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An I-551 stamp is temporary proof of permanent residence, placed in a foreign passport or on a Form I-94 until the employee's green card arrives. USCIS also calls it an ADIT stamp (Alien Documentation, Identification and Telecommunication). A foreign passport with the stamp is a List A document on Form I-9. The arrival portion of a Form I-94 with the stamp and the employee's photo is a List A receipt.
Both versions expire, and that's the part HR misses. A green card is never reverified, but a stamp always comes back. The passport version gets reverified in Supplement B, and the I-94 version has to be replaced by the actual card. Either way, the deadline is the date on the stamp, or one year if it doesn't show one.
The stamp means the person is already a lawful permanent resident. What's temporary is the evidence. New immigrants usually land with a machine-readable immigrant visa (MRIV) in their passport, which reads "UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR." U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stamps the passport at admission, and that endorsed visa covers them until the card shows up in the mail. USCIS treats it as good for one year from admission even when the "FOR 1 YEAR" language is missing.
Permanent residents who've been here for years can end up with a stamp too. USCIS issues ADIT stamps when someone doesn't have their green card, or when an I-90 replacement, I-751 conditions petition, or N-400 naturalization case is still pending and both the card and its extension notice have expired. Since March 2023, USCIS can mail a Form I-94 with the ADIT stamp, a DHS seal, and a printed photo instead of making the person come to a field office. USCIS sets the validity case by case, generally up to one year.
All three work for Section 2, and the difference between them only shows up on the end date.
| What the employee shows | Form I-9 list | Good until | At expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign passport with a temporary I-551 (ADIT) stamp | List A document | The stamp's expiration date, or one year after admission if it has none | Reverify in Supplement B with any List A or List C document |
| Foreign passport with an MRIV endorsed by CBP | List A document | One year from the date of admission | Reverify in Supplement B with any List A or List C document |
| Arrival portion of Form I-94 with an ADIT stamp and photo | List A receipt | The stamp's expiration date, or one year after it was issued if it has none | The employee shows the green card itself |
The rules come from M-274 Section 7.1 and Section 4.4. A CR-1 endorsement stamped near the visa instead of on it still counts as valid.
The passport versions take two lines under List A, because the passport and the stamp are each part of the document. M-274 Appendix A gives the titles to use.
For an immigrant visa, line 2 is "MRIV" with the U.S. Department of State as issuing authority. M-274 Section 7.1 says to use the number printed in red under the visa's "Expires On" date as the document number, and the expiration is one year from the admission date on the CBP stamp.
The I-94 version goes in under List A as the word "Receipt" followed by the M-274 title "Form I-94 w/I-551 stamp, photo," then the stamp's details and its expiration date. E-Verify employers shouldn't hold the case the way they would for a lost-card receipt. The E-Verify User Manual says to create it by the third business day after the employee starts work for pay.
A stamp that quietly passed its date is an expired document on an active employee. Book a free compliance call and our team will help you find the stamps on file, work out each deadline, and fix any that already lapsed.
For either passport version, you reverify in Supplement B no later than the expiration date. The employee picks any unexpired List A or List C document. Most will bring the green card, since it's usually arrived by then, but you can't require it. Asking for a specific document is document abuse under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(6), even when the green card is the obvious answer. USCIS suggests reminding employees at least 90 days ahead.
Only the actual green card closes out the I-94 receipt. Once the employee brings it in, cross out "Receipt" in Section 2, record the card's details in the Additional Information field, and initial and date the change. A card that's running late is a question for USCIS, and the employee can ask about new temporary evidence through the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283. Have that conversation before the date passes.
Once a green card is on the Form I-9, you're finished. Permanent resident cards are never reverified, even when the card itself expires.
Most stamp problems start with treating the stamp like the card. The employee checks "lawful permanent resident" in Section 1, which carries no expiration date, so any system that sets reverification reminders from Section 1 never creates one. The stamp's date sits on line 2 of List A where nobody looks, and a year later an active employee's only evidence is expired.
Other teams overcorrect. Once the green card is recorded in Supplement B or as the receipt replacement, they carry the reverification habit forward and ask for the card again when it expires. USCIS tells employers not to reverify a permanent resident who presented a green card, and asking anyway is the same document-abuse risk covered above.
It proves the same status, permanent residence, but only for a limited time. The green card (Form I-551) is the permanent evidence. Our Form I-551 guide covers the card itself.
It's another name for the temporary I-551 stamp. ADIT stands for Alien Documentation, Identification and Telecommunication, and USCIS uses both names.
No. Documents for Section 2 and Supplement B have to be unexpired, and the stamp's date (or the one-year limit) is firm. The employee can show any other acceptable documents from the Lists of Acceptable Documents.
It's good through the expiration date printed on it. With no date, a passport stamp or MRIV runs one year from admission, and an I-94 with the stamp runs one year from when it was issued.
Yes for the passport versions, in Supplement B by the stamp's expiration date. The I-94 version isn't reverification; you update Section 2 when the employee shows the actual green card.
Our compliance team has been reading stamps, visas, and I-94s for 28 years. Reach us here: