Do I have to carry my immigration documents with me?

Yes, for most non-citizens. This surprises people because nothing tells you at the airport, and it is two separate obligations rather than one.

The two obligations

Register. Non-citizens aged 14 and over who were not already registered and fingerprinted when they applied for a visa, and who stay 30 days or longer, must apply for registration.

Carry the proof. Once registered, non-citizens aged 18 and over must carry the evidence of registration at all times. Failure to do so is a criminal offence, not a civil one.

Most people reading this are already registered without having done anything: a visa application with fingerprinting, an I-94 record, a green card, or an employment authorisation document all serve as registration. The carry requirement is the part that gets overlooked.

What "carry" means in practice

The document you carry is the evidence you were issued — a green card, an employment authorisation card, or the I-94 printout. It is a long-standing requirement, but the registration form and enforcement around it were changed in April 2025, which is why you may be hearing about it now.

Photographs and photocopies are not the document. Keep copies for your own records, and carry the original of whatever card you hold.

What this does not mean

It does not give anyone the right to stop you and demand papers without cause, and it does not oblige you to answer questions beyond identifying your registration. Those are separate questions with separate answers, and if you are in a situation where they matter, that is the point to speak to a lawyer rather than to reason from a web page.

If you have no document to carry

If you are not sure whether you are registered, or you have no evidence of it, that is a question to take to an immigration lawyer or an accredited representative before doing anything else. Registering has consequences that depend entirely on your situation, and this is not a form to fill in on the strength of general advice.

Free and low-cost immigration legal help exists in most states, and the state pages on this site link it where a statewide service is listed.