Updated November 12, 2026

US visa no: how to read your visa foil numbers, I-94 record and immigrant visa caps

A US visa no (visa number) refers either to an identification code printed on the Department of State visa foil in your passport or to an annual immigrant visa slot under federal law. On an immigrant visa stamp, USCIS identifies your Alien Registration Number as the 8- or 9-digit Registration Number and your Department of State Case ID as the IV Case Number without its last two digits. For preference green card categories, USCIS states that Congress generally limits annual immigrant visa numbers to 226,000 for family-sponsored applicants and 140,000 for employment-based applicants.

What US visa no means on a visa foil vs in the green card queue

When a government form, benefit agency, or immigration notice asks for a US visa no or visa number, it points to one of two distinct concepts. Knowing which one applies keeps you from typing the wrong code on an application.

First, a visa number is a document identifier printed on the physical visa stamp, also called a visa foil, inside your passport. USCIS lists the Visa Number as a distinct identifier in its SAVE verification system, separate from your Alien Registration Number, Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record Number, Form I-797 Receipt Number, Card Number, and SEVIS ID.

Second, in green card cases, an immigrant visa number means a numerical slot under the annual caps set by the Immigration and Nationality Act. An immigrant visa number must be available for your preference category, country of chargeability, and priority date before you can file or finish Form I-485 inside the United States or receive an immigrant visa abroad.

Only the Department of State adjudicates and issues US visas at embassies and consulates abroad. USCIS never prints visa foils inside the country, and private businesses such as hotels do not log visa numbers into USCIS databases. At a US port of entry, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers inspect you and decide whether to admit you and for how long.

How to read the Registration Number and IV Case Number on your visa stamp

If you hold an immigrant visa foil in your passport, USCIS uses two numbers from that stamp and your visa packet to verify your identity, collect the USCIS Immigrant Fee, and produce your Permanent Resident Card. Neither line on the stamp uses the exact label shown on the USCIS payment screen.

Your Alien Registration Number (A-Number) appears as the Registration Number on your visa stamp. It starts with the letter A followed by 8 or 9 numbers. If the Registration Number has fewer than 9 digits, USCIS instructs you to insert a zero right after the letter A and before the first digit to form a 9-digit number.

Your Department of State (DOS) Case ID appears as the IV Case Number on your visa stamp. Standard DOS Case IDs have 3 letters followed by 9 or 10 numbers, while Diversity Visa immigrants have 4 numbers, 2 letters, and 5 more numbers. On the visa foil, the IV Case Number adds two suffix digits at the end, such as 01 or 02. Leave off those last two digits when entering your DOS Case ID online.

Worked example written by our team from USCIS formatting rules: If your visa foil shows Registration Number A12345678 and IV Case Number ABC1234567801, add a zero after A so your A-Number reads A012345678, and drop the 01 so your DOS Case ID reads ABC12345678. A Diversity Visa Case ID such as 0000AB12345 keeps its 4-number, 2-letter, 5-number format.

• Visa stamp (visa foil) in your passport: Shows Registration Number (your A-Number) and IV Case Number (your DOS Case ID plus two trailing digits).
• Immigrant Data Summary: Stapled to the front of your sealed immigrant visa package, listing your A-Number and DOS Case ID at the top.
• USCIS Immigrant Fee handout: Given at your consular interview, showing your A-Number and DOS Case ID in the top right corner.

US visa number vs I-94, A-Number, Receipt Number and SEVIS ID

Applications such as Form I-485, Form I-539, Form I-765, Form I-90, and Form I-131, along with state benefit and licensing checks, require exact document identifiers. Entering a Form I-797 Receipt Number in a Visa Number box or mixing up an I-94 number with an A-Number can delay verification or lead to a benefit denial.

Comparison of US visa and immigration identifiers from USCIS and CBP guidance

Visa expiration date vs Form I-94: which number controls your stay

A US visa does not guarantee entry to the United States, and its expiration date does not set how long you can stay. The dates on a nonimmigrant visa only mark the window during which you may travel to a port of entry and apply for admission in a classification such as visitor (B), student (F), or temporary worker (H).

At the port of entry, a CBP officer decides your admission and records your authorized stay on Form I-94 (or Form I-94W for Visa Waiver Program visitors) and in your passport. Even if your visa foil expires while you are in the country, your authorized stay is governed by your Form I-94 Admit Until Date. Travelers arriving by air, sea, or land receive electronic I-94 records and can view or print them on the CBP I-94 website or CBP Link mobile app.

Since May 2019, CBP has formatted Form I-94 numbers as 11 alphanumeric characters: 9 digits, a letter in the 10th position, and a digit in the 11th position. Unexpired numeric-only 11-digit I-94 records remain valid until their Admit Until Date.

Air and sea departures record automatically through carrier manifests. If you hold an electronic I-94, are not a resident of Canada or Mexico, exit by land, and do not re-enter before your passport admission stamp expires, CBP advises keeping departure proof such as tickets, pay stubs, receipts, or an entry stamp from the Canadian Border Services Agency or Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Migracion.

US immigrant visa numbers: annual caps, priority dates and the Visa Bulletin

In green card cases, US immigrant visa numbers refer to the annual pool of permanent resident visas set by Congress. Immediate relatives of US citizens have unlimited visa numbers and never wait in a backlog. Immediate relatives are spouses of US citizens, unmarried children under 21 of US citizens, parents of US citizens at least 21 years old, and qualifying widows or widowers if the citizen filed a petition before death or the survivor files within two years of death.

Family-sponsored preference visas are generally capped at 226,000 per year, and employment-based preference visas are generally capped at 140,000 per year, alongside sub-category and per-country percentage limits.

When demand exceeds supply, a queue forms and the Department of State uses your priority date, printed on Form I-797 for your underlying petition, to hold your place.

How USCIS sets your immigrant visa priority date by green card path

How to read Visa Bulletin charts and handle visa retrogression

Each month, the Department of State posts the Visa Bulletin with two charts: Application Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing Applications. Within one week, USCIS announces which chart Form I-485 applicants must use, authorizing the Dates for Filing chart when available visas for the fiscal year exceed known applicants. For November 2026, USCIS designated the Dates for Filing chart for all family-sponsored and employment-based preference filings.

On the chart, a cutoff date means visas are available only if your priority date is earlier than that date. In USCIS's example, 15DEC07 for China F1 means applicants with priority dates earlier than Dec. 15, 2007 have a visa available. C means Current for all qualified applicants, and U means temporarily unavailable.

When monthly demand outpaces remaining numbers, often near the end of the fiscal year, cutoff dates can stop or move backward in visa retrogression. A new annual supply opens on Oct. 1, which usually, though not always, restores prior dates.

If your category retrogresses after you properly file Form I-485, USCIS holds non-interviewed cases at the filing Service Center and interviewed family or employment cases at the National Benefits Center until a number opens again. Pending Form I-485 applicants may apply for work authorization on Form I-765 and travel permission on Form I-131. You can hear recorded cutoff updates from the Department of State at 202-663-1541, and call USCIS at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833) if 30 days pass after your date becomes current without an update.

Using your visa foil numbers for the USCIS Immigrant Fee and SAVE checks

USCIS strongly encourages new immigrants to pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee online after picking up their immigrant visa and before departing for the United States. A relative, friend, employer, attorney, or accredited representative can also pay online using your A-Number and DOS Case ID with a credit card, debit card, single pre-paid debit card covering everyone in the transaction, or US checking account and routing numbers.

Exemptions apply to orphan or Hague adoptees, Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants, other Afghan nationals through Sept. 30, 2024, returning residents (SB-1s), and K nonimmigrants. If you must pay and wait, your lawful permanent resident status still stands, and CBP's temporary I-551 passport stamp proves your status for 1 year from admission, though USCIS will not mail your Green Card until paid. Submit an online help form or e-request if your card does not arrive within 90 days of payment or entry, whichever is later.

When you apply for a driver's license, Social Security card, or public benefit, registered agencies verify your status in SAVE using your name, birth date, and latest document number, such as a Visa Number, A-Number, I-94 number, or SEVIS ID. SAVE verifies records while the benefit agency decides eligibility. Starting Feb. 15, 2027, USCIS disposes of SAVE records dated on or before Dec. 31, 2016.

What to do if you do not have a visa number or lost your old visa

Not every traveler receives a visa foil. Under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), citizens of designated countries seek entry for 90 days or less for business or pleasure without a visa. They need an approved Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), a machine-readable passport valid for 6 months beyond intended stay (essentially 9 months unless exempt), a qualifying round-trip ticket, and Form I-94W, and cannot extend stay or change status.

Applicants with pending USCIS petitions or upcoming consular interviews also lack a visa number until a consular officer issues the foil. Use your Form I-797 Receipt Number with USCIS or your DOS Case ID with the consulate in the meantime. Contact the agency that holds the record:

• Missing Immigrant Data Summary or fee handout: Contact the issuing US embassy or consulate for a copy.
• Lost immigration history or USCIS document error: File a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or Privacy Act request with USCIS for file copies, or use the USCIS e-request tool or Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833, VRS 877-709-5797) for typographic errors.
• Missing or wrong Form I-94: Check the CBP I-94 site or CBP Link app, visit one of the more than 70 CBP Deferred Inspection Sites to fix entry errors, or file Form I-102 with USCIS if unavailable from CBP.
• Student or exchange visitor SEVIS errors: Contact your school's international student staff or program officer, or call the SEVP Response Center at 703-603-3400.

Checklist before you file a form or attend your visa interview

Our team wrote this seven-step checklist to verify your foil and arrival numbers before filing forms or speaking with an officer.

• 1. Photograph your passport bio page and every US visa foil upon delivery and keep copies separate from your travel bag.
• 2. Format immigrant fee codes accurately: pad an 8-digit Registration Number with a zero after A, and drop the last two digits from your IV Case Number.
• 3. Confirm your US mailing address with CBP at entry if it changed after your consular interview so your Green Card goes to the right home.
• 4. Download your electronic Form I-94 on the CBP site or CBP Link app after every entry to check your Admit Until Date and 11-character number.
• 5. Match each form box to the right agency code rather than putting a Form I-797 Receipt Number in a Visa Number field.
• 6. Check the USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page each month before filing Form I-485 in a preference category.
• 7. Bring your most recently issued immigration document when applying for a license or benefit verified through SAVE.

Practice example

Have you ever been issued a US visa before, or has anyone filed an immigrant petition on your behalf?

Start with a direct yes or no so the officer never has to guess. If you held a previous US visa, state the visa classification, such as B-2 visitor or F-1 student, the year it was issued, and whether you followed the terms of your admission on Form I-94. Have your expired or current passport open to the old visa foil so you can point to the visa stamp if asked, or bring your file copy and embassy correspondence if that passport was lost. If a family member or employer has filed an immigrant petition such as Form I-130 or Form I-140 for you, state that openly, name the petitioner, and share your Form I-797 priority date or Department of State Case ID. Finish by explaining why your current trip fits the specific visa classification you are applying for today.

Consular and border officers can already see your prior visa issuances, Form I-94 arrival history, and immigrant petitions in government databases. Giving exact classifications and dates right away confirms your answers match your forms and shows you are not hiding immigrant intent or past travel.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.