Holding H-1B status does not, by itself, get you an Alien Registration Number for H-1B purposes. The A-Number is tied to the permanent residency track, not to temporary work visas. Even so, a large share of H-1B workers already have one, usually because they held an Employment Authorization Document during OPT, because their employer has filed a green card petition, or because of an earlier interaction with immigration authorities.<\/p>\n
The Alien Registration Number is a unique identifier the Department of Homeland Security assigns to noncitizens who enter its records in certain ways. It can be seven, eight, or nine digits long and appears with the letter “A” in front, for example A012345678.1<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A-Number\/Alien Registration Number\/Alien Number<\/a><\/span> Once assigned, the number stays with you permanently. It doesn’t change if you switch visa categories or later naturalize.<\/p>\n On an Employment Authorization Document, the same number is printed as the “USCIS Number.” USCIS’s own glossary treats the USCIS Number as a nine-digit identifier and cross-references it directly to the Alien Registration Number.2<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Number<\/a><\/span> If you were issued one, that’s your A-Number, and it didn’t expire when the EAD did.<\/p>\n The H-1B is a nonimmigrant classification for temporary employment in specialty occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a specific field.3<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Specialty Occupations<\/a><\/span> The A-Number is primarily associated with the permanent residency process, most commonly triggered when someone files Form I-485 to adjust status to lawful permanent resident.1<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A-Number\/Alien Registration Number\/Alien Number<\/a><\/span> A worker whose only contact with USCIS is an H-1B petition filed by an employer usually isn’t assigned one. That petition is tracked through a receipt number instead.<\/p>\n Plenty of H-1B holders assume they’ve never been assigned an A-Number, see the field on a form, and leave it blank when they shouldn’t. Check the following situations against your own history before deciding you don’t have one.<\/p>\n If you worked on Optional Practical Training or STEM OPT before switching to H-1B, USCIS issued you an Employment Authorization Document with a USCIS Number on the front.2<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Number<\/a><\/span> That number is still your A-Number today. Use it on any form that asks.<\/p>\n USCIS creates an alien file and assigns an A-Number when it processes immigration benefit applications. If your employer has filed a Form I-140 immigrant petition for you, or if you’ve filed Form I-485, an A-Number was almost certainly generated in the process.4<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-140 Instructions for Petition for Alien Workers<\/a><\/span> It appears near the top of the receipt notices and approval notices for those filings. Form I-485 is the clearest trigger: it is titled “Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status,” and the receipt notice you get after filing carries the A-Number that will identify your case from that point on.5<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Anyone who has been in removal proceedings, applied for asylum, or had other substantive interactions with immigration courts or USCIS enforcement was assigned an A-Number through that process. This is less common for H-1B holders, but worth checking if your history includes any of it.<\/p>\n If you’re not sure whether you have an A-Number, check these documents in this order. They’re the most likely places for it to show up.<\/p>\n If none of those apply, you likely don’t have an A-Number, and that’s normal for an H-1B holder who hasn’t started the green card process or held a prior status that generated one. It doesn’t affect your work authorization or your ability to maintain H-1B status. One will be assigned if and when you begin the permanent residency process.<\/p>\n Almost every USCIS form has an A-Number field. If it doesn’t apply to you, write “N\/A.” That instruction runs across USCIS forms, including Form I-485 and the Form I-129 petition used for H-1B workers.6<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-485 Instructions for Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status<\/a><\/span>7<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-129 Instructions for Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Form I-9 deserves separate attention, because every employee in the United States has to complete it. In Section 1, an H-1B worker who selects “an alien authorized to work” needs to provide one of three identifiers: a USCIS Number or A-Number, a Form I-94 admission number, or a foreign passport number with the country of issuance.8<\/a><\/sup>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification<\/a><\/span> Only one is required. If you don’t have an A-Number, your I-94 admission number works.<\/p>\n Even without an A-Number, an H-1B worker has several identifiers that track legal status and case activity. It’s worth keeping them together.<\/p>\n Learn how the alien registration number for H-1B workers works, from when you likely already have one to where to find it and what to do without it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-immigration-visas-citizenship","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fedlaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why H-1B Status Alone Doesn’t Generate One<\/h2>\n
When You Probably Already Have One<\/h2>\n
You Held an EAD During OPT or STEM OPT<\/h3>\n
Your Green Card Case Is Already Started<\/h3>\n
You’ve Had Other Substantive Contact With Immigration Authorities<\/h3>\n
Where to Look for It<\/h2>\n
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What to Put on Forms If You Don’t Have One<\/h2>\n
Identifiers You’ll Use Instead<\/h2>\n
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