The resident card number is the 13-character code printed on the back of your Permanent Resident Card. It identifies the specific physical card USCIS issued to you, and it changes every time you’re issued a new or replacement card. That’s what makes it different from your Alien Registration Number (A-Number), which stays with you for life.
Where the Number Appears on the Card
Flip your green card over. The card number is printed on the back and reads as three letters followed by ten digits, for example SRC2100456789. On newer card designs it sits just above the machine-readable zone, the block of small text running across the bottom.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number
Don’t confuse the card number with the machine-readable zone itself. That zone spans three lines and encodes several separate pieces of data, including your residency category, A-Number, date of birth, card expiration date, and country of birth. The card number is its own field.
Card Number vs. A-Number: Which Is Which
On the front of the card you’ll see a field labeled “USCIS #.” That’s your A-Number, typically seven to nine digits, and it’s your permanent identifier in the immigration system. It appears on virtually every USCIS form you’ll ever fill out.
The card number on the back is tied to the physical document in your hand. It rarely shows up on immigration forms. Where it matters is proving that the specific card you’re presenting is valid, most often during employment verification. Mixing up the two numbers is one of the most common green card paperwork mistakes, so read the form carefully before you write anything down: front of the card for the A-Number, back of the card for the card number.
What the 13 Characters Mean
The three-letter prefix tells you where or how USCIS processed the case that produced your card. Common prefixes:
- SRC — Texas Service Center
- LIN — Nebraska Service Center
- EAC — Vermont Service Center
- WAC — California Service Center
- MSC or NBC — National Benefits Center
- IOE — filed electronically through a USCIS online account
The ten digits that follow function as a receipt number linking your card to the specific case file that produced it.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number If you filed online, your card number starts with IOE regardless of which service center adjudicated the case. Because this is a production-level identifier, it resets every time USCIS issues you a replacement card. Your A-Number does not.
When You’ll Be Asked for the Card Number
Form I-9 and Employment Verification
The most common place the card number comes up is starting a new job. Your employer completes Form I-9, and your green card qualifies as a “List A” document that proves both identity and work authorization on its own.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents The employer records both the card number from the back and the A-Number from the front. If a Form I-9 field is asking for the number from the back of the card, that’s the 13-character resident card number.
Public Benefits, Licenses, and SAVE Checks
Government agencies also reference your card when verifying your immigration status for public benefits, driver’s license applications, or a Social Security number. Many of those agencies run checks through the SAVE program (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements), which connects to federal immigration databases.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Information for Aliens Applying for a Public Benefit A form may ask for the card number, the A-Number, or both.
International Travel
When you re-enter the United States after a trip abroad, Customs and Border Protection officers inspect the card itself to confirm your right to return. You won’t usually be asked to recite the card number, but the officer is reading it off the same document.
One Boundary to Keep in Mind
The card number is not what you use on USCIS applications about yourself. Forms asking to identify you as a person want your A-Number. The card number identifies the plastic, not the person. If a USCIS form asks for a “receipt number,” that refers to the receipt for a specific case you filed, not the code on your existing card.
If You Can’t Read the Number or the Card Is Gone
Because the card number is printed on the physical card, losing or damaging the card means losing your access to it. To get a new card, you file Form I-90 (Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card).4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) Federal regulations require you to apply for a replacement when the card has been lost or destroyed, or when it will expire within six months.5eCFR. 8 CFR 264.5 – Application for a Replacement Permanent Resident Card The replacement will carry a new 13-character card number; your A-Number stays the same.
While you wait, the Form I-90 receipt notice automatically extends the validity of an expiring green card by 36 months from the expiration date printed on the card, and you can present the receipt alongside the old card as proof of status and work authorization.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Extends Green Card Validity Extension to 36 Months for Green Card Renewals If the card was lost or stolen and you have no physical card to show, contact the USCIS Contact Center to schedule an appointment at a local field office for a temporary I-551 stamp (also called an ADIT stamp) in your passport or on an I-94. That stamp serves as official proof of your permanent resident status until the replacement card arrives.
USCIS ships replacement cards through USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation, and you can find the tracking number by logging into your USCIS online account.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Track Delivery of Your Notice or Secure Identity Document (or Card) Once it arrives, the new card number on the back is the one you’ll use for any future I-9 or verification form.