A USCIS receipt number is a 13-character code — three letters followed by ten digits — and each part tells you something specific. The letters identify the USCIS facility handling your case. The digits encode the federal fiscal year the filing was received, the business day within that year when it was entered into the system, and a sequential number assigned that day. Once you can read a USCIS receipt number, you can tell where your case sits, roughly when it entered the queue, and use it to check status online.
Where Your Receipt Number Appears
Your receipt number is printed in the upper left-hand corner of Form I-797C, the receipt notice USCIS mails after it accepts your application. The notice generally arrives within about 30 days of filing.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. e-Request – Non-Delivery of Notice If you filed online through a USCIS account, the same number appears in your account dashboard. Paper filers who attached Form G-1145 to the front of their filing get the number by email or text within 24 hours of acceptance, well ahead of the mailed notice.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form G-1145, e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance
The Format at a Glance
Every receipt number follows the same pattern: three letters, then ten digits. An example is EAC2212345678.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number Printed notices often break it up with dashes (EAC-22-123-45678), but drop the dashes when you type the number into any USCIS online tool. If your notice shows an asterisk as part of the number, keep the asterisk.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checking Your Case Status Online
What the Three-Letter Prefix Tells You
The first three letters point to the USCIS facility handling the case. USCIS recognizes these prefixes:3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number
- EAC — Vermont Service Center
- WAC — California Service Center
- LIN — Nebraska Service Center
- SRC — Texas Service Center
- YSC — Potomac Service Center
- NBC — National Benefits Center
- MSC — National Benefits Center, used for certain case types routed through the same facility
- IOE — cases filed online, or paper filings that USCIS has converted to electronic processing
IOE numbers are increasingly common. If you filed through a USCIS online account, or if the agency digitized your paper filing, the number begins with IOE regardless of which physical office ends up reviewing the case.
What the Ten Digits Tell You
The ten digits after the prefix split into three meaningful groups.
The first two digits are the federal fiscal year the filing was received. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30, not the calendar year, so “25” means the case was received sometime between October 2024 and September 2025.
The next three digits are the computer workday within that fiscal year — essentially a count of business days from the start of the fiscal year — when the case was entered into the system.
The final five digits are the sequential case number assigned on that workday.
Take WAC-25-012-50960 as a worked example. WAC places the case at the California Service Center. 25 puts it in fiscal year 2025. 012 marks the twelfth business day of that fiscal year. 50960 is the specific case number assigned to your filing on that day.
Using the Number to Check Your Case
Once you can read the number, the most direct thing to do with it is check status. Go to the USCIS Case Status Online tool at egov.uscis.gov, type in all 13 characters without dashes, and select Check Status.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Case Status Online – Case Status Search The tool shows the last action taken and any next steps. A USCIS online account gives you a fuller view, with up to the last five actions and automatic updates so you don’t have to keep checking manually.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checking Your Case Status Online
The same information on the receipt notice — form type, category, and the office processing the case — lets you look up current timelines at egov.uscis.gov/processing-times.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Case Processing Times
Not the Same as an A-Number
A receipt number is easy to confuse with an Alien Registration Number, but they do different jobs. The receipt number tracks one filing: one application, one petition, one number. File again later and you get a different receipt number. The A-Number is a seven- to nine-digit number assigned to you personally by the Department of Homeland Security, and it follows you across all your immigration interactions.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A-Number/Alien Registration Number/Alien Number Not everyone has an A-Number; it’s typically assigned when you become a permanent resident or are placed in removal proceedings. Everyone who files with USCIS gets a receipt number.
If You Can’t Find Your Number
If your receipt notice is missing and you didn’t sign up for electronic notification, a few things can help you recover the number. If you paid the filing fee by personal check, look at the scanned image of the check through your bank — USCIS writes the receipt number on the back. You can also call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, or email the Lockbox Support Team at lockboxsupport@uscis.dhs.gov.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Contact Center USCIS asks that you wait at least 30 days after filing before expecting a receipt notice, and that you hold off on submitting an inquiry until at least 60 days have passed.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. e-Request – Non-Delivery of Notice