date. The top portion of
the form—the arrival portion—is sent to
a data entry facility where the
information on the form is entered into
CBP’s computer systems. The departure
portion of the Form I–94 retained by the
alien may be shown to government or
other stakeholders when required. The
alien turns in the departure portion of
the Form I–94 upon departure, generally
to the carrier; the carrier returns the
forms to CBP.
With the implementation of the
Advance Passenger Information System
(APIS 1) following 9/11, CBP now
collects information on aliens traveling
by air or sea to the United States
electronically from carriers in advance
of arrival. As outlined in Table 1 below,
nearly all the information collected on
the Form I–94 is collected electronically
via APIS. CBP also now uses the Arrival
and Departure Information System
(ADIS), which draws information from
APIS, to electronically document an
alien’s arrival and departure. Thus, for
aliens arriving in the United States by
air or sea, CBP obtains almost all of the
information contained on the paper
Form I–94 electronically and in
advance. The few fields on the Form I–
94 that are not collected via APIS are
either already collected by the
Department of State and transmitted to
CBP or will be collected by the CBP
Officer from the individual at the time
of inspection. Thus, the same data
elements found on the paper Form I–94
will be collected and maintained in the
electronic Form I–94. This means that
CBP no longer needs to collect Form I–
94 information as a matter of course
directly from aliens traveling to the
United States by air or sea.
Therefore, CBP is transitioning to an
automated process whereby CBP will
create an electronic Form I–94 based on
the information in its databases. This
rule makes the necessary changes to the
regulations to enable CBP to transition
to an automated process. At this time,
the automated process will apply only
to aliens arriving at air and sea ports of
entry.2 In order to make this a seamless
transition, CBP is making the electronic
Form I–94 available to aliens through a
Web site.3 To access the Form I–94
1 For more information, please see: https://
www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/
inspections_carriers_facilities/apis/.
2 Because CBP does not currently collect advance
travel information from aliens arriving by land, this
automation will not apply to land ports of entry at
this time.
3 DHS intends to publish a privacy impact
assessment and make it available at https://
www.dhs.gov/privacy-documents-us-customs-andborder-protection. For more information on the
privacy implications please see the Privacy section
of this document.
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through the Web site the traveler will
need to input information from his/her
passport; thus, a third party without
access to the traveler’s passport will not
be able to access the Form I–94 from the
Web site. If needed, aliens may print out
a copy of the Form I–94 from the Web
site and present it to third parties in lieu
of the departure portion of the paper
form. CBP intends to continue to
provide a paper Form I–94 to certain
classes of aliens, such as certain
refugees, asylees, and parolees, and
others as requested or whenever CBP
determines the issuance of a paper form
is appropriate.
Though in some cases CBP collects
APIS information for travelers arriving
in the United States via methods of
transportation other than commercial air
and sea, CBP does not consistently
receive APIS information for these other
methods or in some instances is unable
to consistently access the information at
the time the traveler presents him or
herself for inspection. Thus, at this time,
CBP will still need to collect Form I–94
information directly from travelers
arriving by other methods of
transportation. CBP anticipates
expanding the automation of the Form
I–94 to other methods of transportation
in the future.
Because the regulations that address
the Form I–94 and its uses were written
at a time when a paper form was the
only option to collect arrival and
departure information, many of these
regulations contemplate only the use of
the paper form. In order to enable CBP
to transition from a paper Form I–94 to
a CBP-created electronic Form I–94,
CBP is adding a definition of ‘‘Form I–
94’’ in 8 CFR part 1 that allows for the
collection of Form I–94 information in
either paper or electronic format. The
definition also clarifies various terms in
8 CFR that are associated with the use
of the Form I–94 to include the
electronic version of the Form I–94.
The automation provides immediate
and substantial benefits to the traveling
public, to carriers, to CBP and other
stakeholders. This automation will
eliminate most of the duplicative paper
Form I–94 process and reduce wait
times at passenger processing, which
will facilitate entry of all travelers. The
automation will eliminate the paper
Form I–94 for most air and sea travelers
and, with it, the 8-minute time burden;
this would result in an estimated total
reduction of 9.6 million Forms I–94
completed by paper, and an estimated
reduction of 1,276,800 paperwork
burden hours. For more information on
the reduction in the paperwork burden,
see the Paperwork Reduction Act
section below. The automation will also
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save the time and expense associated
with lost Forms I–94, as travelers will
simply be able to print out a new copy
from the Web site if needed rather than
file an I–102, as currently required,
which has a fee of $330 and a time
burden of 25 minutes. CBP estimates
that the time to access the Web site and
print the electronic Form I–94 to be 4
minutes.
Additionally, carriers will no longer
have to print, store, and distribute the
forms, and CBP will not have to process
them. This will result in significant cost
savings (benefits) for foreign travelers,
carriers, and CBP. Guidance from the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) states regulatory analyses should
focus on benefits and costs that accrue
to citizens and residents of the United
States.4 In order to make this distinction
clear, CBP provides costs and benefits of
this rule to foreign travelers as well as
to U.S. entities. CBP anticipates the total
net benefits to both domestic and
foreign entities in 2013 range from $76.5
million to $115.5 million. Separately,
CBP anticipates a net benefit in 2013 of
between $59.7 million and $98.7
million for foreign travelers, $1.3
million for carriers, and $15.5 million
for CBP. Net benefits to U.S. entities
(carriers and CBP) in 2013 total $16.8
million. CBP seeks comment on the
potential benefits or costs of this rule for
foreign travelers.
Background
The Form I–94
The DHS Form I–94 is generally
issued to aliens at the time they lawfully
enter the United States other than aliens
traveling to the United States under the
Visa Waiver Program,5 or aliens who are
otherwise exempt. See 8 CFR 235.1(h).
The Form I–94 is also issued when an
alien changes immigration status within
the United States. The Form I–94 is
used to document status in the United
States, the authorized length of stay, and
departure. Biographical information,
visa and passport information, and the
address and phone number where the
alien can be reached while in the United
States are also collected on the Form I–
94. When an alien is admitted to the
United States, the Form I–94 becomes
the evidence of the terms of the
admission. For aliens paroled into the
4 See OMB Circular A–4, page 15 (https://
www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/
regulatory_matters_pdf/a-4.pdf).
5 The Form I–94 is not required for aliens seeking
admission into the United States under the Visa
Waiver Program (VWP). The Form I–94W is the
form required for aliens seeking admission into the
United States under the VWP. In 2009, the ESTA
program automated the Form I–94W in the air and
sea environments.
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United States, the Form I–94 reflects the
duration and classification of parole.
The Form I–94 has been used for
approximately 50 years by DHS, its
predecessor agencies, and external
stakeholders for a variety of purposes.
CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), components of DHS,
use the form to document arrival and
departure, as well as class of admission
or duration of parole. U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS), also
a component of DHS, issues Forms I–94
to aliens extending their authorized
length of stay or changing their
immigration status while in the United
States. USCIS also uses Form I–94
information to verify lawful admission
or parole when adjudicating
immigration benefit requests,
confirming employment authorization
for employers participating in USCIS’s
E-Verify program, or verifying
immigration status for benefit granting
state and federal government agencies
participating in USCIS’s Systematic
Alien Verification for Entitlements
(SAVE) program. The Form I–94 is also
used by the Social Security
Administration (SSA), state agencies,
such as Departments of Motor Vehicles
(DMV), and public assistance agencies
and organizations, to verify eligibility
for benefits. The form is used by certain
aliens for evidence of lawful admission
or parole, as well as, where applicable,
employment eligibility and eligibility
for public benefits. Information
collected by the Form I–94 is also
provided to the Department of
Commerce (DOC) for statistical
purposes, including use by the DOC
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries
to collect monthly visitation data and
for reporting of travel by country of
residence to comply with the United
Nations World Tourism Organization
recommendation for reporting arrivals
to all countries.
Current Paper Form I–94 Process at
Airports and Seaports
The paper Form I–94 consists of two
parts, the arrival portion and the
departure portion. Air and sea carriers
print and store the Form I–94 and
provide each alien passenger with a
blank paper Form I–94.6 Each alien
arriving by air or sea for whom a Form
I–94 is required completes both the
arrival and departure portions of the
form either en route or upon arrival in
the United States. Each carrier is
responsible for presenting a completed
Form I–94 for each arriving alien to a
6 CBP
also prints Form I–94s, which are available
at ports of entry for travelers who may need an
additional blank form.
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CBP Officer. See 8 CFR 231.1. In
practice, the carrier accomplishes this
by ensuring that each passenger
presents him/herself to a CBP Officer for
inspection at a U.S. port-of-entry,
generally with the aid of security
protocols. The Form I–94 is then
presented to the CBP Officer at primary
inspection, along with the alien’s
passport and any other applicable
documents and information. After the
successful completion of the inspection
process, a CBP Officer stamps the alien’s
Form I–94 and passport. The DHS
admission stamp contains the port of
arrival and date of arrival, and is
annotated with the class of admission
and the authorized length of stay. The
parole stamp contains the port of arrival
and date of arrival, and is annotated
with the duration of parole and parole
classification. The CBP Officer retains
the arrival portion of the Form I–94 and
returns the departure portion and the
passport to the alien. The departure
portion of the form is provided to the
alien to retain in his or her possession
for the duration of his or her stay and
to surrender upon departure. In some
circumstances, an alien is required to
have the Form I–94 in his or her
possession at all times while in the
United States. Air and sea carriers are
responsible for presenting a completed
Form I–94 for each departing alien
passenger to a CBP Officer. See 8 CFR
231.2(b). If the alien is departing by
commercial air or sea carrier, he or she
turns in the departure portion to the
airline or shipping line prior to
departure. The carrier then returns the
form to CBP.
The information requested on the
upper portion of the I–94, the arrival
portion, includes:
• Family name
• First (Given) Name
• Birth Date
• Country of Citizenship
• Sex (Male or Female)
• Passport Issuance Date 7
• Passport Expiration Date
• Passport Number
• Airline and Flight number (if
applicable)
• Country Where You Live
• Country Where You Boarded
• City Where Visa Was issued
• Date Issued
• Address While in the United States
(number, street, city, and state)
• Telephone Number in the United
States Where You Can be Reached
• Email Address
7 Passport issuance date, passport expiration date,
telephone number, and email address are newer
fields not found on all forms currently in
circulation.
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The following information currently
is requested on the lower portion of the
Form I–94, the departure portion:
• Family Name
• First (Given) Name
• Birth Date
• Country of Citizenship
Once an alien is admitted to the
United States, the Form I–94 is evidence
of the terms of the admission. For aliens
paroled into the United States, the Form
I–94 includes the terms of parole. CBP
collects the arrival portions of the Forms
I–94 daily at each port of entry and
boxes and mails them to a centralized
data processing center for logging/
processing/scanning, and data capture.
The data is then uploaded to a CBP
database. DHS components have access
to the database that contains the Form
I–94 information, and can use this
database to verify an alien’s admission
or parole information and immigration
status. Entities outside DHS, such as
SSA or state DMVs, can verify
information by querying a DHS system
or contacting DHS.
Automation of the Form I–94 at Airports
and Seaports
The Form I–94 was established prior
to advances in technology and the
implementation of security measures
that enable CBP to collect advance
arrival and departure information about
passengers electronically. For aliens
arriving in or departing from the United
States by air or sea, the data elements
collected on the paper Form I–94
duplicate the information that CBP
collects through other mechanisms. As
explained in this section (including
Table 1), CBP collects this information
from APIS, visa information and
information provided to CBP at the time
of inspection.
As a result of enhanced security
measures implemented by CBP
subsequent to the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks, CBP regulations require
commercial vessel carriers and
commercial and private air carriers to
electronically transmit advance manifest
information regarding their passengers,
crew members, and non-crew members
(cargo flights only) arriving in and
departing from the United States.
Passengers, crew members, and noncrew members are required to submit
certain biographical information to the
carriers, which the carriers then collect
and submit to CBP prior to the alien’s
arrival in or departure from the United
States. The information is transmitted to
CBP through APIS (including eAPIS,8 as
8 eAPIS is a CBP web-based application that
provides for the collection of electronic traveler
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applicable). See 19 CFR 4.7b, 4.64,
122.22, 122.49a–122.49c, 122.75a, and
122.75b.
The information transmitted to CBP
by carriers using APIS consists of
information that appears on the
biographical data page of travel
documents, such as passports issued by
governments worldwide, as well as
carrier information. For passengers,
APIS data consists of certain
biographical information and
conveyance details collected via the
passenger reservation and check-in
processes. The information submitted
for each individual onboard the aircraft
or vessel includes:
• Full name (last, first, and, if
available, middle)
• Date of birth
• Gender (F = female; M = male)
• Citizenship
• Country of residence
• Status on board the aircraft/vessel
• Travel document type (e.g., P =
passport, A = alien registration)
• Passport number, if a passport is
required, or DHS-Approved travel
document number, as applicable
• Passport country of issuance, if a
passport is required, or DHS-Approved
travel document country of issuance, as
applicable
• Passport expiration date, if a
passport is required, or DHS-Approved
travel document expiration date, as
applicable
• Alien registration number, where
applicable
• Address while in the United States
In addition to the manifest
information for each individual, the air
or sea carrier also must provide
information about the flight or voyage.
The flight or voyage information the air
or sea carrier must provide that is
relevant to the Form I–94 is the airline
and flight number and the place of
departure.
Visa information is made available to
CBP by the Department of State via the
Consular Consolidated Database (CCD).
At the time of inspection and admission
or parole, the CBP Officer is able to
collect additional data, such as email
address, phone number, and updated
address while in the United States.
Table 1 below lists the source of each
data element for the electronic Form I–
94.
manifest information for international travel both in
to and out of the United States. eAPIS collects and
passes electronic manifests to APIS.
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TABLE 1— SOURCES OF DATA FOR
ELECTRONIC FORM I–94
Source for
electronic
Form I–94
Data element
Arrival Portion:
Family name ........................
First (given) name ...............
Birth date .............................
Country of citizenship ..........
Sex (male or female) ...........
Passport issuance date .......
Passport expiration date .....
Passport number .................
Airline and Flight number (if
applicable).
Country where you live .......
Country where you boarded
City where visa was issued
Date visa was issued ..........
Address while in the United
States.
Telephone number while in
the United States.
Email address ......................
Departure Portion:
Family name ........................
First (given) name ...............
Birth date .............................
Country of citizenship ..........
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
State Department
via CCD.
State Department
via CCD.
APIS, and
may be
updated
at time
of inspection.
Officer at
time of
inspection.
Officer at
time of
inspection.
APIS
APIS
APIS
APIS
Thus, for aliens arriving in the United
States by air or sea, CBP obtains almost
all of the information contained on the
paper Form I–94 electronically from the
carriers and the Department of State and
is able to collect any additional fields
from the individual at the time of
inspection. This means that CBP no
longer needs to collect Form I–94
information from these travelers as a
matter of course. Therefore, CBP is
transitioning to an automated process
whereby CBP will create an electronic
Form I–94 based on the information in
its databases, which CBP will make
available to the alien through the Web
site: www.cbp.gov/I94. At this time, the
automated process will apply only to
aliens arriving at air and sea ports of
entry. This is because the electronic
record draws largely from APIS
information submitted by air and sea
carriers. CBP will continue to provide a
paper Form I–94 to those who request
such form, as well as to certain classes
of aliens, such as certain refugees,
asylees, and parolees, and whenever
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CBP determines the issuance of a paper
form is appropriate. For these
individuals arriving by air and sea
carriers, an electronic Form I–94 will
also be created.
The electronic Form I–94 will be
created during the inspection process at
the time of admission or parole when
the CBP Officer pulls information from
the traveler’s APIS record and any CCD
record, and enters any additional data
obtained during the inspection process.
The same data elements found on the
paper Form I–94 will be collected and
maintained in the electronic Form I–94.
Any information the officer would have
written or stamped on the paper form at
the time of admission or parole can be
entered into the electronic form. The
departure record is created from APIS
using the Arrival and Departure
Information System (ADIS) to match the
departure to the correct arrival record.
Alien travelers will be able to access
and print their electronic Form I–94 via
the Web site CBP has established for
this purpose: www.cbp.gov/I94.
Travelers to whom an electronic Form
I–94 has been issued will be able to log
on to the Web site using identifying
information and print a copy of the
electronic Form I–94. In order to access
the Form I–94 from the Web site, the
traveler will be required to enter
information from his or her passport;
thus, a third party without access to the
traveler’s passport will not be able to
access the Form I–94 from the Web site.
The printout from the Web site will be
the functional equivalent of the
departure portion of the paper form and
will contain the same information as the
departure portion of the paper form.
CBP will continue to stamp the
traveler’s passport at the time of
inspection and any admission or parole
and will annotate the stamp with the
class of admission or parole and
duration of admission or parole. CBP
will distribute a tear sheet to each alien
who is issued an electronic Form I–94
at the time of inspection with
information about the Web site and
procedures for obtaining a printout to
the alien upon arrival in the United
States.
Aliens who may be required to
present the Form I–94 to a third party
for some purpose, such as employment
or benefit eligibility, may present the
printout from the Web site. For
example, nonimmigrants who are
employment authorized incident to
status (see, e.g., nonimmigrants listed at
8 CFR 274a.12(b)) may print a copy of
their electronic Form I–94 for evidence
of employment authorization. The
printout is the equivalent of the paper
Form I–94 acceptable to present to
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employers to comply with the
Employment Eligibility Verification
form (Form I–9) requirements. As
discussed in detail in the 12866 section
below, because so many parties at
various levels of government and
outside of the government use the Form
I–94, we cannot estimate the number of
aliens who use the Form I–94 for these
purposes. For the 12866 analysis, we
assume that all non-B–1/B–2 travelers
(about 26 percent of the total) will need
to use the Form I–94 for some purpose.
See INA section 274A(a)(1)(B), 8 U.S.C.
1324a(a)(1)(B); 8 CFR
274a.2(b)(1)(v)(A)(5) and (b)(1)(v)(C)(8).
As described more fully in the section
entitled ‘‘Executive Order 12866
(Regulatory Planning and Review) and
Executive Order 13563 (Improving
Regulation and Regulatory Review),’’ the
elimination of the paper Form I–94 in
the air and sea environments has many
benefits. Carriers will no longer have to
print, store, and distribute the paper
form to its alien passengers or collect
the form when the alien departs. These
aliens will not have to complete the
form when arriving in the United States
or turn in the form when they depart the
United States. Additionally, an alien
will have the convenience of being able
to access his or her form electronically,
and will be able to print a new copy if
one is lost, or to print multiple copies
if needed. CBP will not have to collect
the forms, stamp them, return the
departure portion to the alien and
manually enter the Form I–94
information into its database. This
streamlines CBP’s inspection process.
The effect will be the elimination of
most of the duplicative paper Form I–
94 process and the reduction of wait
times at passenger processing, which
will facilitate entry of all travelers.
Because the Form I–94 is used for
various purposes, CBP has been working
closely with other DHS components and
other government stakeholders to ensure
that the transition to the automated
Form I–94 is as smooth as possible and
done in a manner that addresses the
needs of these stakeholders. For the past
year, CBP has been meeting regularly
with stakeholders, including U.S.
Government agencies, DMVs, and
universities, on all aspects of
automating the Form I–94 to ensure that
stakeholders are prepared for the
additional acceptance of the electronic
Form I–94. For stakeholders that rely on
the Form I–94 for immigration status
verification or other purposes, a benefit
of automation is that the electronic
version of the Form I–94 is immediately
available to them through their
connections to CBP’s database. By
contrast, with the paper form, there is
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typically a lag time of approximately
five business days or longer between
arrival, data entry, and the availability
of the records on the CBP database. CBP
anticipates that most stakeholders will
not require a change to their operations
as a result of this automation.
Government stakeholders will continue
to access an alien’s Form I–94
information in the same way that they
currently do: Through their connection
to CBP’s database. For stakeholders who
now access the Form I–94 information
when the alien presents his or her form,
the process will also not meaningfully
change; the alien will now simply
present a printout from the Web site
rather than the departure portion of a
paper Form I–94. CBP seeks comments
from these stakeholders on the above
assumptions.
Regulatory Change: New Form I–94
Definition
Many provisions in 8 CFR refer to the
Form I–94 and its use. However,
because these regulations were written
at a time when a paper form was the
only option to collect arrival and
departure information, many of these
regulations contemplate only the use of
the paper form. In order to enable CBP
to transition from a paper Form I–94 to
a CBP-created electronic Form I–94,
CBP is adding a definition of ‘‘Form I–
94’’ in 8 CFR part 1 that allows for the
collection of Form I–94 information in
either paper or electronic format. It
provides that ‘‘[t]he term Form I–94’’
‘‘includes the collection of arrival/
departure and admission or parole
information by DHS, whether in paper
or electronic format, which is made
available to the person about whom the
information has been collected, as may
be prescribed by DHS.’’ 8 CFR 1.4.
As discussed earlier, CBP, USCIS,
ICE, and other government agencies use
the Form I–94 in a variety of ways,
many of which are specified in 8 CFR.
For example, the form is included in the
list of acceptable documentation that
may be presented to employers to
demonstrate employment authorization
during the employment eligibility
verification process (Form I–9). The
Form I–94 is also necessary for
completing USCIS forms requesting
immigration benefits, such as the
Application to Register Permanent
Residence or Adjust Status (Form I–
485), or when seeking the admission of
an alien for the duration of an
unexpired period of a previous
admission.9 Therefore, the definition of
9 Seeking admission for the duration of an
unexpired period of a previous admission is
referred to as automatic revalidation. Pursuant to 8
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‘‘Form I–94’’ also clarifies the various
terms in 8 CFR that are associated with
the use of the Form I–94 to include the
electronic version of the Form I–94. For
example, the definition specifies that
‘‘presentation’’ of the Form I–94
includes providing a printout of the
electronic record. ‘‘Issuance’’ of the
Form I–94 includes the creation of the
electronic Form I–94 for a traveler. To
comply with regulations requiring the
alien to turn in the departure portion of
the Form I–94 at the time of departure,
the definition provides that in the case
of an alien with an electronic Form I–
94, he or she must comply with any
DHS departure controls. The carrier
providing departure conveyance must
submit departure information to CBP for
each departing alien.
As described in the section entitled
‘‘Current paper Form I–94 process at
airports and seaports,’’ sections 231.1
and 231.2 of the DHS regulations
require air and sea carriers to submit a
completed Form I–94 for each arriving
alien and to submit the departure
portion of this Form I–94 for each
departing alien. Because these sections
concern the carriers rather than the
nonimmigrant aliens directly, the terms
‘‘present,’’ ‘‘submit,’’ and ‘‘submission’’
used elsewhere in the DHS regulations
pertaining to the Form I–94 are
employed somewhat differently in
sections 231.1 and 231.2. Thus, the
definitions of these terms for the
purposes of sections 231.1 and 231.2 are
tailored to this unique situation. For
purposes of section 231.1, the terms
‘‘present’’ or ‘‘submission’’ of the Form
I–94 includes ensuring that each
passenger presents him/herself to a CBP
Officer for inspection at a U.S. port-ofentry. This definition reflects the
carriers’ current practice for arriving
passengers, as also discussed in the
section on ‘‘Current paper Form I–94
process at airports and seaports.’’ For
the purposes of section 231.2, the terms
‘‘present,’’ ‘‘submit,’’ or ‘‘submission’’ of
the Form I–94 include ensuring that
each passenger is available for
inspection by a CBP Officer upon
request.
CBP is also amending section 264.1(b)
to add to the list of documents that
constitute evidence of registration of a
valid, unexpired nonimmigrant DHS
admission or parole stamp in a foreign
passport. Additionally, for clarity, CBP
is amending provisions throughout 8
CFR to include a reference to the new
definition immediately following the
CFR 214.1 and 22 CFR 41.112, automatic
revalidation applies to unexpired nonimmigrant
visas of aliens who have been out of the United
States for thirty days or less in a contiguous
territory.
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first use of the term ‘‘Form I–94’’ in a
section. This is to ensure that those
reading these provisions are aware that
the new definition exists.
Statutory and Regulatory Requirements
Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory
Planning and Review) and Executive
Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and
Regulatory Review)
Executive Orders 13563 and 12866
direct agencies to assess the costs and
benefits of available regulatory
alternatives and, if regulation is
necessary, to select regulatory
approaches that maximize net benefits
(including potential economic,
environmental, public health and safety
effects, distributive impacts, and
equity). Executive Order 13563
emphasizes the importance of
quantifying both costs and benefits, of
reducing costs, of harmonizing rules,
and of promoting flexibility. This rule is
a ‘‘significant regulatory action,’’ under
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866.
Accordingly, the Office of Management
and Budget has reviewed this
regulation.
This rule results in substantial cost
savings (benefits) for travelers, carriers,
and CBP. CBP anticipates the total net
benefits to both domestic and foreign
entities in 2013 range from $76.4
million to $115.5 million.10 Separately,
CBP anticipates a net benefit in 2013 of
between $59.7 million and $98.7
million for foreign travelers, $1.3
million for carriers, and $15.5 million
for CBP. Net benefits to U.S. entities
(carriers and CBP) in 2013 total $16.8
million. The following discussion
provides an assessment of costs,
benefits, and net impacts of the rule.
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1. Baseline Condition
A Form I–94 is generally provided
during the inspection process at the
time of admission or parole for any alien
who is not arriving in the United States
under the Visa Waiver Program, unless
otherwise exempt. When arriving by air
and sea, the carrier provides the form to
the alien while en route to the United
States. The alien typically completes the
form while en route to the United
States. The Form I–94 takes the alien
approximately 8 minutes to fill out,
according to CBP’s Paperwork
Reduction Act time burden estimate.
10 OMB Circular A–4 states regulatory analyses
should focus on benefits and costs that accrue to
citizens and residents of the United States (https://
www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/
regulatory_matters_pdf/a-4.pdf; see ‘‘Scope of
Analysis’’ section on page 15). In order to make this
distinction clear, CBP has shown the costs and
benefits to foreign travelers as well as impacts to
U.S. entities.
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Upon arrival at the airport or seaport,
the alien presents the completed Form
I–94 to the CBP Officer for inspection.
The officer tears the form at the
perforation, stamps the lower portion,
and returns it to the alien. The officer
sends the top portion of the form to a
centralized facility where all Forms I–94
are entered into CBP’s systems. The
alien later returns the lower portion of
the Form I–94 to the carrier when
departing the United States, who in turn
returns it to CBP.
A third party, such as a university or
a local or state government benefitgranting agency, may require an alien to
present evidence of admission or parole
to the United States. In these cases, the
alien may present the bottom portion of
the Form I–94, which was returned to
them when they were admitted, paroled,
or granted their immigration status.
Aliens may also choose to present Form
I–94 to establish employment eligibility
and identity or eligibility for certain
public benefits.
If an alien loses the bottom portion of
the Form I–94, he or she may file Form
I–102, Application for Replacement/
Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure
Document, with USCIS to request a
replacement. The form has a Paperwork
Reduction Act burden of 25 minutes
and a fee of $330. According to the
USCIS, 17,700 Forms I–102 are filed
each year. CIS expects this to decrease
to 8,804 in fiscal year 2013 and 5,771 in
subsequent years. 11 The 2013 numbers
are higher because the projection is
done on a fiscal year basis and includes
several months before this rule is in
effect. For the purpose of this analysis,
we assume that rule will result in only
5,771 Forms I–102, which is a reduction
of 11,929 from the current estimate.
According to the Office of
Immigration Statistics (OIS),12 about
46.4 million aliens entered the United
States using a Form I–94 or equivalent
in 2010. Of these, about 18.2 million
entered under the Visa Waiver Program
(VWP). These aliens do not use a Form
I–94 and are therefore unaffected by this
rule,13 so we exclude them from this
11 Source: Communication with USCIS on
February 8, 2013.
12 Source: 2010 Yearbook of Immigration
Statistics. Table 28. https://www.dhs.gov/files/
statistics/publications/yearbook.shtm
13 In addition to automating the I–94, this rule
adds a valid, unexpired nonimmigrant DHS
admission or parole stamp to the list of documents
that constitute evidence of registration. Thus, upon
implementation of this rule, such a stamp could
serve as evidence of registration for Visa Waiver
Program travelers and for travelers arriving by land
who would otherwise be required to comply with
any registration requirement under the INA.
However, the addition of the passport stamp to the
list of documents that constitute evidence of
registration does not have an economic impact on
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analysis. Additionally, OIS figures
include all modes of transportation.
This rule affects only aliens arriving by
air and sea, so we must exclude those
arriving by land. We therefore subtract
the number of aliens entering the U.S.
at land border ports using a Form I–94
in 2010. According to CBP’s Office of
Field Operations, about 11.5 million
aliens arriving from Mexico and 1.3
million arriving from Canada entered
the United States at the land border
using a Form I–94 in 2010. We subtract
these from the total, leaving 15,360,126
non-VWP aliens who arrived in the U.S.
by air or sea using a Form I–94 in 2010.
We next estimate the number of I–94
travelers in future years. To do this, we
use the traveler projections developed
by the Office of Travel and Tourism
Industries (OTTI) within the U.S.
Department of Commerce. The OTTI
forecasts travel for most countries
through 2016. The vast majority of
travelers from most countries arrive by
air and sea, so we assume that air
traveler growth rates are the same as
those for the total traveler population.
For Mexico and Canada, we subtract the
number of I–94 travelers arriving by
land in 2010 before applying the
projected growth rates.14 We apply the
OTTI projected growth rates to the
number of Forms I–94 by country we
obtained from OIS. We present the total
number of projected Forms I–94 for each
year from 2010–2016 in Exhibit 1 below.
EXHIBIT 1—PROJECTED I–94 AIR AND
SEA TRAVELERS
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
..........................................
15,360,126
16,586,753
17,868,246
19,339,773
20,875,058
22,672,552
24,495,264
We next estimate the costs and
benefits of this rule for all affected
parties. For the purposes of this analysis
only, we assume the rule went into
effect on January 1, 2013. To the extent
the rule goes into effect after this date,
costs and benefits will be lower. The
period of analysis for this rule is 2012
to 2016, the last year for which OTTI
has projected annual U.S. visitor growth
rates.
travelers. Therefore, this analysis focuses on the
changes to the I–94.
14 For the purposes of these projections, we
assume that aliens arriving from Mexico and
Canada at land borders are Mexican and Canadian
citizens. There are a small number of citizens of
other countries who enter the U.S. at land borders.
Because the number for each country is small, the
effect on the projections is minimal.
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2. Costs
We now examine the costs of this rule
to CBP. CBP seeks comments on the
assumptions discussed below. If
implemented, the costs of this rule will
be borne by both CBP and aliens
traveling to the United States. This rule
would automate the paper Form I–94 in
the air and sea environments.15 Almost
all of the traveler information collected
on the Form I–94 is redundant because
CBP already obtains the same
information electronically from other
sources. In advance of the
implementation of this rule, CBP has
linked its data systems to use the
information from these alternate sources
to create an electronic Form I–94 during
the admissions process. CBP will create
the electronic Form I–94 by pulling
information from the traveler’s APIS
record and any CCD record and by
entering any additional data obtained
during the inspection process. This
electronic process will also allow
stakeholders that currently have access
to CBP’s databases to continue to have
access to traveler information
electronically. CBP estimates the cost to
link data systems and to fully automate
the Form I–94 to be about $1 million in
calendar year 2012. In addition, it
estimates the cost to develop the secure
Web site to be about $321,000 in 2012.
CBP anticipates spending $92,000 per
year in operations and maintenance
costs for these systems. In total, CBP
anticipates this rule will cost the agency
$1,321,000 in 2012 and $92,000 in
following years.
We next examine the costs of this rule
that will be borne by travelers to the
United States. While most travelers do
not use the Form I–94 for any reason
once they are admitted or paroled to the
United States, others do make use of the
form to demonstrate lawful admission
or parole to the United States to
universities, DMVs, or some other party.
Aliens may also choose to present a
Form I–94 to establish employment
eligibility and identity, or eligibility for
certain public benefits. To accommodate
this need for a Form I–94, CBP will
make an electronic Form I–94 available
to aliens on a secure Web site. Travelers
will receive written information on how
to access the Web site upon their arrival
to the United States. Aliens may log into
the Web site using 7 pieces of basic
identifying information that is either
known to the traveler (their first name,
last name and date of birth) or readily
available on their passport (passport
15 A small number of Forms I–94 will still be used
for certain aliens such as refugees, applicants for
asylum, parolees, and those who request a paper
Form I–94.
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number, country of issuance, date of
entry, and class of admission). CBP
estimates that it will take the traveler 4
minutes to log into the Web site using
identifying information and print the
electronic form. This is less time than
the paper Form I–94’s 8 minute time
burden for entering the 17 data
elements. This 4 minute estimate does
not include the time it takes to travel to
a location with computer and Internet
access; that cost is treated separately
later in this section. In addition, CBP
will continue to make the paper Form
I–94 available at ports of entry to certain
classes of aliens and upon request,
though CBP does not anticipate that
many travelers will request the paper
form.
To estimate the costs to travelers to
access their Form I–94 electronically,
we must first determine the number of
aliens who will access the Web site, the
number who do not have ready access
to the Internet, the distance they would
have to travel to access the Internet, and
the average wage rate for all aliens
entering the United States by air or sea.
First, we assess the number of aliens
who will access the Web site. Exhibit 2
shows the number of travelers who
entered the United States by air or sea
in 2010 sorted by various categories of
admission.16 The majority of Form I–94
visitors to the United States—about 74
percent—are tourists and business
travelers entering on B–1/B–2 visas.
These visitors do not have a need for
their Form I–94 now that the passport
stamp will serve as evidence of alien
registration. While in the U.S., these B–
1/B–2 visa travelers may use their
foreign driver’s license, so there is no
need for them to apply for a U.S.
driver’s license. They are ineligible for
employment or enrollment in a
university while traveling on a B–1/B–
2 visa. They are generally not eligible
for public benefits without a change in
status. If B–1/B–2 travelers change their
status with USCIS, they will receive a
paper Form I–94. Therefore, for the
purposes of this analysis, we assume
that no B–1/B–2 travelers will need to
access the Web site.
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EXHIBIT 2—2010 AIR AND SEA I–94S
BY CLASS OF ADMISSION—Continued
Number
Percentage
Students ............
Temporary workers .................
Other/Unknown
Diplomats ..........
1,526,786
9.9
1,523,039
624,181
333,550
9.9
4.1
2.2
Total ...........
15,360,126
....................
Because so many parties at various
levels of government and outside of the
government use the Form I–94, CBP
cannot estimate how many aliens who
are not B–1/B–2 travelers will access the
Web site. As noted above, CBP will
continue to make the paper Form I–94
available at ports of entry upon request.
Those with a need for a Form I–94 and
who face obstacles to electronic access
of their Form I–94 may request a paper
I–94 upon arrival at the port of entry.
Because we do not know how many
people need a physical copy of their
Form I–94 or how many face obstacles
to accessing their electronic I–94, for the
purposes of this analysis, we assume
that every traveler, other than B–1/B–2
travelers, who currently receives a paper
Form I–94 will log into the Web site to
print off their electronic Form I–94. In
2010, we estimate this to be 4,007,557
travelers. To the extent that some of
these aliens do not access the Web site,
costs will be lower.
We next estimate the number of aliens
who do not have ready access to the
Internet while in the United States and
would need to travel to access their
electronic Form I–94. We assume that
students and diplomats have ready
access to the Internet at their schools or
places of business, respectively. Also, as
noted above, CBP will continue to make
the paper Form I–94 available at ports
of entry upon request. Those with a
need for a Form I–94 and who face
obstacles to accessing their electronic
Form I–94 may request a paper I–94
upon arrival at the port of entry.
Temporary workers come to the
United States for varying lengths of time
to fill positions where there is a shortage
EXHIBIT 2—2010 AIR AND SEA I–94S of labor in the United States. These
positions can be in very highly technical
BY CLASS OF ADMISSION
occupations, such as computer
Number
Percentage programming, but can also be in less
technical occupations, such as
Tourists and
agricultural labor. Because this category
Business
of admission includes such a wide range
Travelers (B–
of workers, we cannot say with certainty
1/B–2) ............
11,352,569
73.9 that all temporary workers have ready
access to the Internet while in the
16 Source: CBP analysis of data from 2010
United States. Similarly, we do not
Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Table 28.http:
know how accessible the Internet is for
//www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/
those in the ‘‘Other/Unknown’’
yearbook.shtm
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category. The aliens least likely to have
Internet access are those working as
temporary agricultural laborers.
According to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), approximately 62
percent of farms have Internet access.17
The primary use for the electronic Form
I–94 for these workers is to demonstrate
employment eligibility to their
employers. Until the workers present a
copy of their electronic Form I–94 to
their employer, they are not able to
work. The employers have spent a
considerable amount of money bringing
the employee to the country to work.
Allowing the employee to use the
Internet to access their electronic Form
I–94 will allow the employee to begin
working sooner. Because this
incremental use of the Internet is
virtually costless to the employer and
the employer would benefit from their
employee’s prompt access to their
electronic Form I–94, we assume that
employers with Internet access will
allow their employees to use their
Internet connection to access their
electronic Forms I–94.18 As stated
previously, 62 percent of farms have
Internet access. For the purposes of this
analysis, we assume that 38 percent
(100 percent minus 62 percent) of
travelers in the ‘‘Temporary Workers’’
and ‘‘Other/Unknown’’ categories
(815,944 travelers in 2010) would need
to travel to access their electronic Form
I–94. CBP seeks comment on these
assumptions. Once again, we note that
CBP will continue to make the paper
Form I–94 available at ports of entry
upon request. CBP intends to have a
considerable outreach effort in place by
the time that this rule is effective
including outreach to airlines and
travelers to communicate that
requesting a paper Form I–94 continues
to be an option. Those with a need for
a Form I–94 and who face obstacles to
electronic access of their Form I–94 may
request a paper I–94 upon arrival at the
port of entry. To the extent that they
request paper I–94s, the number of
aliens who will need to travel to a place
17 Source: ‘‘Farm Computer Usage and
Ownership, ‘‘United States Department of
Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics. August
2011. Available at: https://
usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/
FarmComp/FarmComp-08–12–2011.pdf.
18 It is also possible that some employers without
Internet access will help transport their employees
to a location with Internet access. Employers have
expended considerable effort to sponsor temporary
workers and they may view this as part of the cost
of using foreign temporary workers. However, as the
burden of demonstrating employment eligibility is
on the worker, we assume that the worker must bear
any travel costs to obtain their electronic Form I–
94. To the extent that the employer is able to
provide more efficient access to the Internet, costs
will be lower.
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where they can access the Internet will
be lower.
Now that we have estimated the
number of aliens who do not have ready
access to the Internet, we need to
develop an assumption for how long it
takes to travel to a location where they
can access the Internet. Based on our
online review of Internet services
provided by public libraries, we found
public libraries provide public access to
computers and the Internet, though
many charge a nominal fee for printing.
There are 16,698 public libraries in the
United States.19 According to the
Department of Education, 94 percent of
households live within 10 miles of a
public library and 83 percent live
within 5 miles of one.20 Because of the
large number of locations nationwide
that provide access to the Internet and
the fact that CBP will continue to make
the paper Form I–94 available at ports
upon request, we believe most aliens
will have to travel only a short distance
to access the Internet. We estimate that
round-trip travel to a public library to
access a computer terminal will be 20
miles and will take 60 minutes of an
alien’s time, which includes the time to
enter the library and locate an available
computer and any wait time to access a
computer. In this analysis, we assume
that users pay $0.25 to print their
electronic Form I–94 based on a review
of available online printing fees charged
at public libraries.
We next estimate the value of time for
those travelers affected by this rule.
Federal agencies typically estimate a
monetary value of time used or saved as
a result of their regulatory actions. This
allows agencies to estimate the
additional costs and benefits of their
regulatory actions on affected parties.
The U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT) provides guidance on the value of
time to use for economic analysis.21
This guidance provides point estimates
as well as ranges for values of time for
travelers based on average wage rate
analysis for different categories of travel.
According to DOT estimates, the value
of travel time is more than twice as high
for air travelers than for those traveling
by surface modes, which can be
explained by the relatively high cost of
19 Source: American Library Association. https://
www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/
alalibraryfactsheet01 Accessed May 7, 2012.
20 Source: Department of Education: Households’
Use of Public and Other Types of Libraries: 2002.
Derived from Table 19. Available at https://
harvester.census.gov/imls/pubs/Publications/
2007327.pdf.
21 Source: U.S. Department of Transportation:
‘‘Revised Departmental Guidance on Valuation of
Travel Time in Economic Analysis.’’ September 28,
2011. Table 5. Available at https://ostpxweb.dot.gov/
policy/reports.htm.
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air travel. We note that these DOT
estimates are intended to be used to
analyze actions that will reduce the time
spent traveling. A person’s value of time
while traveling may differ from their
value of reducing travel time. In most
instances, this rule will not reduce the
time spent traveling because the Form I–
94 is typically completed while en route
to the United States, but rather reduces
the time spent on paperwork while
traveling. The traveler will now be able
to spend this time on leisure or business
activities such as reading or drafting
documents. CBP believes that using the
DOT values of travel time in this
situation is the most appropriate
estimate because it reflects the higher
values of time for air travelers. Further,
we note that to the extent a person’s
value of time while traveling is different
than their value of reducing travel time,
this difference is likely encompassed in
the DOT plausible range for the value of
travel time. We request comments on
the value of time used in this analysis.
As a primary estimate, we use the
DOT’s point estimate for the value of
time for all-purpose air travel, which
includes both personal and business
travel. This point estimate is $42.10. We
also use the DOT’s range for all-purpose
travel to show a range of low and high
estimates. This range is from $34.80 to
$52.20. We apply these values of time
to the travelers in our analysis.22
However, we recognize that those
who must travel to access the internet
are a special case of travelers and
probably have different values of time
than the average air traveler. As
previously discussed, the aliens least
likely to have internet access are those
working as temporary agricultural
laborers. To estimate the value of time
for these aliens, we use the wage rate for
H–2A temporary workers. H–2A
workers are seasonal agricultural
workers. According to the Department
of Labor, H–2A workers have an average
wage rate of $9.50 per hour.23 We
recognize that there are other classes of
temporary workers, notably H–1B visa
holders, who likely have higher wage
rates. However, these workers are
predominantly in specialized
occupations such as medicine and
computer programming and are likely to
have ready access to the internet.
Now that we have estimated the
number of aliens who will log into
22 We use this travel value of time framework to
estimate the costs and savings of this rule, since
affected aliens previously completed the paper form
I–94 while travelling.
23 Source: Calculated from Department of Labor
data: available at https://
www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/quarterlydata.cfm.
Accessed on May 8, 2012.
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CBP’s Web site to print their electronic
Form I–94, the time it takes to access
that Web site, the number of people who
will need to travel to access the internet,
the time it will take to travel to and from
an internet access site, and the values of
time for these groups, we can calculate
this rule’s cost to these travelers. We
first address the cost to log into CBP’s
electronic Form I–94 Web site. Once
again, CBP estimates that it will take
travelers 4 minutes to access and print
their electronic Form I–94, and that it
costs them $0.25 per page to print their
electronic Form I–94. Exhibit 3 shows
the 2013–2016 travelers’ costs for
accessing and printing their electronic
Forms I–94. The findings in Exhibit 3
18465
assume that all travelers, except B–1/B–
2 travelers, will access and print their
electronic Forms I–94.24 As shown, in
2013, traveler costs of time to access
electronic I–94s and their cost to print
it would range from $13.0 million to
$18.8 million, with a primary estimate
of $15.4 million.
EXHIBIT 3—TRAVELER COSTS OF TIME TO ACCESS AND COST TO PRINT ELECTRONIC I–94 *
2013
2014
2015
2016
I–94s ................................................................................................................
DOT—Low ($) ..................................................................................................
DOT—Primary ($) ............................................................................................
DOT—High ($) .................................................................................................
Time Cost—Low ($) .........................................................................................
Time Cost—Primary ($) ...................................................................................
Time Cost—High ($) ........................................................................................
Printing Cost ($) ...............................................................................................
5,047,681
34.80
42.10
52.20
11,710,620
14,167,158
17,565,929
1,261,920
5,448,390
34.80
42.10
52.20
12,640,265
15,291,815
18,960,397
1,362,098
5,917,536
34.80
42.10
52.20
13,728,684
16,608,551
20,593,026
1,479,384
6,393,264
34.80
42.10
52.20
14,832,372
17,943,761
22,248,559
1,598,316
Total Cost—Low ($) .................................................................................
Total Cost—Primary ($) ............................................................................
Total Cost—High ($) .................................................................................
12,972,540
15,429,078
18,827,850
14,002,362
16,653,912
20,322,495
15,208,068
18,087,935
22,072,410
16,430,688
19,542,077
23,846,875
* Estimates
may not total due to rounding.
We next address the travel cost for
those aliens who do not have ready
access to the internet. Once again, we
assume that 38 percent of travelers in
the ‘‘Temporary Workers’’ and ‘‘Other/
Unknown’’ categories (see exhibit 2)
would need to travel 20 miles and 60
minutes to access their electronic Form
I–94, that their values of time are best
characterized by the average H2A wage
rate. For the cost of travel, we use the
IRS standard mileage rate for business
travel of 55.5 cents per mile.25 Exhibit
4 shows the 2013–2016 aliens’ travel
costs to access the internet. As shown,
in 2013, total travel costs would be
$21.2 million.
EXHIBIT 4—TRAVEL COSTS*
2013
Affected Aliens .................................................................................................
H2A Wage Rate ($) .........................................................................................
Time Cost ($) ...................................................................................................
Mileage Cost ($) ..............................................................................................
Total Travel Cost ($) .................................................................................
*Estimates
1,028,876
9.50
9,774,321
11,420,523
21,194,844
2014
2015
1,110,553
9.50
10,550,254
12,327,139
22,877,393
1,206,180
9.50
11,458,708
13,388,595
24,847,303
2016
1,303,148
9.50
12,379,907
14,464,944
26,844,850
may not total due to rounding.
To summarize, both CBP and aliens
would bear costs as a result of this rule.
CBP would bear costs to link its data
systems and to build a Web site so
aliens can access their electronic Forms
I–94. Aliens arriving as diplomats and
students would bear costs when logging
into the Web site and printing electronic
I–94s. Using the primary estimate for a
traveler’s value of time, these costs
average $3.06 per diplomat and student
traveler in 2013. The temporary workers
and aliens in the ‘‘Other/Unknown’’
category (see Exhibit 2) bear costs when
logging into the Web site, traveling to a
location with public internet access, and
printing a paper copy of their electronic
Form I–94. These costs average $23.66
per traveler in 2013 for the temporary
worker and ‘‘Other/Unknown’’ category
of travelers. Exhibit 5 summarizes the
2012–2016 costs of this rule. As shown,
costs for this rule for 2013 would range
from $34.2 million to $40.1 million. In
our primary estimate, costs for this rule
are $36.7 million in 2013. Less than one
percent of these costs are incurred by
the U.S. entities. These are CBP’s costs
for automating the electronic Form I–94
and developing the Web site travelers
will use to access their electronic Form
I–94. In 2013, CBP’s costs are $92,000.
CBP seeks comment on these costs and
their underlying assumptions.
EXHIBIT 5—COST SUMMARY ($)*
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2012
CBP Costs ...........................................................................
Traveler Costs:
24 The annual estimates of I–94s in Exhibit 3 are
based on projections for all travelers, except B–1/
B–2 travelers, developed by the Office of Travel and
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:26 Mar 26, 2013
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2013
1,321,000
92,000
Tourism Industries within the U.S. Department of
Commerce.
25 Source: Internal Revenue Service. IR–2011–
116, December 9, 2011. Available at https://
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2014
2015
92,000
92,000
www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/
0,,id=250882,00.html.
E:\FR\FM\27MRR1.SGM
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2016
92,000
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 59 / Wednesday, March 27, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
EXHIBIT 5—COST SUMMARY ($)*—Continued
2012
Website Access Costs—Low ........................................
Website Access Costs—Primary ..................................
Website Access Costs—High .......................................
Printing Costs ...............................................................
Travel Time Costs ........................................................
Mileage Costs ...............................................................
Total Traveler Costs—Low ..................................................
Total Traveler Costs—Primary ............................................
Total Traveler Costs—High .................................................
Grand Total Costs—Low .....................................................
Grand Total Costs—Primary ................................................
Grand Total Costs—High .....................................................
*Estimates
2013
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1,321,000
1,321,000
1,321,000
11,710,620
14,167,158
17,565,929
1,261,920
9,774,321
11,420,523
34,167,384
36,623,922
40,022,694
34,259,384
36,715,922
40,114,694
2014
2015
12,640,265
15,291,815
18,960,397
1,362,098
10,550,254
12,327,139
36,879,756
39,531,305
43,199,888
36,971,756
39,623,305
43,291,888
13,728,684
16,608,551
20,593,026
1,479,384
11,458,708
13,388,595
40,055,371
42,935,239
46,919,713
40,147,371
43,027,239
47,011,713
2016
14,832,372
17,943,761
22,248,559
1,598,316
12,379,907
14,464,944
43,275,539
46,386,927
50,691,725
43,367,539
46,478,927
50,783,725
may not total due to rounding.
3. Benefits
If implemented, this rule would have
benefits for CBP, carriers, and travelers
to the United States. We first examine
the benefits of this rule for CBP.
Currently, CBP returns the bottom
portion of the Form I–94 to the traveler
and retains the top portion of the form.
The information on the top portion of
the form is entered into CBP systems for
use by CBP and other agencies. CBP also
gets this information electronically from
other sources. CBP has linked its data
systems so that CBP can create an
electronic Form I–94. Therefore, there is
no longer any need to continue entering
the data from the paper Form I–94 for
air and sea travelers into CBP systems.
CBP spends approximately $17.8
million per year on contract support for
this task. CBP will still need to spend
approximately $2.4 million to enter data
from the paper Forms I–94 collected at
the land border and the few that will
continue to be collected at airports and
seaports. We therefore estimate that this
rule would save CBP $15.4 million a
year in contract costs.
CBP processing would also become
more efficient as a result of this rule.
Currently, when the traveler gives the
completed Form I–94 to the CBP Officer
at inspection, the officer reviews the
form for errors and makes corrections as
needed. The officer then stamps the top
and bottom portions of the form with an
admission or parole stamp, writes the
classification and duration of admission
or parole and staples it to the traveler’s
passport. This rule would eliminate this
process for most travelers. To the extent
that eliminating the paper Form I–94
will reduce processing times, CBP will
be able to focus its resources on other
areas, improving security and
expediting the processing of passengers.
CBP will monitor the processing times
as a result of this rule to ensure that
resources are allocated efficiently. CBP’s
final rule will include information
regarding current processing times that
reflect the use of the automated I–94.
We next examine the printing savings
this rule will generate for CBP and
carriers. Currently, both CBP and
carriers print and store Forms I–94. CBP
prints forms for use in primary and
secondary passenger inspections when
the traveler has not filled out a form in
advance or when the traveler has made
an error in filling out the form. In FY
2011, CBP spent $153,306 printing the
Form I–94 for air and sea travelers. If
this rule is implemented, CBP would no
longer need to print the Form I–94 for
most of these travelers,26 which would
eliminate this expense.
Carriers print the forms for their
passengers to complete before their
arrival in the United States. To estimate
printing costs for carriers, CBP obtained
an estimate of total Form I–94 printing
and storage costs from a major airline.
We increased this cost proportionally
based on annual international inbound
passenger volumes to estimate the entire
industry cost. Based on this
methodology, CBP estimates that
carriers spend $1,344,450 annually to
print and store the Form I–94. If this
rule is implemented, carriers would no
longer need to print and store the Form
I–94, which would eliminate this
expense.
We next estimate the value of air and
sea travelers’ time savings resulting
from the elimination of the paper Form
I–94. Currently, travelers spend 8
minutes filling out the Form I–94 while
in transit to the United States. If
implemented, this rule would eliminate
the paper Form I–94 for air and sea
travelers and, with it, their 8-minute
time burden.27 We again apply the DOT
range of plausible values of time for air
travelers, as well as their point estimate
for this value, to these aliens. Exhibit 7
shows the 2013–2016 travelers’
reduction in time burden resulting from
no longer needing to fill out the paper
Form I–94. As shown, in 2013, the value
of the reduction in time burden would
range from $89.7 million to $134.6
million. In our primary estimate, the
reduction in time burden would be
$108.6 million in 2013.
EXHIBIT 7—REDUCTION IN TIME BURDEN*
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
2013
I–94s ................................................................................................................
DOT—Low ($) ..................................................................................................
DOT—Primary ($) ............................................................................................
DOT—High ($) .................................................................................................
Benefit—Low ($) ..............................................................................................
Benefit—Primary ($) ........................................................................................
26 CBP will still print a small number of forms for
use at airports and seaports for certain aliens such
as refugees, asylees, parolees, and those who
request a paper Form I–94.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:14 Mar 26, 2013
Jkt 229001
19,339,773
34.80
42.10
52.20
89,736,549
108,560,595
27 For those with a need to access their electronic
Form I–94, this burden relief is partially offset by
the 4 minute time burden to access the Web site.
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Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
2014
2015
20,875,058
34.80
42.10
52.20
96,860,267
117,178,657
22,672,552
34.80
42.10
52.20
105,200,642
127,268,592
2016
24,495,264
34.80
42.10
52.20
113,658,027
137,500,084
The costs for this access are discussed in the costs
section above.
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18467
EXHIBIT 7—REDUCTION IN TIME BURDEN*—Continued
2013
Benefit—High ($) .............................................................................................
*Estimates
134,604,823
2014
2015
145,290,401
157,800,962
2016
170,487,040
may not total due to rounding.
We next examine the savings to aliens
who need a replacement Form I–94. If
aliens lose the bottom portion of their
Form I–94, they may file Form I–102,
Application for Replacement/Initial
Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure
Document, with USCIS to request a
replacement. The form has a Paperwork
Reduction Act burden of 25 minutes
and a fee of $330. As stated earlier,
currently 17,700 Forms I–102 or filed
annually and this rule would reduce
that amount by 11,929. If this rule is
implemented, these travelers would be
able to access their electronic Form I–
94, which would save these individuals
25 minutes and $330.28 We calculate the
value of this time savings using USCIS’s
hourly wage estimate for Form I–102
filers of $30.44.29 Exhibit 8 shows the
time and fee cost savings for those who
would have otherwise needed to file an
I–102 from 2012 to 2016. As shown, in
2013 the value of this time and fee
savings would be $4.2 million. CBP
seeks comment on these assumptions.
EXHIBIT 8—I–102 COST SAVINGS*
2013
2014
2015
2016
I–102 Reduction ...............................................................................................
Time Burden ....................................................................................................
USCIS hourly wage ($) ....................................................................................
Time Savings ($) .............................................................................................
Fee Savings ($) ...............................................................................................
11,929
25
30.44
151,299
3,936,570
11,929
25
30.44
151,299
3,936,570
11,929
25
30.44
151,299
3,936,570
11,929
25
30.44
151,299
3,936,570
Total Savings ($) ......................................................................................
4,087,869
4,087,869
4,087,869
4,087,869
* Estimates
may not total due to rounding.
In summary, CBP, carriers, and aliens
would accrue benefits as a result of this
rule. CBP would save contract and
printing costs. Carriers would save
printing costs. All aliens would save the
8-minute time burden for filling out the
paper Form I–94 and certain aliens who
lose the Form I–94 would save the $330
fee and 25 minute time burden for
filling out the Form I–102. Because we
do not expect B–1/B–2 travelers to use
the Web site to access their electronic
Form I–94, the benefits associated with
the Form I–102 accrue only to non-B–
1/B–2 travelers. Using the primary
estimate for a traveler’s value of time,
the time burden savings for all travelers
is $5.61 per traveler. In addition, those
non-B–1/B–2 travelers who no longer
need to use a Form I–102 would achieve
an additional time and fee savings of
$342.68 per traveler. Exhibit 9
summarizes the benefits of this rule to
each party. As shown, benefits for this
rule for 2013 would range from $110.7
million to $155.6 million. In our
primary estimate, the benefits of this
rule would be $129.5 million in 2013.
CBP seeks comment on these benefits
and their underlying assumptions.
EXHIBIT 9—BENEFIT SUMMARY ($)*
2013
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
CBP Benefits:
CBP Contract Savings ..............................................................................
CBP Printing Savings ...............................................................................
Total CBP Benefits ..........................................................................................
Carrier Printing Savings ...................................................................................
Traveler Benefits:
I–94 Time Savings—Low .........................................................................
I–94 Time Savings—Primary ....................................................................
I–94 Time Savings—High .........................................................................
I–102 Time Savings ..................................................................................
I–102 Fee Savings ...................................................................................
Total Traveler Benefits—Low ............................................................
Total Traveler Benefits—Primary ......................................................
Total Traveler Benefits—High ...........................................................
Grand Total Benefits—Low ...............................................................
Grand Total Benefits—Primary .........................................................
28 As discussed in the costs section, we estimate
a 4 minute time burden for travelers who need to
access their electronic Form I–94. See the cost
section for a complete discussion of the costs of
accessing the Web site as well as the cost to travel
to a location where they can access the Web site,
where necessary.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:14 Mar 26, 2013
Jkt 229001
Frm 00011
Fmt 4700
2015
2016
15,400,000
153,360
15,553,360
1,344,450
15,400,000
153,360
15,553,360
1,344,450
15,400,000
153,360
15,553,360
1,344,450
15,400,000
153,360
15,553,360
1,344,450
89,736,549
108,560,595
134,604,823
151,299
3,936,570
93,824,418
112,648,464
138,692,692
110,722,228
129,546,274
96,860,267
117,178,657
145,290,401
215,863
3,936,570
100,948,137
121,266,526
149,378,271
117,845,947
138,164,336
105,200,642
127,268,592
157,800,962
215,863
3,936,570
109,288,511
131,356,462
161,888,832
126,186,321
148,254,272
113,658,027
137,500,084
170,487,040
215,863
3,936,570
117,745,896
141,587,954
174,574,910
134,643,706
158,485,764
29 USCIS estimates are based on BLS data for
occupational employment statistics. The latest
supporting statement for the I–102 is available at:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=201206–1615–003.
This supporting statement uses an older wage
estimate of $30.74. USCIS has since updated the
PO 00000
2014
Sfmt 4700
wage rates used in their supporting statements to
$30.44 based on more recent BLS statistics. These
estimates will be used in the next renewal of the
I–102 information collection report.
E:\FR\FM\27MRR1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 59 / Wednesday, March 27, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
EXHIBIT 9—BENEFIT SUMMARY ($)*—Continued
2013
Grand Total Benefits—High ..............................................................
* Estimates
155,590,502
2014
2015
166,276,081
178,786,642
2016
191,472,720
may not total due to rounding.
4. Net Benefits
Exhibit 10 compares the costs of this
rule to the benefits, both in total and for
each party affected. As shown, in 2013,
CBP has a net benefit of $15.5 million,
carriers have a net benefit of $1.3
million, and travelers have a net benefit
of between $59.7 million and $98.7
million. In our primary analysis, the net
benefit to travelers is $76.0 million in
2013. Total 2013 net benefits range from
$76.5 million to $115.5 million. In our
primary analysis, the total net benefits
are $92.8 million in 2013.
EXHIBIT 10—NET BENEFITS*
2012
2013
¥1,321,000
0
0
0
0
¥1,321,000
¥1,321,000
¥1,321,000
CBP ......................................................................................
Carriers ................................................................................
Travelers—Low ....................................................................
Travelers—Primary ..............................................................
Travelers—High ...................................................................
Grand Total—Low ................................................................
Grand Total—Primary ..........................................................
Grand Total—High ...............................................................
15,461,360
1,344,450
59,657,034
76,024,542
98,669,998
76,462,844
92,830,352
115,475,808
2014
2015
15,461,360
1,344,450
64,068,381
81,735,221
106,178,383
80,874,191
98,541,031
122,984,193
15,461,360
1,344,450
69,233,140
88,421,223
114,969,119
86,038,950
105,227,033
131,774,929
2016
15,461,360
1,344,450
74,470,358
95,201,026
123,883,185
91,276,168
112,006,836
140,688,995
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
Exhibits 11 and 12 present the net
benefits of this rule, discounted at the
3 and 7 percent discount rates. Exhibit
13 presents annualized net benefits at
the 3 and 7 percent discount rates.
Annualized net benefits range from
$65.6 million to $101.7 million. In the
primary analysis, annualized net
benefits range from $79.8 million to
$81.6 million, depending on the
discount rate used.
EXHIBIT 11—NET BENEFITS DISCOUNTED AT A 3 PERCENT RATE
[2012 Dollars]*
2012
CBP ......................................................................................
Carriers ................................................................................
Travelers—Low ....................................................................
Travelers—Primary ..............................................................
Travelers—High ...................................................................
Grand Total—Low ................................................................
Grand Total—Primary ..........................................................
Grand Total—High ...............................................................
2013
¥1,321,000
........................
........................
........................
........................
¥1,321,000
¥1,321,000
¥1,321,000
15,011,029
1,305,291
57,919,450
73,810,235
95,796,115
74,235,771
90,126,555
112,112,435
2014
2015
14,573,815
1,267,273
60,390,594
77,043,285
100,083,309
76,231,682
92,884,373
115,924,397
14,149,335
1,230,362
63,358,131
80,917,945
105,213,030
78,737,828
96,297,642
120,592,727
2016
13,737,218
1,194,526
66,165,948
84,584,879
110,068,605
81,097,693
99,516,623
125,000,350
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
EXHIBIT 12—NET BENEFITS DISCOUNTED AT A 7 PERCENT RATE
[2012 Dollars]*
2012
CBP ......................................................................................
Carriers ................................................................................
Travelers—Low ....................................................................
Travelers—Primary ..............................................................
Travelers—High ...................................................................
Grand Total—Low ................................................................
Grand Total—Primary ..........................................................
Grand Total—High ...............................................................
2013
¥1,321,000
........................
........................
........................
........................
¥1,321,000
¥1,321,000
¥1,321,000
14,449,869
1,256,495
55,754,237
71,050,974
92,214,952
71,460,602
86,757,338
107,921,316
2014
2015
13,504,551
1,174,295
55,959,805
71,390,707
92,740,311
70,638,651
86,069,553
107,419,157
12,621,075
1,097,472
56,514,865
72,178,057
93,849,048
70,233,412
85,896,604
107,567,595
2016
11,795,398
1,025,674
56,813,079
72,628,407
94,509,889
69,634,151
85,449,479
107,330,961
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*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
EXHIBIT 13—ANNUALIZED NET BENEFITS DISCOUNTED AT 3 PERCENT AND 7 PERCENT*
3 Percent
CBP ..........................................................................................................................................................................
Carriers ....................................................................................................................................................................
Travelers—Low ........................................................................................................................................................
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Frm 00012
Fmt 4700
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E:\FR\FM\27MRR1.SGM
27MRR1
11,903,588
1,059,434
52,539,528
7 Percent
11,636,069
1,038,002
51,294,997
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 59 / Wednesday, March 27, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
EXHIBIT 13—ANNUALIZED NET BENEFITS DISCOUNTED AT 3 PERCENT AND 7 PERCENT*—Continued
3 Percent
Travelers—Primary ..................................................................................................................................................
Travelers—High .......................................................................................................................................................
Grand Total—Low ....................................................................................................................................................
Grand Total—Primary ..............................................................................................................................................
Grand Total—High ...................................................................................................................................................
7 Percent
67,065,877
87,163,978
65,502,550
80,028,899
100,126,999
65,473,972
85,091,457
63,969,068
78,148,043
97,765,529
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
While this is a large net benefit to
travelers as a whole, it is important to
note that the net benefits do not accrue
uniformly across all travelers. We next
examine the effect of this rule on each
type of traveler. Exhibit 14 summarizes
the costs and benefits per traveler for
each class of alien discussed in this
analysis. B–1/B–2 travelers will no
longer need to fill out the paper Form
I–94, saving them 8 minutes. As
discussed earlier, we assume that no B–
1/B2 travelers will need to access their
electronic Form I–94 via the Web site.
Because we assume they do not use the
Form I–94, B–1/B–2 travelers also do
not file Form I–102 to replace their lost
Form I–94. Therefore they will not
accrue benefits from no longer needing
to file Forms I–102. The net effect of this
rule to each B–1/B–2 traveler is a benefit
of $5.61 per traveler.
Travelers who are students and
diplomats would no longer need to fill
out a paper Form I–94. They would
need to access the Web site and print
their Form I–94, but would not need to
travel to a location with internet access.
The net effect of this rule to travelers
who are students and diplomats is a
benefit of $2.56 per traveler. In addition,
those students and diplomats who
would otherwise need to file a Form I–
102 and pay the $330 fee to obtain a
replacement Form I–94 would receive
an additional benefit of $342.68 as a
result of this rule.
Temporary workers and aliens in the
‘‘Other/Unknown’’ category would no
longer need to fill out a paper Form I–
94. They would need to access the Web
site and print their Form I–94, and some
would need to travel 20 miles and 30
minutes round-trip to reach a location
with internet access. The net effect of
this rule to temporary workers and
aliens in the ‘‘Other/Unknown’’
category is a cost of $18.04 per traveler.
We reiterate that those with obstacles to
accessing their electronic I–94s may
request a paper I–94 at the airport or
seaport upon arrival in the United
States. In addition, those temporary
workers and aliens in the ‘‘Other/
Unknown’’ category who would
otherwise need to file a Form I–102 and
pay the $330 fee to obtain a replacement
Form I–94 would receive an additional
benefit of $342.68 as a result of this
rule.30
EXHIBIT 14—ANNUAL EFFECT OF RULE BY CLASS OF ALIEN ($) *
Percentage of
total number
of aliens
8 minute time
cost savings
Cost of time to
access & cost
to print electronic form
I–94
73.9
9.9
9.9
4.1
2.2
5.61
5.61
5.61
5.61
5.61
0
¥3.06
¥3.06
¥3.06
¥3.06
Tourists and Business Travelers (B–1/B–2) ........................
Students ...............................................................................
Temporary workers ..............................................................
Other/Unknown ....................................................................
Diplomats .............................................................................
Travel costs
Net impact **
0
0
¥20.60
¥20.60
0
5.61
2.56
¥18.04
¥18.04
2.56
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
** In addition to this net impact, a small number of non-B–1/B–2 travelers will experience savings resulting from no longer needing to file a
Form I–102. The primary estimate of Form I–102 cost savings to non-B–1/B–2 travelers is $342.81 per traveler. We do not include the Form I–
102 cost savings in the net impact column of Exhibit 14 because few non-B–1/B–2 travelers will benefit from this compared to the overall population of non-B–1/B–2 travelers impacted by the rule. Based on data from USCIS, we estimate that 16,853 Form I–102s per year will no longer
need to be filed as a result of this rule. This is less than one percent of the annual population of non-B–1/B–2 travelers affected by the rule
(16,853 Form I–102s ÷ 5,047,681 non-B–1/B–2 travelers in 2013 < 1%).
Annualized costs and benefits to U.S.
entities are presented in the following
accounting statement, as required by
OMB Circular A–4.
ACCOUNTING STATEMENT: CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURES, 2012–2016
[$2012]
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3% Discount rate
U.S. Costs:
Annualized monetized costs ...................................................................
Annualized quantified, but non-monetized costs ....................................
Qualitative (non-quantified) costs ............................................................
U.S. Benefits:
Annualized monetized benefits ...............................................................
30 CBP intends to have a considerable outreach
effort in place by the time that this rule is effective
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$0.352 million ....................................
None ..................................................
None ..................................................
$0.372 million.
None.
None.
$13.7 million ......................................
$14.0 million.
including outreach to airlines and travelers to
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7% Discount rate
Sfmt 4700
communicate that requesting a paper Form I–94
continues to be an option.
E:\FR\FM\27MRR1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 59 / Wednesday, March 27, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
ACCOUNTING STATEMENT: CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURES, 2012–2016—Continued
[$2012]
3% Discount rate
Annualized quantified, but non-monetized benefits ................................
Qualitative (non-quantified) benefits ...............................................................
We estimate annualized costs to U.S.
entities as a result of this rule to be
$0.352 million to $0.372 million. These
are CBP’s costs for automating the
electronic Form I–94 and developing the
Web site travelers will use to access
their electronic Form I–94. Monetized
benefits of this rule of $13.7 million to
$14.0 million to U.S. entities (CBP and
carriers) represent reduced Form I–94
printing and storage costs and reduced
data entry contract costs. Nonquantified benefits of this rule include
the reduced processing time that could
result as a result of the automation of
the Form I–94. This rule also imposes
monetized costs and benefits for
travelers. However, because these are
attributable solely to foreign
individuals, we do not include them in
the accounting statement.
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5. Regulatory Alternatives
We consider two alternatives to this
rule: eliminating the paper Form I–94 in
the air and sea environments entirely
and providing the paper Form I–94 to
all travelers who are not B–1/B–2
travelers. If CBP were to eliminate the
paper Form I–94 entirely in the air and
sea environment, there are certain
classes of vulnerable aliens who would
be harmed. Under the rule, refugees,
applicants for asylum, and parolees will
be provided a paper Form I–94. These
aliens have an immediate need for the
Form I–94 and cannot wait to access
their electronic Form I–94 from the Web
site. These aliens represent a very small
portion of overall international travel
and providing them with a paper Form
I–94 and entering the information into
CBP data systems is not a significant
cost to CBP. In addition, under this rule,
CBP will continue to provide a paper
Form I–94 to those travelers who
request it. CBP is providing this
flexibility as a way to minimize the
effect on those who face obstacles to
accessing their electronic Form I–94. As
CBP does not expect many aliens to
request a paper Form I–94, the cost to
CBP for printing and data entry is
minimal. Eliminating the paper Form I–
94 option for refugees, applicants for
asylum, parolees, and those travelers
who request one would not result in a
significant cost savings to CBP and
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7% Discount rate
None ..................................................
Reduced primary inspection processing times.
None.
Reduced primary inspection
processing times.
would harm travelers who have an
immediate need for an electronic Form
I–94 or who face obstacles to accessing
their electronic Form I–94.
A second alternative to the rule is to
provide a paper Form I–94 to any
travelers who are not B–1/B–2 travelers.
Under this alternative, travelers would
receive and complete the paper Form I–
94 during their inspection when they
arrive in the United States. The
electronic Form I–94 would still be
automatically created during the
inspection, but the CBP Officer would
need to verify that the information
appearing on the form matches the
information in CBP’s systems. In
addition, CBP would need to write the
Form I–94 number on each paper Form
I–94 so that their paper form matches
the electronic record. As noted earlier,
25.1 percent of aliens are non-B–1/B–2
travelers. Filling out and processing this
many paper Forms I–94 at airports and
seaports would increase processing
times considerably. At the same time, it
would only provide a small savings to
the individual traveler. As noted in the
Net Benefits section, the net cost of this
rule to temporary workers and to those
in the ‘‘Other/Unknown’’ category of
aliens is only $18.04 per traveler and
the rule has a net benefit to those
arriving as students or diplomats.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act
This section examines the impact of
the rule on small entities as required by
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
601 et seq.), as amended by the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement and
Fairness Act of 1996. A small entity may
be a small business (defined as any
independently owned and operated
business not dominant in its field that
qualifies as a small business per the
Small Business Act); a small not-forprofit organization; or a small
governmental jurisdiction (locality with
fewer than 50,000 people).
This rule primarily regulates
individuals and individuals are not
considered small entities. In addition,
the individual travelers may obtain a
paper Form I–94 upon request, which
would eliminate the impacts of this rule
for those travelers. Employers who have
internet access may choose to allow
their employees to use their internet
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connection to access the employee’s
electronic Form I–94, but they are not
required to do so and are therefore not
directly regulated by this rule. To the
extent an employer chooses to assist an
employee with accessing the internet
and printing an I–94, this impact would
not rise to being an economically
significant impact under the RFA. This
rule also regulates air and sea carriers by
eliminating the need for them to provide
the paper Form I–94 to their passengers.
This rule would impact all small
carriers that transport passengers to the
United States. We therefore conclude
that this rule will have an impact on a
substantial number of small entities. As
stated in the economic impact analysis
above, we estimate that carriers spend
$1.3 million a year printing and storing
forms for their passengers, based on
2011 passenger volumes. In 2011,
16,586,753 Forms I–94 provided by
carriers were filed at airports and
seaports. Dividing these figures, we
estimate that carriers spent 8 cents per
form in printing and storage costs.
Under this rule, carriers would no
longer need to print and store the Forms
I–94, thus eliminating these costs.
According to a 2008 study by the
Department of Commerce’s Office of
Travel and Tourism Industries,31 the
average ticket price for an international
traveler traveling to the United States is
$1,484. The cost to the carrier of
printing a Form I–94 is less than one
hundredth of one percent of the revenue
a carrier receives from the average
passenger. We therefore do not believe
that this rule will have a significant
economic impact on small entities. We
also note that any impact to small
carriers would be purely beneficial. CBP
certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
CBP welcomes comments on this
conclusion.
Administrative Procedure Act
The Administrative Procedure Act
(APA) generally requires agencies to
publish a notice of proposed rulemaking
in the Federal Register (5 U.S.C. 553(b))
31 U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries.
2008. ‘‘Overseas Travelers to the United States.’’
Table 26.
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 59 / Wednesday, March 27, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
and provide interested persons the
opportunity to submit comments (5
U.S.C. 553(c)). However, the APA
provides an exception to this prior
notice and comment requirement for
‘‘rules of agency organization,
procedure, or practice’’ 5 U.S.C.
553(b)(A).
This interim final rule is a procedural
rule promulgated for ‘‘agency
housekeeping’’ and efficiency purposes.
CBP believes that will not affect the
substantive rights or interests of the
public.
Once effective, the rule will change
‘‘the manner’’ in which arriving aliens
present information to CBP, but will not
‘‘alter the rights or interests’’ of those
aliens as they seek admission to the
United States. Such arriving aliens will
no longer be required to complete and
submit the paper Form I–94. Instead, the
information previously collected by the
paper I–94 will now be automatically
populated into a new electronic format,
which will be printable from CBP’s Web
site: www.cbp.gov/i94.
The rule neither affects the
substantive criteria by which CBP
officers inspect aliens upon arrival nor
the nature of the information at CBP’s
disposal.
Privacy
CBP will ensure that all Privacy Act
requirements and policies are adhered
to in the implementation of this rule,
and will be issuing a Privacy Impact
Assessment (PIA), which will fully
outline how CBP will ensure
compliance with Privacy Act
protections. The PIA will examine the
privacy impact of the Form I–94
automation process as it relates to DHS’s
Fair Information Practice Principles
(FIPPs). The FIPPs account for the
nature and purpose of the information
being collected in relation to DHS’s
mission to preserve, protect, and secure.
The PIA will address such issues as the
security, integrity, and sharing of data,
use limitation, and transparency. The
PIA will be made available at: https://
www.dhs.gov/privacy-documents-uscustoms-and-border-protection.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collection of information
regarding the CBP Form I–94 (Arrival/
Departure Record) was previously
reviewed and approved by OMB in
accordance with the requirements of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3507) under OMB Control
Number 1651–0111. This OMB Control
Number also includes the Electronic
System for Travel Authorization
(ESTA), ESTA fee, and Form I–94W, all
of which are unaffected by this rule. In
addition, information for the electronic
Form I–94 will be comprised of
information already collected for APIS
under approval 1651–0088. An agency
may not conduct, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of
information unless the collection of
information displays a valid control
number assigned by OMB.
The automation of the paper Form
I–94 for commercial aircraft and vessel
passengers in accordance with this
Interim Final Rule would result in an
estimated reduction of 9.6 million
Forms I–94 completed by paper, and an
estimated reduction of 1,276,800 burden
hours. The remaining estimated burden
associated with the Form I–94, which
would be for aliens arriving at the land
border, is as follows:
Estimated Number of Respondents:
4,400,000.
Estimated Number of Total Annual
Responses: 4,400,000.
Estimated Time per Response: 8
minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 585,200.
CBP will make the electronic Form
I–94 available to aliens on a secure Web
site. Passengers may log into the Web
site using 7 pieces of basic identifying
information that is either known to the
traveler (their first name, last name and
date of birth) or readily available on
their passport (passport number,
country of issuance, date of entry, and
class of admission). This information
will be used only to grant the passenger
access to the Web site. CBP estimates
that it will take the traveler 4 minutes
to log into the Web site using
identifying information and print the
electronic form. Because so many
parties at various levels of government
and outside of the government use the
Form I–94, CBP cannot estimate how
many aliens who are not B–1/B–2
travelers will access the Web site.
18471
Because we do not know how many
people need a physical copy of their
Form I–94 or how many face obstacles
to accessing their electronic I–94, for the
purposes of this analysis, we assume
that every traveler, other than B–1/B–2
travelers, who currently receives a paper
Form I–94 will log into the Web site to
print off their electronic Form I–94. In
2013, we estimate this to be 5,047,681
travelers. We request comments on the
number of travelers that will access the
Web site and will amend this number
accordingly in the final rule. The
estimated burden associated with the
Web site, is as follows:
Estimated Number of Respondents:
5,047,681.
Estimated Number of Total Annual
Responses: 5,047,681.
Estimated Time per Response: 4
minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 336,512
The automation of the paper Form
I–94 for commercial aircraft and vessel
passengers in accordance with this
Interim Final Rule would result in an
estimated reduction of 10,918 million
Forms I–102 filed, and an estimated
reduction of 4,541.89 burden hours. The
collection of information regarding the
Form I–102 was previously reviewed
and approved by OMB in accordance
with the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507)
under OMB Control Number 1615–0079.
The remaining estimated burden
associated with the Form I–102, which
would be for aliens arriving at the land
border, is as follows:
Estimated Number of Respondents:
6,782.32
Estimated Number of Total Annual
Responses: 6,782.
Estimated Time per Response: 25
minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 2,821.31.
The Exhibit 15 summarizes the
difference in the burden for the current
process and the future process. As OMB
Control Number 1651–0111 includes
ESTA and I–94W, we include those
burden hours for informational
purposes. We note that these burden
hours are unaffected by this rule.
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EXHIBIT 15 PRA—BURDEN EFFECTS OF THE RULE
Collection
Pre-IFR .........................................................................
32 As discussed earlier, CBP uses a slightly
different figure in its regulatory analysis because
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Respondents
I–94 ...............................................................................
Website .........................................................................
I–102 .............................................................................
the analysis is based on a calendar year basis which
USCIS’s estimates are on a fiscal year basis.
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E:\FR\FM\27MRR1.SGM
27MRR1
14,000,000
0
17,700
Burden hours
1,862,000
0
7,363
18472
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 59 / Wednesday, March 27, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
EXHIBIT 15 PRA—BURDEN EFFECTS OF THE RULE—Continued
Collection
IFR ................................................................................
Difference .....................................................................
Comments concerning the accuracy of
this cost estimate and suggestions for
reducing this burden should be directed
to the Office of Management and
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the
Department of Homeland Security,
Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, Washington, DC 20503. A copy
should also be sent to Regulations and
Rulings, Office of International Trade,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
Attention: Border Security Regulations
Branch, 90 K Street NE., 10th Floor,
Washington, DC 20229.
CBP has included a copy of the
current paper Form I–94 on the docket
for this rulemaking in the supporting
documents section. CBP seeks
comments on whether the instructions
included on the form are sufficient or
whether they should be revised for
clarity in light of the automation.
Comments on the instructions should be
submitted to CBP as described in the
ADDRESSES portion of this rule above.
List of Subjects
8 CFR Part 1
Administrative practice and
procedure, Immigration.
8 CFR Part 264
Aliens, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Amendments to the Regulations
For the reasons discussed in the
preamble and under the authority of 8
U.S.C. 1103, CBP amends 8 CFR chapter
1 as set forth below.
PART 1—DEFINTIONS
1. The general authority for part 1
continues to read as follows:
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■
Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1101; 8 U.S.C. 1103;
5 U.S.C. 301; Pub. L. 107–296, 116 Stat. 2135;
6 U.S.C. 1 et seq.
2. Add § 1.4 to part 1 to read as
follows:
■
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15:14 Mar 26, 2013
Jkt 229001
§ 1.4
ESTA ............................................................................
I–94W ...........................................................................
I–94 ...............................................................................
Website .........................................................................
I–102 .............................................................................
ESTA ............................................................................
I–94W ...........................................................................
I–94 ...............................................................................
Website .........................................................................
I–102 .............................................................................
ESTA ............................................................................
I–94W ...........................................................................
Definition of Form I–94
The term Form I–94, as used in this
chapter I, includes the collection of
arrival/departure and admission or
parole information by DHS, whether in
paper or electronic format, which is
made available to the person about
whom the information has been
collected, as may be prescribed by DHS.
The following terms, when used in the
context of the Form I–94, are clarified as
to their meaning to accommodate the
collection of such information in an
electronic format.
(a) The terms ‘‘annotate,’’ ‘‘note,’’
‘‘indicate on,’’ ‘‘stamp,’’ and ‘‘endorse,’’
unless used in part 231 of this chapter,
include, but are not limited, to DHS
amending, including or completing
information in its electronic record of
admission, or arrival/departure. For
purposes of part 231, the term
‘‘endorse’’ includes but is not limited to
the submission of electronic departure
data to CBP.
(b) The terms ‘‘completed,’’
‘‘completely executed’’ and ‘‘completed
and signed’’ include, but are not limited
to, DHS completing its collection of
information into its electronic record of
admission, or arrival/departure.
(c) The terms ‘‘issuance’’ and ‘‘given’’
include, but are not limited to, the
creation of an electronic record of
admission, or arrival/departure by DHS
following an inspection performed by
an immigration officer.
(d) The term ‘‘original I–94’’ includes,
but is not limited to, any printout or
electronic transmission of information
from DHS systems containing the
electronic record of admission or
arrival/departure.
(e) The terms ‘‘present,’’
‘‘presentation,’’ or ‘‘submission’’ of a
Form I–94, unless they are used in
§ 231.1 or § 231.2 of this chapter,
include, but are not limited to,
providing a printout of information from
DHS systems containing an electronic
record of admission or arrival/
departure. For purposes of § 231.1 of
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Frm 00016
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19,140,000
100,000
4,400,000
5,047,681
6,782
19,140,000
100,000
¥9,600,000
5,047,681
¥10,918
0
0
Burden hours
4,785,000
333,147
586,667
336,512
2,821
4,785,000
13,333
¥1,275,333
336,512
¥4,542
0
0
this chapter, the terms ‘‘present’’ or
‘‘submission’’ of the Form I–94 includes
ensuring that each passenger presents
him/herself to a CBP Officer for
inspection at a U.S. port-of-entry. For
the purposes of § 231.2 of this chapter,
the terms ‘‘present,’’ ‘‘submit,’’ or
‘‘submission’’ of the Form I–94 includes
ensuring that each passenger is available
for inspection by a CBP Officer upon
request.
(f) The term ‘‘possession’’ with
respect to a Form I–94 includes, but is
not limited to, obtaining a copy or
printout of the record of an electronic
evidence of admission or arrival/
departure from the appropriate CBP
systems.
(g) The terms ‘‘surrendering,’’
‘‘turning in a Form I–94,’’ and
‘‘departure I–94’’ includes, but is not
limited to, complying with any
departure controls under 8 CFR part 215
that may be prescribed by CBP in
addition to the submission of electronic
departure data to CBP by a carrier.
*
*
*
*
*
PART 264—REGISTRATION AND
FINGERPRINTING OF ALIENS IN THE
UNITED STATES
3. The general authority for part 264
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1103, 1201, 1303—
1305; 8 CFR part 2.
*
*
*
*
*
§§ 210.4, 212.1, 212.4, 212.6, 214.1, 214.2,
214.6, 214.7, 214.14, 215.8, 231.1, 231.2,
235.1, 245.15, 245.21, 245.23, 245.24, 245a.1,
245a.2, 245a.4, 245a.15, 247.12, 253.1,
274a.2, and 286.9 [Amended]
4. In the following locations, add ‘‘(see
§ 1.4)’’ after the first mention of the term
‘‘I–94’’:
■ a. § 210.4(d)(3);
■ b. § 212.1(q)(1)(vi);
■ c. § 212.4(g);
■ d. § 212.6(b)(2)(iii);
■ e. § 214.1(b)(1)(iv);
■ f. § 214.2(b)(2);
■
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 59 / Wednesday, March 27, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
g. § 214.6(g)(1);
h. § 214.7(c)(2)(i);
i. § 214.14(c)(5)(i)(A);
j. § 215.8(a)(1);
k. § 231.1(b)(1);
l. § 231.2(b)(1);
m. § 235.1(f)(1)(ii);
n. § 245.15(h)(4);
o. § 245.21(g)(3);
p. § 245.23(e)(1)(vi);
q. § 245.24(d)(6);
r. § 245a.1(d)(2);
s. § 245a.2(b)(8);
t. § 245a.4(b)(2)(i)(F);
u. § 245a.15(b)(2)(i);
v. § 247.12(a);
w. § 253.1(a);
x. § 274a.2(b)(1)(v)(A)(5); and
y. § 286.9(b)(1).
■ 5. In § 264.1, add a note to the end of
paragraph (b) to read as follows:
address for the Army Litigation
Division. The Army Litigation Division
moved to Fort Belvoir in September
2011.
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
§ 264.1
*
B. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department of the Army has
determined that the Regulatory
Flexibility Act does not apply because
the rule change does not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
within the meaning of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601–612.
C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
The Department of the Army has
determined that the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act does not apply
because the rule change does not
include a mandate that may result in
estimated costs to State, local or tribal
governments in the aggregate, or the
private sector, of $100 million or more.
Registration and fingerprinting.
*
*
(b) * * *
*
*
Janet Napolitano,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013–06974 Filed 3–26–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111–14–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
32 CFR Part 505
Army Privacy Act Program
Department of the Army, DoD.
Final rule.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
erowe on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with RULES
SUMMARY: The Department of the Army
is amending its rule on notification of
the Army Litigation Division when
complaints citing the Privacy Act are
filed in order to correct the mailing
address in § 505.12. The address for
notifying the Army Litigation Division
of cases citing the Privacy Act and filed
in a U.S. District Court has changed.
DATES: Effective Date: This rule is
effective March 27, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: MAJ
Lisa R. Bloom, 703–693–1009, email:
lisa.bloom@us.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
In the August 10, 2006, issue of the
Federal Register (71 FR 46052), the
Department of the Army issued a final
rule. This final rule corrects the mailing
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:14 Mar 26, 2013
Jkt 229001
I. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)
The Department of the Army has
determined that according to the criteria
defined in Executive Order 13132 that
Executive Order does not apply because
the rule change will not have a
substantial effect on the States, on the
relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government.
Kevin K. Robitaille,
COL, JA, Chief, U.S. Army Litigation Division.
List of Subjects in 32 CFR Part 505
Privacy, Enforcement actions.
For reasons stated in the preamble 32
CFR part 505 is amended as follows:
PART 505—ARMY PRIVACY ACT
PROGRAM
1. The authority citation for part 505
continues to read as follows:
D. National Environmental Policy Act
The Department of the Army has
determined that the National
Environmental Policy Act does not
apply because the rule change does not
have an adverse impact on the
environment.
■
E. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Department of the Army has
determined that the Paperwork
Reduction Act does not apply because
the rule change does not involve
collection of information from the
public.
Note to paragraph (b): In addition to the
forms noted in this paragraph (b), a valid,
unexpired nonimmigrant DHS admission or
parole stamp in a foreign passport constitutes
evidence of registration.
18473
*
F. Executive Order 12630 (Government
Actions and Interference With
Constitutionally Protected Property
Rights)
The Department of the Army has
determined that Executive Order 12630
does not apply because the rule change
does not impair private property rights.
G. Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory
Planning and Review) and Executive
Order 13563 (Improving Regulation
and Regulatory Review)
The Department of the Army has
determined that according to the criteria
defined in Executive Order 12866 and
Executive Order 13563 this rule change
is not a significant regulatory action. As
such, the rule is not subject to Office of
Management and Budget review under
section 6(a)(3) of the Executive Order.
H. Executive Order 13045 (Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
Risk and Safety Risks)
The Department of the Army has
determined that according to the criteria
defined in Executive Order 13045 that
Executive Order does not apply.
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
Authority: Pub. L. 93–579, 88 Stat. 1896 (5
U.S.C. 552a).
2. Revise paragraph (b) (1) of § 505.12
to read as follows:
■
§ 505.12
Privacy Act enforcement actions.
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(1) When a complaint citing the
Privacy Act is filed in a U.S. District
Court against the Department of the
Army, an Army Component, a DA
Official, or any Army employee, the
responsible system manager will
promptly notify the Army Litigation
Division, U.S. Army Legal Services
Agency (USALSA), 9275 Gunston Road,
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2013–06968 Filed 3–26–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3710–08–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army
32 CFR Part 518
The Freedom of Information Act
Department of the Army, DoD.
Final rule.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
SUMMARY: The Department of the Army
is amending its rule on notification of
the Army Litigation Division when a
request is made for a record related to
pending litigation involving the United
States in order to correct the mailing
address in § 518.15 and § 518.18. The
address for notifying the U.S. Army
Litigation Division of record requests
E:\FR\FM\27MRR1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 27, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18457-18473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06974]
========================================================================
Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
Prices of new books are listed in the first FEDERAL REGISTER issue of each
week.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 59 / Wednesday, March 27, 2013 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 18457]]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
8 CFR Parts 1, 210, 212, 214, 215, 231, 235, 245, 245a, 247, 253,
264, 274a, and 286
[USCBP-2013-0011; CBP Dec. No. 13-06]
RIN 1651-AA96
Definition of Form I-94 To Include Electronic Format
AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, DHS.
ACTION: Interim final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Form I-94 is issued by the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) to certain aliens and is used for various purposes such as
documenting status in the United States, the approved length of stay,
and departure. DHS generally issues the Form I-94 to aliens at the time
they lawfully enter the United States. This rule adds a new definition
of the term ``Form I-94'' that includes the collection of arrival/
departure and admission or parole information by DHS, whether in paper
or electronic format. The definition also clarifies various terms that
are associated with the use of the Form I-94 to accommodate an
electronic version of the Form I-94. This rule also adds a valid,
unexpired nonimmigrant DHS admission or parole stamp in a foreign
passport to the list of documents designated as evidence of alien
registration. These revisions to the regulations will enable DHS to
transition to an automated process whereby DHS will create a Form I-94
in an electronic format based on passenger, passport and visa
information DHS currently obtains electronically from air and sea
carriers and the Department of State as well as through the inspection
process.
DATES: Effective date: This interim rule is effective April 26, 2013.
In the event that CBP receives public comment that identifies a
credible basis for the Agency to conclude that automation of the form
I-94 should be delayed, CBP retains discretion to extend implementation
for an additional thirty days. If CBP concludes that such extension is
appropriate, the Agency will post the new implementation date on its
Web site, www.cbp.gov, no later than April 29, 2013.
Comment date: Written comments must be submitted on or before April
26, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by docket number, by one
of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments via docket number.
Mail: Regulations and Rulings, Office of International
Trade, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Attention: Border Security
Regulations Branch, 90 K Street NE., 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20229.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name
and docket number for this rulemaking. All comments received will be
posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. For detailed instructions on submitting
comments and additional information on this rulemaking process, see the
``Public Participation'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document.
Docket: For access to the docket to read comments received, go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Submitted comments may also be inspected on
regular business days between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at
Regulations and Rulings, Office of International Trade, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection, 90 K Street NE., 10th Floor, Washington, DC.
Arrangements to inspect submitted comments should be made in advance by
calling Mr. Joseph Clark at (202) 325-0118.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne Shepherd, CBP Office of Field
Operations by telephone (202) 344-2073 or by email,
Suzanne.M.Shepherd@dhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Participation
Interested persons are invited to participate in this rulemaking by
submitting written data, views, or arguments on all aspects of this
interim final rule. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also
invites comments that relate to the economic, environmental, or
federalism effects that might result from this regulatory change.
Comments that will provide the most assistance to CBP will reference a
specific portion of the rule, explain the reason for any recommended
change, and include data, information or authority that support such
recommended change. Written comments must be submitted on or before
April 26, 2013. CBP will consider those comments and make any changes
appropriate after consideration of those comments. CBP expects to
publish a final rule, which will respond to comments received, 18
months from the close of the comment period.
Executive Summary
The Form I-94 is issued by DHS to certain aliens upon arrival in
the United States or when changing status in the United States. The
Form I-94 is used to document arrival and departure and provides
evidence of the terms of admission or parole. U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP), a component of DHS, generally issues the Form I-94 to
aliens at the time they lawfully enter the United States. Aliens use
the Form I-94 for various purposes such as completing employment
eligibility verification (the Form I-9), applying for immigration
benefits, or to present to a university to verify eligibility for
enrollment. Information gathered on the Form I-94 is also used for
statistical purposes.
Transition to an Automated Form I-94
The Form I-94 is currently a paper form. For aliens arriving by air
or sea, the carrier distributes the Forms I-94 to the aliens required
to complete the form while en route to the United States. The alien
presents the completed form to the CBP Officer at primary inspection.
The officer stamps the Form I-94 and the alien's passport, detaches the
bottom portion of the form, which is the departure portion, and returns
it to the alien along with the alien's passport. The admission stamp
contains the port of arrival and date of arrival and is annotated with
the class of admission
[[Page 18458]]
and admitted-to date. The top portion of the form--the arrival
portion--is sent to a data entry facility where the information on the
form is entered into CBP's computer systems. The departure portion of
the Form I-94 retained by the alien may be shown to government or other
stakeholders when required. The alien turns in the departure portion of
the Form I-94 upon departure, generally to the carrier; the carrier
returns the forms to CBP.
With the implementation of the Advance Passenger Information System
(APIS \1\) following 9/11, CBP now collects information on aliens
traveling by air or sea to the United States electronically from
carriers in advance of arrival. As outlined in Table 1 below, nearly
all the information collected on the Form I-94 is collected
electronically via APIS. CBP also now uses the Arrival and Departure
Information System (ADIS), which draws information from APIS, to
electronically document an alien's arrival and departure. Thus, for
aliens arriving in the United States by air or sea, CBP obtains almost
all of the information contained on the paper Form I-94 electronically
and in advance. The few fields on the Form I-94 that are not collected
via APIS are either already collected by the Department of State and
transmitted to CBP or will be collected by the CBP Officer from the
individual at the time of inspection. Thus, the same data elements
found on the paper Form I-94 will be collected and maintained in the
electronic Form I-94. This means that CBP no longer needs to collect
Form I-94 information as a matter of course directly from aliens
traveling to the United States by air or sea.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ For more information, please see: https://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/inspections_carriers_facilities/apis/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Therefore, CBP is transitioning to an automated process whereby CBP
will create an electronic Form I-94 based on the information in its
databases. This rule makes the necessary changes to the regulations to
enable CBP to transition to an automated process. At this time, the
automated process will apply only to aliens arriving at air and sea
ports of entry.\2\ In order to make this a seamless transition, CBP is
making the electronic Form I-94 available to aliens through a Web
site.\3\ To access the Form I-94 through the Web site the traveler will
need to input information from his/her passport; thus, a third party
without access to the traveler's passport will not be able to access
the Form I-94 from the Web site. If needed, aliens may print out a copy
of the Form I-94 from the Web site and present it to third parties in
lieu of the departure portion of the paper form. CBP intends to
continue to provide a paper Form I-94 to certain classes of aliens,
such as certain refugees, asylees, and parolees, and others as
requested or whenever CBP determines the issuance of a paper form is
appropriate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Because CBP does not currently collect advance travel
information from aliens arriving by land, this automation will not
apply to land ports of entry at this time.
\3\ DHS intends to publish a privacy impact assessment and make
it available at https://www.dhs.gov/privacy-documents-us-customs-and-border-protection. For more information on the privacy implications
please see the Privacy section of this document.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Though in some cases CBP collects APIS information for travelers
arriving in the United States via methods of transportation other than
commercial air and sea, CBP does not consistently receive APIS
information for these other methods or in some instances is unable to
consistently access the information at the time the traveler presents
him or herself for inspection. Thus, at this time, CBP will still need
to collect Form I-94 information directly from travelers arriving by
other methods of transportation. CBP anticipates expanding the
automation of the Form I-94 to other methods of transportation in the
future.
Because the regulations that address the Form I-94 and its uses
were written at a time when a paper form was the only option to collect
arrival and departure information, many of these regulations
contemplate only the use of the paper form. In order to enable CBP to
transition from a paper Form I-94 to a CBP-created electronic Form I-
94, CBP is adding a definition of ``Form I-94'' in 8 CFR part 1 that
allows for the collection of Form I-94 information in either paper or
electronic format. The definition also clarifies various terms in 8 CFR
that are associated with the use of the Form I-94 to include the
electronic version of the Form I-94.
The automation provides immediate and substantial benefits to the
traveling public, to carriers, to CBP and other stakeholders. This
automation will eliminate most of the duplicative paper Form I-94
process and reduce wait times at passenger processing, which will
facilitate entry of all travelers. The automation will eliminate the
paper Form I-94 for most air and sea travelers and, with it, the 8-
minute time burden; this would result in an estimated total reduction
of 9.6 million Forms I-94 completed by paper, and an estimated
reduction of 1,276,800 paperwork burden hours. For more information on
the reduction in the paperwork burden, see the Paperwork Reduction Act
section below. The automation will also save the time and expense
associated with lost Forms I-94, as travelers will simply be able to
print out a new copy from the Web site if needed rather than file an I-
102, as currently required, which has a fee of $330 and a time burden
of 25 minutes. CBP estimates that the time to access the Web site and
print the electronic Form I-94 to be 4 minutes.
Additionally, carriers will no longer have to print, store, and
distribute the forms, and CBP will not have to process them. This will
result in significant cost savings (benefits) for foreign travelers,
carriers, and CBP. Guidance from the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) states regulatory analyses should focus on benefits and costs
that accrue to citizens and residents of the United States.\4\ In order
to make this distinction clear, CBP provides costs and benefits of this
rule to foreign travelers as well as to U.S. entities. CBP anticipates
the total net benefits to both domestic and foreign entities in 2013
range from $76.5 million to $115.5 million. Separately, CBP anticipates
a net benefit in 2013 of between $59.7 million and $98.7 million for
foreign travelers, $1.3 million for carriers, and $15.5 million for
CBP. Net benefits to U.S. entities (carriers and CBP) in 2013 total
$16.8 million. CBP seeks comment on the potential benefits or costs of
this rule for foreign travelers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See OMB Circular A-4, page 15 (https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/regulatory_matters_pdf/a-4.pdf).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Background
The Form I-94
The DHS Form I-94 is generally issued to aliens at the time they
lawfully enter the United States other than aliens traveling to the
United States under the Visa Waiver Program,\5\ or aliens who are
otherwise exempt. See 8 CFR 235.1(h). The Form I-94 is also issued when
an alien changes immigration status within the United States. The Form
I-94 is used to document status in the United States, the authorized
length of stay, and departure. Biographical information, visa and
passport information, and the address and phone number where the alien
can be reached while in the United States are also collected on the
Form I-94. When an alien is admitted to the United States, the Form I-
94 becomes the evidence of the terms of the admission. For aliens
paroled into the
[[Page 18459]]
United States, the Form I-94 reflects the duration and classification
of parole.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ The Form I-94 is not required for aliens seeking admission
into the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The Form
I-94W is the form required for aliens seeking admission into the
United States under the VWP. In 2009, the ESTA program automated the
Form I-94W in the air and sea environments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Form I-94 has been used for approximately 50 years by DHS, its
predecessor agencies, and external stakeholders for a variety of
purposes. CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),
components of DHS, use the form to document arrival and departure, as
well as class of admission or duration of parole. U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS), also a component of DHS, issues Forms I-
94 to aliens extending their authorized length of stay or changing
their immigration status while in the United States. USCIS also uses
Form I-94 information to verify lawful admission or parole when
adjudicating immigration benefit requests, confirming employment
authorization for employers participating in USCIS's E-Verify program,
or verifying immigration status for benefit granting state and federal
government agencies participating in USCIS's Systematic Alien
Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. The Form I-94 is also
used by the Social Security Administration (SSA), state agencies, such
as Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and public assistance agencies
and organizations, to verify eligibility for benefits. The form is used
by certain aliens for evidence of lawful admission or parole, as well
as, where applicable, employment eligibility and eligibility for public
benefits. Information collected by the Form I-94 is also provided to
the Department of Commerce (DOC) for statistical purposes, including
use by the DOC Office of Travel and Tourism Industries to collect
monthly visitation data and for reporting of travel by country of
residence to comply with the United Nations World Tourism Organization
recommendation for reporting arrivals to all countries.
Current Paper Form I-94 Process at Airports and Seaports
The paper Form I-94 consists of two parts, the arrival portion and
the departure portion. Air and sea carriers print and store the Form I-
94 and provide each alien passenger with a blank paper Form I-94.\6\
Each alien arriving by air or sea for whom a Form I-94 is required
completes both the arrival and departure portions of the form either en
route or upon arrival in the United States. Each carrier is responsible
for presenting a completed Form I-94 for each arriving alien to a CBP
Officer. See 8 CFR 231.1. In practice, the carrier accomplishes this by
ensuring that each passenger presents him/herself to a CBP Officer for
inspection at a U.S. port-of-entry, generally with the aid of security
protocols. The Form I-94 is then presented to the CBP Officer at
primary inspection, along with the alien's passport and any other
applicable documents and information. After the successful completion
of the inspection process, a CBP Officer stamps the alien's Form I-94
and passport. The DHS admission stamp contains the port of arrival and
date of arrival, and is annotated with the class of admission and the
authorized length of stay. The parole stamp contains the port of
arrival and date of arrival, and is annotated with the duration of
parole and parole classification. The CBP Officer retains the arrival
portion of the Form I-94 and returns the departure portion and the
passport to the alien. The departure portion of the form is provided to
the alien to retain in his or her possession for the duration of his or
her stay and to surrender upon departure. In some circumstances, an
alien is required to have the Form I-94 in his or her possession at all
times while in the United States. Air and sea carriers are responsible
for presenting a completed Form I-94 for each departing alien passenger
to a CBP Officer. See 8 CFR 231.2(b). If the alien is departing by
commercial air or sea carrier, he or she turns in the departure portion
to the airline or shipping line prior to departure. The carrier then
returns the form to CBP.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ CBP also prints Form I-94s, which are available at ports of
entry for travelers who may need an additional blank form.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information requested on the upper portion of the I-94, the
arrival portion, includes:
Family name
First (Given) Name
Birth Date
Country of Citizenship
Sex (Male or Female)
Passport Issuance Date \7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Passport issuance date, passport expiration date, telephone
number, and email address are newer fields not found on all forms
currently in circulation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Passport Expiration Date
Passport Number
Airline and Flight number (if applicable)
Country Where You Live
Country Where You Boarded
City Where Visa Was issued
Date Issued
Address While in the United States (number, street, city,
and state)
Telephone Number in the United States Where You Can be
Reached
Email Address
The following information currently is requested on the lower
portion of the Form I-94, the departure portion:
Family Name
First (Given) Name
Birth Date
Country of Citizenship
Once an alien is admitted to the United States, the Form I-94 is
evidence of the terms of the admission. For aliens paroled into the
United States, the Form I-94 includes the terms of parole. CBP collects
the arrival portions of the Forms I-94 daily at each port of entry and
boxes and mails them to a centralized data processing center for
logging/processing/scanning, and data capture. The data is then
uploaded to a CBP database. DHS components have access to the database
that contains the Form I-94 information, and can use this database to
verify an alien's admission or parole information and immigration
status. Entities outside DHS, such as SSA or state DMVs, can verify
information by querying a DHS system or contacting DHS.
Automation of the Form I-94 at Airports and Seaports
The Form I-94 was established prior to advances in technology and
the implementation of security measures that enable CBP to collect
advance arrival and departure information about passengers
electronically. For aliens arriving in or departing from the United
States by air or sea, the data elements collected on the paper Form I-
94 duplicate the information that CBP collects through other
mechanisms. As explained in this section (including Table 1), CBP
collects this information from APIS, visa information and information
provided to CBP at the time of inspection.
As a result of enhanced security measures implemented by CBP
subsequent to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, CBP regulations
require commercial vessel carriers and commercial and private air
carriers to electronically transmit advance manifest information
regarding their passengers, crew members, and non-crew members (cargo
flights only) arriving in and departing from the United States.
Passengers, crew members, and non-crew members are required to submit
certain biographical information to the carriers, which the carriers
then collect and submit to CBP prior to the alien's arrival in or
departure from the United States. The information is transmitted to CBP
through APIS (including eAPIS,\8\ as
[[Page 18460]]
applicable). See 19 CFR 4.7b, 4.64, 122.22, 122.49a-122.49c, 122.75a,
and 122.75b.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ eAPIS is a CBP web-based application that provides for the
collection of electronic traveler manifest information for
international travel both in to and out of the United States. eAPIS
collects and passes electronic manifests to APIS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information transmitted to CBP by carriers using APIS consists
of information that appears on the biographical data page of travel
documents, such as passports issued by governments worldwide, as well
as carrier information. For passengers, APIS data consists of certain
biographical information and conveyance details collected via the
passenger reservation and check-in processes. The information submitted
for each individual onboard the aircraft or vessel includes:
Full name (last, first, and, if available, middle)
Date of birth
Gender (F = female; M = male)
Citizenship
Country of residence
Status on board the aircraft/vessel
Travel document type (e.g., P = passport, A = alien
registration)
Passport number, if a passport is required, or DHS-
Approved travel document number, as applicable
Passport country of issuance, if a passport is required,
or DHS-Approved travel document country of issuance, as applicable
Passport expiration date, if a passport is required, or
DHS-Approved travel document expiration date, as applicable
Alien registration number, where applicable
Address while in the United States
In addition to the manifest information for each individual, the
air or sea carrier also must provide information about the flight or
voyage. The flight or voyage information the air or sea carrier must
provide that is relevant to the Form I-94 is the airline and flight
number and the place of departure.
Visa information is made available to CBP by the Department of
State via the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD). At the time of
inspection and admission or parole, the CBP Officer is able to collect
additional data, such as email address, phone number, and updated
address while in the United States. Table 1 below lists the source of
each data element for the electronic Form I-94.
Table 1-- Sources of Data for Electronic Form I-94
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source for electronic Form
Data element I-94
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrival Portion:
Family name............................ APIS
First (given) name..................... APIS
Birth date............................. APIS
Country of citizenship................. APIS
Sex (male or female)................... APIS
Passport issuance date................. APIS
Passport expiration date............... APIS
Passport number........................ APIS
Airline and Flight number (if APIS
applicable).
Country where you live................. APIS
Country where you boarded.............. APIS
City where visa was issued............. State Department via CCD.
Date visa was issued................... State Department via CCD.
Address while in the United States..... APIS, and may be updated at
time of inspection.
Telephone number while in the United Officer at time of
States. inspection.
Email address.......................... Officer at time of
inspection.
Departure Portion:
Family name............................ APIS
First (given) name..................... APIS
Birth date............................. APIS
Country of citizenship................. APIS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thus, for aliens arriving in the United States by air or sea, CBP
obtains almost all of the information contained on the paper Form I-94
electronically from the carriers and the Department of State and is
able to collect any additional fields from the individual at the time
of inspection. This means that CBP no longer needs to collect Form I-94
information from these travelers as a matter of course. Therefore, CBP
is transitioning to an automated process whereby CBP will create an
electronic Form I-94 based on the information in its databases, which
CBP will make available to the alien through the Web site: www.cbp.gov/I94. At this time, the automated process will apply only to aliens
arriving at air and sea ports of entry. This is because the electronic
record draws largely from APIS information submitted by air and sea
carriers. CBP will continue to provide a paper Form I-94 to those who
request such form, as well as to certain classes of aliens, such as
certain refugees, asylees, and parolees, and whenever CBP determines
the issuance of a paper form is appropriate. For these individuals
arriving by air and sea carriers, an electronic Form I-94 will also be
created.
The electronic Form I-94 will be created during the inspection
process at the time of admission or parole when the CBP Officer pulls
information from the traveler's APIS record and any CCD record, and
enters any additional data obtained during the inspection process. The
same data elements found on the paper Form I-94 will be collected and
maintained in the electronic Form I-94. Any information the officer
would have written or stamped on the paper form at the time of
admission or parole can be entered into the electronic form. The
departure record is created from APIS using the Arrival and Departure
Information System (ADIS) to match the departure to the correct arrival
record.
Alien travelers will be able to access and print their electronic
Form I-94 via the Web site CBP has established for this purpose:
www.cbp.gov/I94. Travelers to whom an electronic Form I-94 has been
issued will be able to log on to the Web site using identifying
information and print a copy of the electronic Form I-94. In order to
access the Form I-94 from the Web site, the traveler will be required
to enter information from his or her passport; thus, a third party
without access to the traveler's passport will not be able to access
the Form I-94 from the Web site. The printout from the Web site will be
the functional equivalent of the departure portion of the paper form
and will contain the same information as the departure portion of the
paper form. CBP will continue to stamp the traveler's passport at the
time of inspection and any admission or parole and will annotate the
stamp with the class of admission or parole and duration of admission
or parole. CBP will distribute a tear sheet to each alien who is issued
an electronic Form I-94 at the time of inspection with information
about the Web site and procedures for obtaining a printout to the alien
upon arrival in the United States.
Aliens who may be required to present the Form I-94 to a third
party for some purpose, such as employment or benefit eligibility, may
present the printout from the Web site. For example, nonimmigrants who
are employment authorized incident to status (see, e.g., nonimmigrants
listed at 8 CFR 274a.12(b)) may print a copy of their electronic Form
I-94 for evidence of employment authorization. The printout is the
equivalent of the paper Form I-94 acceptable to present to
[[Page 18461]]
employers to comply with the Employment Eligibility Verification form
(Form I-9) requirements. As discussed in detail in the 12866 section
below, because so many parties at various levels of government and
outside of the government use the Form I-94, we cannot estimate the
number of aliens who use the Form I-94 for these purposes. For the
12866 analysis, we assume that all non-B-1/B-2 travelers (about 26
percent of the total) will need to use the Form I-94 for some purpose.
See INA section 274A(a)(1)(B), 8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(1)(B); 8 CFR
274a.2(b)(1)(v)(A)(5) and (b)(1)(v)(C)(8).
As described more fully in the section entitled ``Executive Order
12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and Executive Order 13563
(Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review),'' the elimination of the
paper Form I-94 in the air and sea environments has many benefits.
Carriers will no longer have to print, store, and distribute the paper
form to its alien passengers or collect the form when the alien
departs. These aliens will not have to complete the form when arriving
in the United States or turn in the form when they depart the United
States. Additionally, an alien will have the convenience of being able
to access his or her form electronically, and will be able to print a
new copy if one is lost, or to print multiple copies if needed. CBP
will not have to collect the forms, stamp them, return the departure
portion to the alien and manually enter the Form I-94 information into
its database. This streamlines CBP's inspection process. The effect
will be the elimination of most of the duplicative paper Form I-94
process and the reduction of wait times at passenger processing, which
will facilitate entry of all travelers.
Because the Form I-94 is used for various purposes, CBP has been
working closely with other DHS components and other government
stakeholders to ensure that the transition to the automated Form I-94
is as smooth as possible and done in a manner that addresses the needs
of these stakeholders. For the past year, CBP has been meeting
regularly with stakeholders, including U.S. Government agencies, DMVs,
and universities, on all aspects of automating the Form I-94 to ensure
that stakeholders are prepared for the additional acceptance of the
electronic Form I-94. For stakeholders that rely on the Form I-94 for
immigration status verification or other purposes, a benefit of
automation is that the electronic version of the Form I-94 is
immediately available to them through their connections to CBP's
database. By contrast, with the paper form, there is typically a lag
time of approximately five business days or longer between arrival,
data entry, and the availability of the records on the CBP database.
CBP anticipates that most stakeholders will not require a change to
their operations as a result of this automation. Government
stakeholders will continue to access an alien's Form I-94 information
in the same way that they currently do: Through their connection to
CBP's database. For stakeholders who now access the Form I-94
information when the alien presents his or her form, the process will
also not meaningfully change; the alien will now simply present a
printout from the Web site rather than the departure portion of a paper
Form I-94. CBP seeks comments from these stakeholders on the above
assumptions.
Regulatory Change: New Form I-94 Definition
Many provisions in 8 CFR refer to the Form I-94 and its use.
However, because these regulations were written at a time when a paper
form was the only option to collect arrival and departure information,
many of these regulations contemplate only the use of the paper form.
In order to enable CBP to transition from a paper Form I-94 to a CBP-
created electronic Form I-94, CBP is adding a definition of ``Form I-
94'' in 8 CFR part 1 that allows for the collection of Form I-94
information in either paper or electronic format. It provides that
``[t]he term Form I-94'' ``includes the collection of arrival/departure
and admission or parole information by DHS, whether in paper or
electronic format, which is made available to the person about whom the
information has been collected, as may be prescribed by DHS.'' 8 CFR
1.4.
As discussed earlier, CBP, USCIS, ICE, and other government
agencies use the Form I-94 in a variety of ways, many of which are
specified in 8 CFR. For example, the form is included in the list of
acceptable documentation that may be presented to employers to
demonstrate employment authorization during the employment eligibility
verification process (Form I-9). The Form I-94 is also necessary for
completing USCIS forms requesting immigration benefits, such as the
Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-
485), or when seeking the admission of an alien for the duration of an
unexpired period of a previous admission.\9\ Therefore, the definition
of ``Form I-94'' also clarifies the various terms in 8 CFR that are
associated with the use of the Form I-94 to include the electronic
version of the Form I-94. For example, the definition specifies that
``presentation'' of the Form I-94 includes providing a printout of the
electronic record. ``Issuance'' of the Form I-94 includes the creation
of the electronic Form I-94 for a traveler. To comply with regulations
requiring the alien to turn in the departure portion of the Form I-94
at the time of departure, the definition provides that in the case of
an alien with an electronic Form I-94, he or she must comply with any
DHS departure controls. The carrier providing departure conveyance must
submit departure information to CBP for each departing alien.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Seeking admission for the duration of an unexpired period of
a previous admission is referred to as automatic revalidation.
Pursuant to 8 CFR 214.1 and 22 CFR 41.112, automatic revalidation
applies to unexpired nonimmigrant visas of aliens who have been out
of the United States for thirty days or less in a contiguous
territory.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As described in the section entitled ``Current paper Form I-94
process at airports and seaports,'' sections 231.1 and 231.2 of the DHS
regulations require air and sea carriers to submit a completed Form I-
94 for each arriving alien and to submit the departure portion of this
Form I-94 for each departing alien. Because these sections concern the
carriers rather than the nonimmigrant aliens directly, the terms
``present,'' ``submit,'' and ``submission'' used elsewhere in the DHS
regulations pertaining to the Form I-94 are employed somewhat
differently in sections 231.1 and 231.2. Thus, the definitions of these
terms for the purposes of sections 231.1 and 231.2 are tailored to this
unique situation. For purposes of section 231.1, the terms ``present''
or ``submission'' of the Form I-94 includes ensuring that each
passenger presents him/herself to a CBP Officer for inspection at a
U.S. port-of-entry. This definition reflects the carriers' current
practice for arriving passengers, as also discussed in the section on
``Current paper Form I-94 process at airports and seaports.'' For the
purposes of section 231.2, the terms ``present,'' ``submit,'' or
``submission'' of the Form I-94 include ensuring that each passenger is
available for inspection by a CBP Officer upon request.
CBP is also amending section 264.1(b) to add to the list of
documents that constitute evidence of registration of a valid,
unexpired nonimmigrant DHS admission or parole stamp in a foreign
passport. Additionally, for clarity, CBP is amending provisions
throughout 8 CFR to include a reference to the new definition
immediately following the
[[Page 18462]]
first use of the term ``Form I-94'' in a section. This is to ensure
that those reading these provisions are aware that the new definition
exists.
Statutory and Regulatory Requirements
Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) and Executive
Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review)
Executive Orders 13563 and 12866 direct agencies to assess the
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public
health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). Executive
Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and
benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting
flexibility. This rule is a ``significant regulatory action,'' under
section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866. Accordingly, the Office of
Management and Budget has reviewed this regulation.
This rule results in substantial cost savings (benefits) for
travelers, carriers, and CBP. CBP anticipates the total net benefits to
both domestic and foreign entities in 2013 range from $76.4 million to
$115.5 million.\10\ Separately, CBP anticipates a net benefit in 2013
of between $59.7 million and $98.7 million for foreign travelers, $1.3
million for carriers, and $15.5 million for CBP. Net benefits to U.S.
entities (carriers and CBP) in 2013 total $16.8 million. The following
discussion provides an assessment of costs, benefits, and net impacts
of the rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ OMB Circular A-4 states regulatory analyses should focus on
benefits and costs that accrue to citizens and residents of the
United States (https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/regulatory_matters_pdf/a-4.pdf; see ``Scope of Analysis''
section on page 15). In order to make this distinction clear, CBP
has shown the costs and benefits to foreign travelers as well as
impacts to U.S. entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Baseline Condition
A Form I-94 is generally provided during the inspection process at
the time of admission or parole for any alien who is not arriving in
the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, unless otherwise
exempt. When arriving by air and sea, the carrier provides the form to
the alien while en route to the United States. The alien typically
completes the form while en route to the United States. The Form I-94
takes the alien approximately 8 minutes to fill out, according to CBP's
Paperwork Reduction Act time burden estimate. Upon arrival at the
airport or seaport, the alien presents the completed Form I-94 to the
CBP Officer for inspection. The officer tears the form at the
perforation, stamps the lower portion, and returns it to the alien. The
officer sends the top portion of the form to a centralized facility
where all Forms I-94 are entered into CBP's systems. The alien later
returns the lower portion of the Form I-94 to the carrier when
departing the United States, who in turn returns it to CBP.
A third party, such as a university or a local or state government
benefit-granting agency, may require an alien to present evidence of
admission or parole to the United States. In these cases, the alien may
present the bottom portion of the Form I-94, which was returned to them
when they were admitted, paroled, or granted their immigration status.
Aliens may also choose to present Form I-94 to establish employment
eligibility and identity or eligibility for certain public benefits.
If an alien loses the bottom portion of the Form I-94, he or she
may file Form I-102, Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant
Arrival-Departure Document, with USCIS to request a replacement. The
form has a Paperwork Reduction Act burden of 25 minutes and a fee of
$330. According to the USCIS, 17,700 Forms I-102 are filed each year.
CIS expects this to decrease to 8,804 in fiscal year 2013 and 5,771 in
subsequent years. \11\ The 2013 numbers are higher because the
projection is done on a fiscal year basis and includes several months
before this rule is in effect. For the purpose of this analysis, we
assume that rule will result in only 5,771 Forms I-102, which is a
reduction of 11,929 from the current estimate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ Source: Communication with USCIS on February 8, 2013.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to the Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS),\12\ about
46.4 million aliens entered the United States using a Form I-94 or
equivalent in 2010. Of these, about 18.2 million entered under the Visa
Waiver Program (VWP). These aliens do not use a Form I-94 and are
therefore unaffected by this rule,\13\ so we exclude them from this
analysis. Additionally, OIS figures include all modes of
transportation. This rule affects only aliens arriving by air and sea,
so we must exclude those arriving by land. We therefore subtract the
number of aliens entering the U.S. at land border ports using a Form I-
94 in 2010. According to CBP's Office of Field Operations, about 11.5
million aliens arriving from Mexico and 1.3 million arriving from
Canada entered the United States at the land border using a Form I-94
in 2010. We subtract these from the total, leaving 15,360,126 non-VWP
aliens who arrived in the U.S. by air or sea using a Form I-94 in 2010.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ Source: 2010 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Table 28.
https://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/yearbook.shtm
\13\ In addition to automating the I-94, this rule adds a valid,
unexpired nonimmigrant DHS admission or parole stamp to the list of
documents that constitute evidence of registration. Thus, upon
implementation of this rule, such a stamp could serve as evidence of
registration for Visa Waiver Program travelers and for travelers
arriving by land who would otherwise be required to comply with any
registration requirement under the INA. However, the addition of the
passport stamp to the list of documents that constitute evidence of
registration does not have an economic impact on travelers.
Therefore, this analysis focuses on the changes to the I-94.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We next estimate the number of I-94 travelers in future years. To
do this, we use the traveler projections developed by the Office of
Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) within the U.S. Department of
Commerce. The OTTI forecasts travel for most countries through 2016.
The vast majority of travelers from most countries arrive by air and
sea, so we assume that air traveler growth rates are the same as those
for the total traveler population. For Mexico and Canada, we subtract
the number of I-94 travelers arriving by land in 2010 before applying
the projected growth rates.\14\ We apply the OTTI projected growth
rates to the number of Forms I-94 by country we obtained from OIS. We
present the total number of projected Forms I-94 for each year from
2010-2016 in Exhibit 1 below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ For the purposes of these projections, we assume that
aliens arriving from Mexico and Canada at land borders are Mexican
and Canadian citizens. There are a small number of citizens of other
countries who enter the U.S. at land borders. Because the number for
each country is small, the effect on the projections is minimal.
Exhibit 1--Projected I-94 Air and Sea Travelers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010....................................................... 15,360,126
2011....................................................... 16,586,753
2012....................................................... 17,868,246
2013....................................................... 19,339,773
2014....................................................... 20,875,058
2015....................................................... 22,672,552
2016....................................................... 24,495,264
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We next estimate the costs and benefits of this rule for all
affected parties. For the purposes of this analysis only, we assume the
rule went into effect on January 1, 2013. To the extent the rule goes
into effect after this date, costs and benefits will be lower. The
period of analysis for this rule is 2012 to 2016, the last year for
which OTTI has projected annual U.S. visitor growth rates.
[[Page 18463]]
2. Costs
We now examine the costs of this rule to CBP. CBP seeks comments on
the assumptions discussed below. If implemented, the costs of this rule
will be borne by both CBP and aliens traveling to the United States.
This rule would automate the paper Form I-94 in the air and sea
environments.\15\ Almost all of the traveler information collected on
the Form I-94 is redundant because CBP already obtains the same
information electronically from other sources. In advance of the
implementation of this rule, CBP has linked its data systems to use the
information from these alternate sources to create an electronic Form
I-94 during the admissions process. CBP will create the electronic Form
I-94 by pulling information from the traveler's APIS record and any CCD
record and by entering any additional data obtained during the
inspection process. This electronic process will also allow
stakeholders that currently have access to CBP's databases to continue
to have access to traveler information electronically. CBP estimates
the cost to link data systems and to fully automate the Form I-94 to be
about $1 million in calendar year 2012. In addition, it estimates the
cost to develop the secure Web site to be about $321,000 in 2012. CBP
anticipates spending $92,000 per year in operations and maintenance
costs for these systems. In total, CBP anticipates this rule will cost
the agency $1,321,000 in 2012 and $92,000 in following years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ A small number of Forms I-94 will still be used for certain
aliens such as refugees, applicants for asylum, parolees, and those
who request a paper Form I-94.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We next examine the costs of this rule that will be borne by
travelers to the United States. While most travelers do not use the
Form I-94 for any reason once they are admitted or paroled to the
United States, others do make use of the form to demonstrate lawful
admission or parole to the United States to universities, DMVs, or some
other party. Aliens may also choose to present a Form I-94 to establish
employment eligibility and identity, or eligibility for certain public
benefits. To accommodate this need for a Form I-94, CBP will make an
electronic Form I-94 available to aliens on a secure Web site.
Travelers will receive written information on how to access the Web
site upon their arrival to the United States. Aliens may log into the
Web site using 7 pieces of basic identifying information that is either
known to the traveler (their first name, last name and date of birth)
or readily available on their passport (passport number, country of
issuance, date of entry, and class of admission). CBP estimates that it
will take the traveler 4 minutes to log into the Web site using
identifying information and print the electronic form. This is less
time than the paper Form I-94's 8 minute time burden for entering the
17 data elements. This 4 minute estimate does not include the time it
takes to travel to a location with computer and Internet access; that
cost is treated separately later in this section. In addition, CBP will
continue to make the paper Form I-94 available at ports of entry to
certain classes of aliens and upon request, though CBP does not
anticipate that many travelers will request the paper form.
To estimate the costs to travelers to access their Form I-94
electronically, we must first determine the number of aliens who will
access the Web site, the number who do not have ready access to the
Internet, the distance they would have to travel to access the
Internet, and the average wage rate for all aliens entering the United
States by air or sea. First, we assess the number of aliens who will
access the Web site. Exhibit 2 shows the number of travelers who
entered the United States by air or sea in 2010 sorted by various
categories of admission.\16\ The majority of Form I-94 visitors to the
United States--about 74 percent--are tourists and business travelers
entering on B-1/B-2 visas. These visitors do not have a need for their
Form I-94 now that the passport stamp will serve as evidence of alien
registration. While in the U.S., these B-1/B-2 visa travelers may use
their foreign driver's license, so there is no need for them to apply
for a U.S. driver's license. They are ineligible for employment or
enrollment in a university while traveling on a B-1/B-2 visa. They are
generally not eligible for public benefits without a change in status.
If B-1/B-2 travelers change their status with USCIS, they will receive
a paper Form I-94. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis, we
assume that no B-1/B-2 travelers will need to access the Web site.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ Source: CBP analysis of data from 2010 Yearbook of
Immigration Statistics. Table 28.https://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/yearbook.shtm
Exhibit 2--2010 Air and Sea I-94s by Class of Admission
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number Percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tourists and Business Travelers (B-1/B-2)..... 11,352,569 73.9
Students...................................... 1,526,786 9.9
Temporary workers............................. 1,523,039 9.9
Other/Unknown................................. 624,181 4.1
Diplomats..................................... 333,550 2.2
-------------------------
Total..................................... 15,360,126 ...........
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because so many parties at various levels of government and outside
of the government use the Form I-94, CBP cannot estimate how many
aliens who are not B-1/B-2 travelers will access the Web site. As noted
above, CBP will continue to make the paper Form I-94 available at ports
of entry upon request. Those with a need for a Form I-94 and who face
obstacles to electronic access of their Form I-94 may request a paper
I-94 upon arrival at the port of entry. Because we do not know how many
people need a physical copy of their Form I-94 or how many face
obstacles to accessing their electronic I-94, for the purposes of this
analysis, we assume that every traveler, other than B-1/B-2 travelers,
who currently receives a paper Form I-94 will log into the Web site to
print off their electronic Form I-94. In 2010, we estimate this to be
4,007,557 travelers. To the extent that some of these aliens do not
access the Web site, costs will be lower.
We next estimate the number of aliens who do not have ready access
to the Internet while in the United States and would need to travel to
access their electronic Form I-94. We assume that students and
diplomats have ready access to the Internet at their schools or places
of business, respectively. Also, as noted above, CBP will continue to
make the paper Form I-94 available at ports of entry upon request.
Those with a need for a Form I-94 and who face obstacles to accessing
their electronic Form I-94 may request a paper I-94 upon arrival at the
port of entry.
Temporary workers come to the United States for varying lengths of
time to fill positions where there is a shortage of labor in the United
States. These positions can be in very highly technical occupations,
such as computer programming, but can also be in less technical
occupations, such as agricultural labor. Because this category of
admission includes such a wide range of workers, we cannot say with
certainty that all temporary workers have ready access to the Internet
while in the United States. Similarly, we do not know how accessible
the Internet is for those in the ``Other/Unknown''
[[Page 18464]]
category. The aliens least likely to have Internet access are those
working as temporary agricultural laborers. According to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), approximately 62 percent of farms
have Internet access.\17\ The primary use for the electronic Form I-94
for these workers is to demonstrate employment eligibility to their
employers. Until the workers present a copy of their electronic Form I-
94 to their employer, they are not able to work. The employers have
spent a considerable amount of money bringing the employee to the
country to work. Allowing the employee to use the Internet to access
their electronic Form I-94 will allow the employee to begin working
sooner. Because this incremental use of the Internet is virtually
costless to the employer and the employer would benefit from their
employee's prompt access to their electronic Form I-94, we assume that
employers with Internet access will allow their employees to use their
Internet connection to access their electronic Forms I-94.\18\ As
stated previously, 62 percent of farms have Internet access. For the
purposes of this analysis, we assume that 38 percent (100 percent minus
62 percent) of travelers in the ``Temporary Workers'' and ``Other/
Unknown'' categories (815,944 travelers in 2010) would need to travel
to access their electronic Form I-94. CBP seeks comment on these
assumptions. Once again, we note that CBP will continue to make the
paper Form I-94 available at ports of entry upon request. CBP intends
to have a considerable outreach effort in place by the time that this
rule is effective including outreach to airlines and travelers to
communicate that requesting a paper Form I-94 continues to be an
option. Those with a need for a Form I-94 and who face obstacles to
electronic access of their Form I-94 may request a paper I-94 upon
arrival at the port of entry. To the extent that they request paper I-
94s, the number of aliens who will need to travel to a place where they
can access the Internet will be lower.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ Source: ``Farm Computer Usage and Ownership, ``United
States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics.
August 2011. Available at: https://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/current/FarmComp/FarmComp-08-12-2011.pdf.
\18\ It is also possible that some employers without Internet
access will help transport their employees to a location with
Internet access. Employers have expended considerable effort to
sponsor temporary workers and they may view this as part of the cost
of using foreign temporary workers. However, as the burden of
demonstrating employment eligibility is on the worker, we assume
that the worker must bear any travel costs to obtain their
electronic Form I-94. To the extent that the employer is able to
provide more efficient access to the Internet, costs will be lower.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that we have estimated the number of aliens who do not have
ready access to the Internet, we need to develop an assumption for how
long it takes to travel to a location where they can access the
Internet. Based on our online review of Internet services provided by
public libraries, we found public libraries provide public access to
computers and the Internet, though many charge a nominal fee for
printing. There are 16,698 public libraries in the United States.\19\
According to the Department of Education, 94 percent of households live
within 10 miles of a public library and 83 percent live within 5 miles
of one.\20\ Because of the large number of locations nationwide that
provide access to the Internet and the fact that CBP will continue to
make the paper Form I-94 available at ports upon request, we believe
most aliens will have to travel only a short distance to access the
Internet. We estimate that round-trip travel to a public library to
access a computer terminal will be 20 miles and will take 60 minutes of
an alien's time, which includes the time to enter the library and
locate an available computer and any wait time to access a computer. In
this analysis, we assume that users pay $0.25 to print their electronic
Form I-94 based on a review of available online printing fees charged
at public libraries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ Source: American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet01 Accessed May 7, 2012.
\20\ Source: Department of Education: Households' Use of Public
and Other Types of Libraries: 2002. Derived from Table 19. Available
at https://harvester.census.gov/imls/pubs/Publications/2007327.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We next estimate the value of time for those travelers affected by
this rule. Federal agencies typically estimate a monetary value of time
used or saved as a result of their regulatory actions. This allows
agencies to estimate the additional costs and benefits of their
regulatory actions on affected parties. The U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT) provides guidance on the value of time to use for
economic analysis.\21\ This guidance provides point estimates as well
as ranges for values of time for travelers based on average wage rate
analysis for different categories of travel. According to DOT
estimates, the value of travel time is more than twice as high for air
travelers than for those traveling by surface modes, which can be
explained by the relatively high cost of air travel. We note that these
DOT estimates are intended to be used to analyze actions that will
reduce the time spent traveling. A person's value of time while
traveling may differ from their value of reducing travel time. In most
instances, this rule will not reduce the time spent traveling because
the Form I-94 is typically completed while en route to the United
States, but rather reduces the time spent on paperwork while traveling.
The traveler will now be able to spend this time on leisure or business
activities such as reading or drafting documents. CBP believes that
using the DOT values of travel time in this situation is the most
appropriate estimate because it reflects the higher values of time for
air travelers. Further, we note that to the extent a person's value of
time while traveling is different than their value of reducing travel
time, this difference is likely encompassed in the DOT plausible range
for the value of travel time. We request comments on the value of time
used in this analysis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ Source: U.S. Department of Transportation: ``Revised
Departmental Guidance on Valuation of Travel Time in Economic
Analysis.'' September 28, 2011. Table 5. Available at https://ostpxweb.dot.gov/policy/reports.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a primary estimate, we use the DOT's point estimate for the
value of time for all-purpose air travel, which includes both personal
and business travel. This point estimate is $42.10. We also use the
DOT's range for all-purpose travel to show a range of low and high
estimates. This range is from $34.80 to $52.20. We apply these values
of time to the travelers in our analysis.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ We use this travel value of time framework to estimate the
costs and savings of this rule, since affected aliens previously
completed the paper form I-94 while travelling.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
However, we recognize that those who must travel to access the
internet are a special case of travelers and probably have different
values of time than the average air traveler. As previously discussed,
the aliens least likely to have internet access are those working as
temporary agricultural laborers. To estimate the value of time for
these aliens, we use the wage rate for H-2A temporary workers. H-2A
workers are seasonal agricultural workers. According to the Department
of Labor, H-2A workers have an average wage rate of $9.50 per hour.\23\
We recognize that there are other classes of temporary workers, notably
H-1B visa holders, who likely have higher wage rates. However, these
workers are predominantly in specialized occupations such as medicine
and computer programming and are likely to have ready access to the
internet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ Source: Calculated from Department of Labor data: available
at https://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/quarterlydata.cfm.
Accessed on May 8, 2012.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that we have estimated the number of aliens who will log into
[[Page 18465]]
CBP's Web site to print their electronic Form I-94, the time it takes
to access that Web site, the number of people who will need to travel
to access the internet, the time it will take to travel to and from an
internet access site, and the values of time for these groups, we can
calculate this rule's cost to these travelers. We first address the
cost to log into CBP's electronic Form I-94 Web site. Once again, CBP
estimates that it will take travelers 4 minutes to access and print
their electronic Form I-94, and that it costs them $0.25 per page to
print their electronic Form I-94. Exhibit 3 shows the 2013-2016
travelers' costs for accessing and printing their electronic Forms I-
94. The findings in Exhibit 3 assume that all travelers, except B-1/B-2
travelers, will access and print their electronic Forms I-94.\24\ As
shown, in 2013, traveler costs of time to access electronic I-94s and
their cost to print it would range from $13.0 million to $18.8 million,
with a primary estimate of $15.4 million.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\24\ The annual estimates of I-94s in Exhibit 3 are based on
projections for all travelers, except B-1/B-2 travelers, developed
by the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries within the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
Exhibit 3--Traveler Costs of Time to Access and Cost to Print Electronic I-94 \*\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I-94s........................................... 5,047,681 5,448,390 5,917,536 6,393,264
DOT--Low ($).................................... 34.80 34.80 34.80 34.80
DOT--Primary ($)................................ 42.10 42.10 42.10 42.10
DOT--High ($)................................... 52.20 52.20 52.20 52.20
Time Cost--Low ($).............................. 11,710,620 12,640,265 13,728,684 14,832,372
Time Cost--Primary ($).......................... 14,167,158 15,291,815 16,608,551 17,943,761
Time Cost--High ($)............................. 17,565,929 18,960,397 20,593,026 22,248,559
Printing Cost ($)............................... 1,261,920 1,362,098 1,479,384 1,598,316
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total Cost--Low ($)......................... 12,972,540 14,002,362 15,208,068 16,430,688
Total Cost--Primary ($)..................... 15,429,078 16,653,912 18,087,935 19,542,077
Total Cost--High ($)........................ 18,827,850 20,322,495 22,072,410 23,846,875
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\ Estimates may not total due to rounding.
We next address the travel cost for those aliens who do not have
ready access to the internet. Once again, we assume that 38 percent of
travelers in the ``Temporary Workers'' and ``Other/Unknown'' categories
(see exhibit 2) would need to travel 20 miles and 60 minutes to access
their electronic Form I-94, that their values of time are best
characterized by the average H2A wage rate. For the cost of travel, we
use the IRS standard mileage rate for business travel of 55.5 cents per
mile.\25\ Exhibit 4 shows the 2013-2016 aliens' travel costs to access
the internet. As shown, in 2013, total travel costs would be $21.2
million.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ Source: Internal Revenue Service. IR-2011-116, December 9,
2011. Available at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=250882,00.html.
Exhibit 4--Travel Costs\*\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Affected Aliens................................. 1,028,876 1,110,553 1,206,180 1,303,148
H2A Wage Rate ($)............................... 9.50 9.50 9.50 9.50
Time Cost ($)................................... 9,774,321 10,550,254 11,458,708 12,379,907
Mileage Cost ($)................................ 11,420,523 12,327,139 13,388,595 14,464,944
Total Travel Cost ($)....................... 21,194,844 22,877,393 24,847,303 26,844,850
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\Estimates may not total due to rounding.
To summarize, both CBP and aliens would bear costs as a result of
this rule. CBP would bear costs to link its data systems and to build a
Web site so aliens can access their electronic Forms I-94. Aliens
arriving as diplomats and students would bear costs when logging into
the Web site and printing electronic I-94s. Using the primary estimate
for a traveler's value of time, these costs average $3.06 per diplomat
and student traveler in 2013. The temporary workers and aliens in the
``Other/Unknown'' category (see Exhibit 2) bear costs when logging into
the Web site, traveling to a location with public internet access, and
printing a paper copy of their electronic Form I-94. These costs
average $23.66 per traveler in 2013 for the temporary worker and
``Other/Unknown'' category of travelers. Exhibit 5 summarizes the 2012-
2016 costs of this rule. As shown, costs for this rule for 2013 would
range from $34.2 million to $40.1 million. In our primary estimate,
costs for this rule are $36.7 million in 2013. Less than one percent of
these costs are incurred by the U.S. entities. These are CBP's costs
for automating the electronic Form I-94 and developing the Web site
travelers will use to access their electronic Form I-94. In 2013, CBP's
costs are $92,000. CBP seeks comment on these costs and their
underlying assumptions.
Exhibit 5--Cost Summary ($)\*\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBP Costs....................... 1,321,000 92,000 92,000 92,000 92,000
Traveler Costs:
[[Page 18466]]
Website Access Costs--Low... 0 11,710,620 12,640,265 13,728,684 14,832,372
Website Access Costs-- 0 14,167,158 15,291,815 16,608,551 17,943,761
Primary....................
Website Access Costs--High.. 0 17,565,929 18,960,397 20,593,026 22,248,559
Printing Costs.............. 0 1,261,920 1,362,098 1,479,384 1,598,316
Travel Time Costs........... 0 9,774,321 10,550,254 11,458,708 12,379,907
Mileage Costs............... 0 11,420,523 12,327,139 13,388,595 14,464,944
Total Traveler Costs--Low....... 0 34,167,384 36,879,756 40,055,371 43,275,539
Total Traveler Costs--Primary... 0 36,623,922 39,531,305 42,935,239 46,386,927
Total Traveler Costs--High...... 0 40,022,694 43,199,888 46,919,713 50,691,725
Grand Total Costs--Low.......... 1,321,000 34,259,384 36,971,756 40,147,371 43,367,539
Grand Total Costs--Primary...... 1,321,000 36,715,922 39,623,305 43,027,239 46,478,927
Grand Total Costs--High......... 1,321,000 40,114,694 43,291,888 47,011,713 50,783,725
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\Estimates may not total due to rounding.
3. Benefits
If implemented, this rule would have benefits for CBP, carriers,
and travelers to the United States. We first examine the benefits of
this rule for CBP. Currently, CBP returns the bottom portion of the
Form I-94 to the traveler and retains the top portion of the form. The
information on the top portion of the form is entered into CBP systems
for use by CBP and other agencies. CBP also gets this information
electronically from other sources. CBP has linked its data systems so
that CBP can create an electronic Form I-94. Therefore, there is no
longer any need to continue entering the data from the paper Form I-94
for air and sea travelers into CBP systems. CBP spends approximately
$17.8 million per year on contract support for this task. CBP will
still need to spend approximately $2.4 million to enter data from the
paper Forms I-94 collected at the land border and the few that will
continue to be collected at airports and seaports. We therefore
estimate that this rule would save CBP $15.4 million a year in contract
costs.
CBP processing would also become more efficient as a result of this
rule. Currently, when the traveler gives the completed Form I-94 to the
CBP Officer at inspection, the officer reviews the form for errors and
makes corrections as needed. The officer then stamps the top and bottom
portions of the form with an admission or parole stamp, writes the
classification and duration of admission or parole and staples it to
the traveler's passport. This rule would eliminate this process for
most travelers. To the extent that eliminating the paper Form I-94 will
reduce processing times, CBP will be able to focus its resources on
other areas, improving security and expediting the processing of
passengers. CBP will monitor the processing times as a result of this
rule to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently. CBP's final
rule will include information regarding current processing times that
reflect the use of the automated I-94.
We next examine the printing savings this rule will generate for
CBP and carriers. Currently, both CBP and carriers print and store
Forms I-94. CBP prints forms for use in primary and secondary passenger
inspections when the traveler has not filled out a form in advance or
when the traveler has made an error in filling out the form. In FY
2011, CBP spent $153,306 printing the Form I-94 for air and sea
travelers. If this rule is implemented, CBP would no longer need to
print the Form I-94 for most of these travelers,\26\ which would
eliminate this expense.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\26\ CBP will still print a small number of forms for use at
airports and seaports for certain aliens such as refugees, asylees,
parolees, and those who request a paper Form I-94.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carriers print the forms for their passengers to complete before
their arrival in the United States. To estimate printing costs for
carriers, CBP obtained an estimate of total Form I-94 printing and
storage costs from a major airline. We increased this cost
proportionally based on annual international inbound passenger volumes
to estimate the entire industry cost. Based on this methodology, CBP
estimates that carriers spend $1,344,450 annually to print and store
the Form I-94. If this rule is implemented, carriers would no longer
need to print and store the Form I-94, which would eliminate this
expense.
We next estimate the value of air and sea travelers' time savings
resulting from the elimination of the paper Form I-94. Currently,
travelers spend 8 minutes filling out the Form I-94 while in transit to
the United States. If implemented, this rule would eliminate the paper
Form I-94 for air and sea travelers and, with it, their 8-minute time
burden.\27\ We again apply the DOT range of plausible values of time
for air travelers, as well as their point estimate for this value, to
these aliens. Exhibit 7 shows the 2013-2016 travelers' reduction in
time burden resulting from no longer needing to fill out the paper Form
I-94. As shown, in 2013, the value of the reduction in time burden
would range from $89.7 million to $134.6 million. In our primary
estimate, the reduction in time burden would be $108.6 million in 2013.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\27\ For those with a need to access their electronic Form I-94,
this burden relief is partially offset by the 4 minute time burden
to access the Web site. The costs for this access are discussed in
the costs section above.
Exhibit 7--Reduction in Time Burden\*\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I-94s........................................... 19,339,773 20,875,058 22,672,552 24,495,264
DOT--Low ($).................................... 34.80 34.80 34.80 34.80
DOT--Primary ($)................................ 42.10 42.10 42.10 42.10
DOT--High ($)................................... 52.20 52.20 52.20 52.20
Benefit--Low ($)................................ 89,736,549 96,860,267 105,200,642 113,658,027
Benefit--Primary ($)............................ 108,560,595 117,178,657 127,268,592 137,500,084
[[Page 18467]]
Benefit--High ($)............................... 134,604,823 145,290,401 157,800,962 170,487,040
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\Estimates may not total due to rounding.
We next examine the savings to aliens who need a replacement Form
I-94. If aliens lose the bottom portion of their Form I-94, they may
file Form I-102, Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant
Arrival-Departure Document, with USCIS to request a replacement. The
form has a Paperwork Reduction Act burden of 25 minutes and a fee of
$330. As stated earlier, currently 17,700 Forms I-102 or filed annually
and this rule would reduce that amount by 11,929. If this rule is
implemented, these travelers would be able to access their electronic
Form I-94, which would save these individuals 25 minutes and $330.\28\
We calculate the value of this time savings using USCIS's hourly wage
estimate for Form I-102 filers of $30.44.\29\ Exhibit 8 shows the time
and fee cost savings for those who would have otherwise needed to file
an I-102 from 2012 to 2016. As shown, in 2013 the value of this time
and fee savings would be $4.2 million. CBP seeks comment on these
assumptions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\28\ As discussed in the costs section, we estimate a 4 minute
time burden for travelers who need to access their electronic Form
I-94. See the cost section for a complete discussion of the costs of
accessing the Web site as well as the cost to travel to a location
where they can access the Web site, where necessary.
\29\ USCIS estimates are based on BLS data for occupational
employment statistics. The latest supporting statement for the I-102
is available at: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewDocument?ref_nbr=201206-1615-003. This supporting statement
uses an older wage estimate of $30.74. USCIS has since updated the
wage rates used in their supporting statements to $30.44 based on
more recent BLS statistics. These estimates will be used in the next
renewal of the I-102 information collection report.
Exhibit 8--I-102 Cost Savings\*\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I-102 Reduction................................. 11,929 11,929 11,929 11,929
Time Burden..................................... 25 25 25 25
USCIS hourly wage ($)........................... 30.44 30.44 30.44 30.44
Time Savings ($)................................ 151,299 151,299 151,299 151,299
Fee Savings ($)................................. 3,936,570 3,936,570 3,936,570 3,936,570
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total Savings ($)........................... 4,087,869 4,087,869 4,087,869 4,087,869
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\ Estimates may not total due to rounding.
In summary, CBP, carriers, and aliens would accrue benefits as a
result of this rule. CBP would save contract and printing costs.
Carriers would save printing costs. All aliens would save the 8-minute
time burden for filling out the paper Form I-94 and certain aliens who
lose the Form I-94 would save the $330 fee and 25 minute time burden
for filling out the Form I-102. Because we do not expect B-1/B-2
travelers to use the Web site to access their electronic Form I-94, the
benefits associated with the Form I-102 accrue only to non-B-1/B-2
travelers. Using the primary estimate for a traveler's value of time,
the time burden savings for all travelers is $5.61 per traveler. In
addition, those non-B-1/B-2 travelers who no longer need to use a Form
I-102 would achieve an additional time and fee savings of $342.68 per
traveler. Exhibit 9 summarizes the benefits of this rule to each party.
As shown, benefits for this rule for 2013 would range from $110.7
million to $155.6 million. In our primary estimate, the benefits of
this rule would be $129.5 million in 2013. CBP seeks comment on these
benefits and their underlying assumptions.
Exhibit 9--Benefit Summary ($)\*\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBP Benefits:
CBP Contract Savings........................ 15,400,000 15,400,000 15,400,000 15,400,000
CBP Printing Savings........................ 153,360 153,360 153,360 153,360
Total CBP Benefits.............................. 15,553,360 15,553,360 15,553,360 15,553,360
Carrier Printing Savings........................ 1,344,450 1,344,450 1,344,450 1,344,450
Traveler Benefits:
I-94 Time Savings--Low...................... 89,736,549 96,860,267 105,200,642 113,658,027
I-94 Time Savings--Primary.................. 108,560,595 117,178,657 127,268,592 137,500,084
I-94 Time Savings--High..................... 134,604,823 145,290,401 157,800,962 170,487,040
I-102 Time Savings.......................... 151,299 215,863 215,863 215,863
I-102 Fee Savings........................... 3,936,570 3,936,570 3,936,570 3,936,570
Total Traveler Benefits--Low............ 93,824,418 100,948,137 109,288,511 117,745,896
Total Traveler Benefits--Primary........ 112,648,464 121,266,526 131,356,462 141,587,954
Total Traveler Benefits--High........... 138,692,692 149,378,271 161,888,832 174,574,910
Grand Total Benefits--Low............... 110,722,228 117,845,947 126,186,321 134,643,706
Grand Total Benefits--Primary........... 129,546,274 138,164,336 148,254,272 158,485,764
[[Page 18468]]
Grand Total Benefits--High.............. 155,590,502 166,276,081 178,786,642 191,472,720
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\ Estimates may not total due to rounding.
4. Net Benefits
Exhibit 10 compares the costs of this rule to the benefits, both in
total and for each party affected. As shown, in 2013, CBP has a net
benefit of $15.5 million, carriers have a net benefit of $1.3 million,
and travelers have a net benefit of between $59.7 million and $98.7
million. In our primary analysis, the net benefit to travelers is $76.0
million in 2013. Total 2013 net benefits range from $76.5 million to
$115.5 million. In our primary analysis, the total net benefits are
$92.8 million in 2013.
Exhibit 10--Net Benefits*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBP............................. -1,321,000 15,461,360 15,461,360 15,461,360 15,461,360
Carriers........................ 0 1,344,450 1,344,450 1,344,450 1,344,450
Travelers--Low.................. 0 59,657,034 64,068,381 69,233,140 74,470,358
Travelers--Primary.............. 0 76,024,542 81,735,221 88,421,223 95,201,026
Travelers--High................. 0 98,669,998 106,178,383 114,969,119 123,883,185
Grand Total--Low................ -1,321,000 76,462,844 80,874,191 86,038,950 91,276,168
Grand Total--Primary............ -1,321,000 92,830,352 98,541,031 105,227,033 112,006,836
Grand Total--High............... -1,321,000 115,475,808 122,984,193 131,774,929 140,688,995
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
Exhibits 11 and 12 present the net benefits of this rule,
discounted at the 3 and 7 percent discount rates. Exhibit 13 presents
annualized net benefits at the 3 and 7 percent discount rates.
Annualized net benefits range from $65.6 million to $101.7 million. In
the primary analysis, annualized net benefits range from $79.8 million
to $81.6 million, depending on the discount rate used.
Exhibit 11--Net Benefits Discounted at a 3 Percent Rate
[2012 Dollars]*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBP............................. -1,321,000 15,011,029 14,573,815 14,149,335 13,737,218
Carriers........................ .............. 1,305,291 1,267,273 1,230,362 1,194,526
Travelers--Low.................. .............. 57,919,450 60,390,594 63,358,131 66,165,948
Travelers--Primary.............. .............. 73,810,235 77,043,285 80,917,945 84,584,879
Travelers--High................. .............. 95,796,115 100,083,309 105,213,030 110,068,605
Grand Total--Low................ -1,321,000 74,235,771 76,231,682 78,737,828 81,097,693
Grand Total--Primary............ -1,321,000 90,126,555 92,884,373 96,297,642 99,516,623
Grand Total--High............... -1,321,000 112,112,435 115,924,397 120,592,727 125,000,350
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
Exhibit 12--Net Benefits Discounted at a 7 Percent Rate
[2012 Dollars]*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBP............................. -1,321,000 14,449,869 13,504,551 12,621,075 11,795,398
Carriers........................ .............. 1,256,495 1,174,295 1,097,472 1,025,674
Travelers--Low.................. .............. 55,754,237 55,959,805 56,514,865 56,813,079
Travelers--Primary.............. .............. 71,050,974 71,390,707 72,178,057 72,628,407
Travelers--High................. .............. 92,214,952 92,740,311 93,849,048 94,509,889
Grand Total--Low................ -1,321,000 71,460,602 70,638,651 70,233,412 69,634,151
Grand Total--Primary............ -1,321,000 86,757,338 86,069,553 85,896,604 85,449,479
Grand Total--High............... -1,321,000 107,921,316 107,419,157 107,567,595 107,330,961
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
Exhibit 13--Annualized Net Benefits Discounted at 3 Percent and 7
percent*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Percent 7 Percent
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBP..................................... 11,903,588 11,636,069
Carriers................................ 1,059,434 1,038,002
Travelers--Low.......................... 52,539,528 51,294,997
[[Page 18469]]
Travelers--Primary...................... 67,065,877 65,473,972
Travelers--High......................... 87,163,978 85,091,457
Grand Total--Low........................ 65,502,550 63,969,068
Grand Total--Primary.................... 80,028,899 78,148,043
Grand Total--High....................... 100,126,999 97,765,529
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
While this is a large net benefit to travelers as a whole, it is
important to note that the net benefits do not accrue uniformly across
all travelers. We next examine the effect of this rule on each type of
traveler. Exhibit 14 summarizes the costs and benefits per traveler for
each class of alien discussed in this analysis. B-1/B-2 travelers will
no longer need to fill out the paper Form I-94, saving them 8 minutes.
As discussed earlier, we assume that no B-1/B2 travelers will need to
access their electronic Form I-94 via the Web site. Because we assume
they do not use the Form I-94, B-1/B-2 travelers also do not file Form
I-102 to replace their lost Form I-94. Therefore they will not accrue
benefits from no longer needing to file Forms I-102. The net effect of
this rule to each B-1/B-2 traveler is a benefit of $5.61 per traveler.
Travelers who are students and diplomats would no longer need to
fill out a paper Form I-94. They would need to access the Web site and
print their Form I-94, but would not need to travel to a location with
internet access. The net effect of this rule to travelers who are
students and diplomats is a benefit of $2.56 per traveler. In addition,
those students and diplomats who would otherwise need to file a Form I-
102 and pay the $330 fee to obtain a replacement Form I-94 would
receive an additional benefit of $342.68 as a result of this rule.
Temporary workers and aliens in the ``Other/Unknown'' category
would no longer need to fill out a paper Form I-94. They would need to
access the Web site and print their Form I-94, and some would need to
travel 20 miles and 30 minutes round-trip to reach a location with
internet access. The net effect of this rule to temporary workers and
aliens in the ``Other/Unknown'' category is a cost of $18.04 per
traveler. We reiterate that those with obstacles to accessing their
electronic I-94s may request a paper I-94 at the airport or seaport
upon arrival in the United States. In addition, those temporary workers
and aliens in the ``Other/Unknown'' category who would otherwise need
to file a Form I-102 and pay the $330 fee to obtain a replacement Form
I-94 would receive an additional benefit of $342.68 as a result of this
rule.\30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\ CBP intends to have a considerable outreach effort in place
by the time that this rule is effective including outreach to
airlines and travelers to communicate that requesting a paper Form
I-94 continues to be an option.
Exhibit 14--Annual Effect of Rule by Class of Alien ($) *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost of time
Percentage of to access &
total number 8 minute time cost to print Travel costs Net impact **
of aliens cost savings electronic
form I-94
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tourists and Business Travelers 73.9 5.61 0 0 5.61
(B-1/B-2)......................
Students........................ 9.9 5.61 -3.06 0 2.56
Temporary workers............... 9.9 5.61 -3.06 -20.60 -18.04
Other/Unknown................... 4.1 5.61 -3.06 -20.60 -18.04
Diplomats....................... 2.2 5.61 -3.06 0 2.56
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Estimates may not total due to rounding.
** In addition to this net impact, a small number of non-B-1/B-2 travelers will experience savings resulting
from no longer needing to file a Form I-102. The primary estimate of Form I-102 cost savings to non-B-1/B-2
travelers is $342.81 per traveler. We do not include the Form I-102 cost savings in the net impact column of
Exhibit 14 because few non-B-1/B-2 travelers will benefit from this compared to the overall population of non-
B-1/B-2 travelers impacted by the rule. Based on data from USCIS, we estimate that 16,853 Form I-102s per year
will no longer need to be filed as a result of this rule. This is less than one percent of the annual
population of non-B-1/B-2 travelers affected by the rule (16,853 Form I-102s / 5,047,681 non-B-1/B-2 travelers
in 2013 < 1%).
Annualized costs and benefits to U.S. entities are presented in the
following accounting statement, as required by OMB Circular A-4.
Accounting Statement: Classification of Expenditures, 2012-2016
[$2012]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3% Discount rate 7% Discount rate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Costs:
Annualized monetized costs......... $0.352 million............ $0.372 million.
Annualized quantified, but non- None...................... None.
monetized costs.
Qualitative (non-quantified) costs. None...................... None.
U.S. Benefits:
Annualized monetized benefits...... $13.7 million............. $14.0 million.
[[Page 18470]]
Annualized quantified, but non- None...................... None.
monetized benefits.
Qualitative (non-quantified) benefits.. Reduced primary inspection Reduced primary inspection processing
processing times. times.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We estimate annualized costs to U.S. entities as a result of this
rule to be $0.352 million to $0.372 million. These are CBP's costs for
automating the electronic Form I-94 and developing the Web site
travelers will use to access their electronic Form I-94. Monetized
benefits of this rule of $13.7 million to $14.0 million to U.S.
entities (CBP and carriers) represent reduced Form I-94 printing and
storage costs and reduced data entry contract costs. Non-quantified
benefits of this rule include the reduced processing time that could
result as a result of the automation of the Form I-94. This rule also
imposes monetized costs and benefits for travelers. However, because
these are attributable solely to foreign individuals, we do not include
them in the accounting statement.
5. Regulatory Alternatives
We consider two alternatives to this rule: eliminating the paper
Form I-94 in the air and sea environments entirely and providing the
paper Form I-94 to all travelers who are not B-1/B-2 travelers. If CBP
were to eliminate the paper Form I-94 entirely in the air and sea
environment, there are certain classes of vulnerable aliens who would
be harmed. Under the rule, refugees, applicants for asylum, and
parolees will be provided a paper Form I-94. These aliens have an
immediate need for the Form I-94 and cannot wait to access their
electronic Form I-94 from the Web site. These aliens represent a very
small portion of overall international travel and providing them with a
paper Form I-94 and entering the information into CBP data systems is
not a significant cost to CBP. In addition, under this rule, CBP will
continue to provide a paper Form I-94 to those travelers who request
it. CBP is providing this flexibility as a way to minimize the effect
on those who face obstacles to accessing their electronic Form I-94. As
CBP does not expect many aliens to request a paper Form I-94, the cost
to CBP for printing and data entry is minimal. Eliminating the paper
Form I-94 option for refugees, applicants for asylum, parolees, and
those travelers who request one would not result in a significant cost
savings to CBP and would harm travelers who have an immediate need for
an electronic Form I-94 or who face obstacles to accessing their
electronic Form I-94.
A second alternative to the rule is to provide a paper Form I-94 to
any travelers who are not B-1/B-2 travelers. Under this alternative,
travelers would receive and complete the paper Form I-94 during their
inspection when they arrive in the United States. The electronic Form
I-94 would still be automatically created during the inspection, but
the CBP Officer would need to verify that the information appearing on
the form matches the information in CBP's systems. In addition, CBP
would need to write the Form I-94 number on each paper Form I-94 so
that their paper form matches the electronic record. As noted earlier,
25.1 percent of aliens are non-B-1/B-2 travelers. Filling out and
processing this many paper Forms I-94 at airports and seaports would
increase processing times considerably. At the same time, it would only
provide a small savings to the individual traveler. As noted in the Net
Benefits section, the net cost of this rule to temporary workers and to
those in the ``Other/Unknown'' category of aliens is only $18.04 per
traveler and the rule has a net benefit to those arriving as students
or diplomats.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act
This section examines the impact of the rule on small entities as
required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), as
amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement and Fairness Act
of 1996. A small entity may be a small business (defined as any
independently owned and operated business not dominant in its field
that qualifies as a small business per the Small Business Act); a small
not-for-profit organization; or a small governmental jurisdiction
(locality with fewer than 50,000 people).
This rule primarily regulates individuals and individuals are not
considered small entities. In addition, the individual travelers may
obtain a paper Form I-94 upon request, which would eliminate the
impacts of this rule for those travelers. Employers who have internet
access may choose to allow their employees to use their internet
connection to access the employee's electronic Form I-94, but they are
not required to do so and are therefore not directly regulated by this
rule. To the extent an employer chooses to assist an employee with
accessing the internet and printing an I-94, this impact would not rise
to being an economically significant impact under the RFA. This rule
also regulates air and sea carriers by eliminating the need for them to
provide the paper Form I-94 to their passengers. This rule would impact
all small carriers that transport passengers to the United States. We
therefore conclude that this rule will have an impact on a substantial
number of small entities. As stated in the economic impact analysis
above, we estimate that carriers spend $1.3 million a year printing and
storing forms for their passengers, based on 2011 passenger volumes. In
2011, 16,586,753 Forms I-94 provided by carriers were filed at airports
and seaports. Dividing these figures, we estimate that carriers spent 8
cents per form in printing and storage costs. Under this rule, carriers
would no longer need to print and store the Forms I-94, thus
eliminating these costs. According to a 2008 study by the Department of
Commerce's Office of Travel and Tourism Industries,\31\ the average
ticket price for an international traveler traveling to the United
States is $1,484. The cost to the carrier of printing a Form I-94 is
less than one hundredth of one percent of the revenue a carrier
receives from the average passenger. We therefore do not believe that
this rule will have a significant economic impact on small entities. We
also note that any impact to small carriers would be purely beneficial.
CBP certifies that this rule will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. CBP welcomes comments
on this conclusion.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. 2008.
``Overseas Travelers to the United States.'' Table 26.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administrative Procedure Act
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) generally requires agencies
to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register (5
U.S.C. 553(b))
[[Page 18471]]
and provide interested persons the opportunity to submit comments (5
U.S.C. 553(c)). However, the APA provides an exception to this prior
notice and comment requirement for ``rules of agency organization,
procedure, or practice'' 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A).
This interim final rule is a procedural rule promulgated for
``agency housekeeping'' and efficiency purposes. CBP believes that will
not affect the substantive rights or interests of the public.
Once effective, the rule will change ``the manner'' in which
arriving aliens present information to CBP, but will not ``alter the
rights or interests'' of those aliens as they seek admission to the
United States. Such arriving aliens will no longer be required to
complete and submit the paper Form I-94. Instead, the information
previously collected by the paper I-94 will now be automatically
populated into a new electronic format, which will be printable from
CBP's Web site: www.cbp.gov/i94.
The rule neither affects the substantive criteria by which CBP
officers inspect aliens upon arrival nor the nature of the information
at CBP's disposal.
Privacy
CBP will ensure that all Privacy Act requirements and policies are
adhered to in the implementation of this rule, and will be issuing a
Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), which will fully outline how CBP will
ensure compliance with Privacy Act protections. The PIA will examine
the privacy impact of the Form I-94 automation process as it relates to
DHS's Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs). The FIPPs account
for the nature and purpose of the information being collected in
relation to DHS's mission to preserve, protect, and secure. The PIA
will address such issues as the security, integrity, and sharing of
data, use limitation, and transparency. The PIA will be made available
at: https://www.dhs.gov/privacy-documents-us-customs-and-border-protection.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collection of information regarding the CBP Form I-94 (Arrival/
Departure Record) was previously reviewed and approved by OMB in
accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3507) under OMB Control Number 1651-0111. This OMB Control
Number also includes the Electronic System for Travel Authorization
(ESTA), ESTA fee, and Form I-94W, all of which are unaffected by this
rule. In addition, information for the electronic Form I-94 will be
comprised of information already collected for APIS under approval
1651-0088. An agency may not conduct, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of
information displays a valid control number assigned by OMB.
The automation of the paper Form I-94 for commercial aircraft and
vessel passengers in accordance with this Interim Final Rule would
result in an estimated reduction of 9.6 million Forms I-94 completed by
paper, and an estimated reduction of 1,276,800 burden hours. The
remaining estimated burden associated with the Form I-94, which would
be for aliens arriving at the land border, is as follows:
Estimated Number of Respondents: 4,400,000.
Estimated Number of Total Annual Responses: 4,400,000.
Estimated Time per Response: 8 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 585,200.
CBP will make the electronic Form I-94 available to aliens on a
secure Web site. Passengers may log into the Web site using 7 pieces of
basic identifying information that is either known to the traveler
(their first name, last name and date of birth) or readily available on
their passport (passport number, country of issuance, date of entry,
and class of admission). This information will be used only to grant
the passenger access to the Web site. CBP estimates that it will take
the traveler 4 minutes to log into the Web site using identifying
information and print the electronic form. Because so many parties at
various levels of government and outside of the government use the Form
I-94, CBP cannot estimate how many aliens who are not B-1/B-2 travelers
will access the Web site. Because we do not know how many people need a
physical copy of their Form I-94 or how many face obstacles to
accessing their electronic I-94, for the purposes of this analysis, we
assume that every traveler, other than B-1/B-2 travelers, who currently
receives a paper Form I-94 will log into the Web site to print off
their electronic Form I-94. In 2013, we estimate this to be 5,047,681
travelers. We request comments on the number of travelers that will
access the Web site and will amend this number accordingly in the final
rule. The estimated burden associated with the Web site, is as follows:
Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,047,681.
Estimated Number of Total Annual Responses: 5,047,681.
Estimated Time per Response: 4 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 336,512
The automation of the paper Form I-94 for commercial aircraft and
vessel passengers in accordance with this Interim Final Rule would
result in an estimated reduction of 10,918 million Forms I-102 filed,
and an estimated reduction of 4,541.89 burden hours. The collection of
information regarding the Form I-102 was previously reviewed and
approved by OMB in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507) under OMB Control Number 1615-
0079. The remaining estimated burden associated with the Form I-102,
which would be for aliens arriving at the land border, is as follows:
Estimated Number of Respondents: 6,782.\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\32\ As discussed earlier, CBP uses a slightly different figure
in its regulatory analysis because the analysis is based on a
calendar year basis which USCIS's estimates are on a fiscal year
basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Number of Total Annual Responses: 6,782.
Estimated Time per Response: 25 minutes.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,821.31.
The Exhibit 15 summarizes the difference in the burden for the
current process and the future process. As OMB Control Number 1651-0111
includes ESTA and I-94W, we include those burden hours for
informational purposes. We note that these burden hours are unaffected
by this rule.
Exhibit 15 PRA--Burden Effects of the Rule
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Collection Respondents Burden hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-IFR.................................... I-94............................... 14,000,000 1,862,000
Website............................ 0 0
I-102.............................. 17,700 7,363
[[Page 18472]]
ESTA............................... 19,140,000 4,785,000
I-94W.............................. 100,000 333,147
IFR........................................ I-94............................... 4,400,000 586,667
Website............................ 5,047,681 336,512
I-102.............................. 6,782 2,821
ESTA............................... 19,140,000 4,785,000
I-94W.............................. 100,000 13,333
Difference................................. I-94............................... -9,600,000 -1,275,333
Website............................ 5,047,681 336,512
I-102.............................. -10,918 -4,542
ESTA............................... 0 0
I-94W.............................. 0 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments concerning the accuracy of this cost estimate and
suggestions for reducing this burden should be directed to the Office
of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Department of
Homeland Security, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Washington, DC 20503. A copy should also be sent to Regulations and
Rulings, Office of International Trade, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, Attention: Border Security Regulations Branch, 90 K Street
NE., 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20229.
CBP has included a copy of the current paper Form I-94 on the
docket for this rulemaking in the supporting documents section. CBP
seeks comments on whether the instructions included on the form are
sufficient or whether they should be revised for clarity in light of
the automation. Comments on the instructions should be submitted to CBP
as described in the ADDRESSES portion of this rule above.
List of Subjects
8 CFR Part 1
Administrative practice and procedure, Immigration.
8 CFR Part 264
Aliens, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Amendments to the Regulations
For the reasons discussed in the preamble and under the authority
of 8 U.S.C. 1103, CBP amends 8 CFR chapter 1 as set forth below.
PART 1--DEFINTIONS
0
1. The general authority for part 1 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1101; 8 U.S.C. 1103; 5 U.S.C. 301; Pub. L.
107-296, 116 Stat. 2135; 6 U.S.C. 1 et seq.
0
2. Add Sec. 1.4 to part 1 to read as follows:
Sec. 1.4 Definition of Form I-94
The term Form I-94, as used in this chapter I, includes the
collection of arrival/departure and admission or parole information by
DHS, whether in paper or electronic format, which is made available to
the person about whom the information has been collected, as may be
prescribed by DHS. The following terms, when used in the context of the
Form I-94, are clarified as to their meaning to accommodate the
collection of such information in an electronic format.
(a) The terms ``annotate,'' ``note,'' ``indicate on,'' ``stamp,''
and ``endorse,'' unless used in part 231 of this chapter, include, but
are not limited, to DHS amending, including or completing information
in its electronic record of admission, or arrival/departure. For
purposes of part 231, the term ``endorse'' includes but is not limited
to the submission of electronic departure data to CBP.
(b) The terms ``completed,'' ``completely executed'' and
``completed and signed'' include, but are not limited to, DHS
completing its collection of information into its electronic record of
admission, or arrival/departure.
(c) The terms ``issuance'' and ``given'' include, but are not
limited to, the creation of an electronic record of admission, or
arrival/departure by DHS following an inspection performed by an
immigration officer.
(d) The term ``original I-94'' includes, but is not limited to, any
printout or electronic transmission of information from DHS systems
containing the electronic record of admission or arrival/departure.
(e) The terms ``present,'' ``presentation,'' or ``submission'' of a
Form I-94, unless they are used in Sec. 231.1 or Sec. 231.2 of this
chapter, include, but are not limited to, providing a printout of
information from DHS systems containing an electronic record of
admission or arrival/departure. For purposes of Sec. 231.1 of this
chapter, the terms ``present'' or ``submission'' of the Form I-94
includes ensuring that each passenger presents him/herself to a CBP
Officer for inspection at a U.S. port-of-entry. For the purposes of
Sec. 231.2 of this chapter, the terms ``present,'' ``submit,'' or
``submission'' of the Form I-94 includes ensuring that each passenger
is available for inspection by a CBP Officer upon request.
(f) The term ``possession'' with respect to a Form I-94 includes,
but is not limited to, obtaining a copy or printout of the record of an
electronic evidence of admission or arrival/departure from the
appropriate CBP systems.
(g) The terms ``surrendering,'' ``turning in a Form I-94,'' and
``departure I-94'' includes, but is not limited to, complying with any
departure controls under 8 CFR part 215 that may be prescribed by CBP
in addition to the submission of electronic departure data to CBP by a
carrier.
* * * * *
PART 264--REGISTRATION AND FINGERPRINTING OF ALIENS IN THE UNITED
STATES
0
3. The general authority for part 264 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 8 U.S.C. 1103, 1201, 1303--1305; 8 CFR part 2.
* * * * *
Sec. Sec. 210.4, 212.1, 212.4, 212.6, 214.1, 214.2, 214.6, 214.7,
214.14, 215.8, 231.1, 231.2, 235.1, 245.15, 245.21, 245.23, 245.24,
245a.1, 245a.2, 245a.4, 245a.15, 247.12, 253.1, 274a.2, and
286.9 [Amended]
0
4. In the following locations, add ``(see Sec. 1.4)'' after the first
mention of the term ``I-94'':
0
a. Sec. 210.4(d)(3);
0
b. Sec. 212.1(q)(1)(vi);
0
c. Sec. 212.4(g);
0
d. Sec. 212.6(b)(2)(iii);
0
e. Sec. 214.1(b)(1)(iv);
0
f. Sec. 214.2(b)(2);
[[Page 18473]]
0
g. Sec. 214.6(g)(1);
0
h. Sec. 214.7(c)(2)(i);
0
i. Sec. 214.14(c)(5)(i)(A);
0
j. Sec. 215.8(a)(1);
0
k. Sec. 231.1(b)(1);
0
l. Sec. 231.2(b)(1);
0
m. Sec. 235.1(f)(1)(ii);
0
n. Sec. 245.15(h)(4);
0
o. Sec. 245.21(g)(3);
0
p. Sec. 245.23(e)(1)(vi);
0
q. Sec. 245.24(d)(6);
0
r. Sec. 245a.1(d)(2);
0
s. Sec. 245a.2(b)(8);
0
t. Sec. 245a.4(b)(2)(i)(F);
0
u. Sec. 245a.15(b)(2)(i);
0
v. Sec. 247.12(a);
0
w. Sec. 253.1(a);
0
x. Sec. 274a.2(b)(1)(v)(A)(5); and
0
y. Sec. 286.9(b)(1).
0
5. In Sec. 264.1, add a note to the end of paragraph (b) to read as
follows:
Sec. 264.1 Registration and fingerprinting.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
Note to paragraph (b): In addition to the forms noted in this
paragraph (b), a valid, unexpired nonimmigrant DHS admission or
parole stamp in a foreign passport constitutes evidence of
registration.
Janet Napolitano,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-06974 Filed 3-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P
