Where to Find Your U.S. Visa Number and What It Means

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Your U.S. visa has more numbers than you probably realize. There’s a visa number, a control number, and your passport number. If you are involved in the U.S. immigration process, you may also have an A-number or case number. These numbers aren't interchangeable, and using the wrong one on a form can lead to rejection.

So, where can you find your U.S. visa number, and how do you know you’re looking at the right number? Here’s exactly what to look for.

Where to Find the Visa Number On Your U.S. Visa

Your U.S. visa number is in the lower right corner of the visa foil, printed in red and different from the black text around it. On most foils, it is a short string of characters, and it is the only element in that colour.

The visa foil is in your passport. It is the full-page adhesive foil with your photograph on it, and it carries several numbers at once.

The two dense lines of characters across the bottom of the foil are the machine-readable zone, the part a scanner reads at the border. It is not your visa number.

What Is the U.S. Visa Number?

A U.S. visa number identifies one issued visa, in one passport, from one consular post. It does not identify you, and it is not consistent between visas.

The rule governing what gets printed on the foil is 22 CFR 41.113. It sets out the minimum data a machine-readable visa must carry:

• Your full name, sex, date of birth and nationality.
• The visa type or class, and the location of the visa issuing office.
• Your passport number.
• The number of applications for admission authorized, or the letter "M" for multiple.
• The date of issuance and the date of expiration.
• The visa control number.

But the list does not include a visa number. Neither does 9 FAM 403.9-6(A), the Foreign Affairs Manual passage that maps the foil into its five printed sections.

As a result, “Visa number” is what forms, airlines and consular staff call the number in the corner of your foil, and it is a real number you can find and give. The State Department does not define it in the rules governing the document. 

Visa Number vs. Control Number vs. A-Number vs. Case Number

Here is what each one is and when a form wants it.

If you're reading about "visa number availability," that's the immigrant visa allocation system, a different concept entirely, and our priority date guide covers it.

If you hold a green card, the numbers on the card follow their own rules, and the green card number and the document number aren't the same. Form sections always specify which number they require. 

If You Don't Have a Foil: Border Crossing Cards and Electronic Visas

Not every U.S. visa is a sticker in a passport, and if yours is not, here’s what applies;

B-1/B-2 Border Crossing Cards

A border crossing card is not issued under the rule governing visa foils. The regulation describes it as "a card, Form DSP-150, containing a machine-readable biometric identifier."

It shows the post symbol, the card number, the date of issuance, the indicia "B-1/B-2 Visa and Border Crossing Card," your name, date of birth and sex, and the expiration date.

So a border crossing card holder does not have a visa number as explained in this article. But you have a card number, and that's what to give when a form asks you to identify the document.

Electronic Visas

Under 22 CFR 41.113(a), a nonimmigrant visa "shall be evidenced by a physical visa placed in the alien's passport or by an electronic visa located in the Department's records."

An electronic visa has no foil. There's no corner to look in and no printed number to find.

If a form asks for a visa number and you don’t have a physical visa, you can provide your passport number and, where the process uses one, your case number.

If Your Visa Is Lost, Damaged, or the Number Looks Wrong

The most important thing to do is to contact the U.S. embassy or consulate and report your case. Follow these steps;

1. Email the consular section of the U.S. embassy or consulate abroad that issued the visa.
2. Give your full name, date of birth, place of birth, address in the United States and an email address, and say whether the visa was lost or stolen.
3. Attach a copy of your passport or visa. If you don't have one, provide the visa category and the passport number from the lost or stolen visa.
4. To replace it, apply in person at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad, with a written account of the loss and a copy of your police report.

The State does not ask for your visa number to identify your visa, which also answers whether you can look it up. No public search tool lets you find your visa number. 

A visa you report lost and then find is invalid for future travel. A damaged visa is treated the same way. If your visa has been damaged in any way, you'll need to apply for a new one at a post abroad.

Get to Know Which Visa You Should Hold Next

If you're on an F-1, an H-1B or a visitor visa and your record has grown since you applied, the category you're in may no longer be the strongest one available to you.

Founders, engineers, researchers, and executives routinely qualify for O-1 or EB-1 classification without knowing it, because the evidence rarely looks like what they expect.

Beyond Borders' attorneys will review your profile against the O-1, EB-1 and EB-2 NIW criteria and tell you which one your record currently supports. We’ll also provide guidance on the specific evidence you need to strengthen your record. Request a free profile evaluation and find out what your record actually supports.

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