On a U.S. visa, the visa number is the eight-character code printed in red ink in the lower-right area of the visa foil, the sticker a consular officer places on a page inside your passport. It’s the only red text on the foil, which makes it easy to spot once you know where to look. Immigration forms, USCIS applications, and employer paperwork asking for your “visa number” want this red code.
What the Number Looks Like
The visa number is eight characters long. It’s usually eight digits, though some are a single letter followed by seven digits. The characters are printed in red, and nothing else on the foil uses red ink. If you see red, you’ve found it.
You may hear this called the “foil number” because it sits on the visa foil itself. Same number, different name.
Exact Spot on the Foil
The visa foil is the colorful adhesive sticker with holographic security features, your photo, your name, the visa class, and the validity dates. Look at the bottom-right corner of the sticker. The red characters sit near the bottom edge, set apart from the black text filling the rest of the foil.
The placement is the same across nonimmigrant categories (tourist, student, work) and across immigrant visas issued at consulates abroad. Consular staff check the foil before handing your passport back, but it’s still worth reading the number yourself at the window in case something needs correcting on the spot.
Telling It Apart From the Other Numbers on the Foil
Several codes appear on or near the visa foil, and mixing them up is the most common reason forms come back with problems. The red color test settles it every time, but knowing what the other numbers are helps you avoid entering the wrong one.
Visa Control Number
Federal regulations require every machine-readable visa to carry a visa control number as part of its minimum data elements.1eCFR. 22 CFR 41.113 – Procedures in Issuing Visas The control number is a longer string of black digits used for internal Department of State tracking. It appears elsewhere on the foil, not in the lower-right area where the red visa number sits. When a form asks for the visa number, it wants the red code, not the control number.
A-Number and IV Case Number
Immigrant visa holders see two additional identifiers on the foil. The Alien Registration Number, labeled “Registration Number,” is the letter A followed by eight or nine digits. The Department of State Case ID, labeled “IV Case Number,” is three letters followed by nine or ten digits. Diversity Visa immigrants have a different format: four digits, two letters, and five more digits.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigrant Fee Payment: Tips on Finding Your A-Number and DOS Case ID
If the A-Number has fewer than nine digits, add a zero after the A so A12345678 becomes A012345678. When entering the IV Case Number as a DOS Case ID, drop the last two digits. These two identifiers are used to pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee and are not interchangeable with the red visa number.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigrant Fee Payment: Tips on Finding Your A-Number and DOS Case ID
I-94 Admission Number
The I-94 admission record is generated by Customs and Border Protection when you enter the United States and serves as proof of lawful admission.3U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94/I-95 Website – Travel Record for U.S. Visitors The I-94 admission number is 11 characters long and is not printed on the visa foil at all. Some USCIS forms ask for the visa number, some ask for the I-94 number, and some ask for both, so read the form instructions before filling anything in.
Why the Machine-Readable Zone Isn’t a Shortcut
The two lines of tightly packed text at the bottom of the foil, full of chevron characters, are the Machine-Readable Zone. Under international ICAO standards, positions 1 through 9 of the second MRZ line can carry either the passport number or the visa number, at the discretion of the issuing government, and the visa number can only be placed there if it has nine characters or fewer.4International Civil Aviation Organization. Doc 9303 Machine Readable Travel Documents
Because the United States may put the passport number in that field instead, the MRZ isn’t a reliable way to identify your visa number. Read the red characters on the visual part of the foil.
If You Can’t Read or Find the Number
If the foil is damaged, the red ink has faded, or the passport containing your visa is lost, your visa number still exists in government records. The consulate that issued the visa retains the record and can be contacted for verification. If you moved to a new passport but kept the old one, the foil in the expired passport still shows the number, which is why many travelers carry both books when entering the U.S.
For entries after April 30, 2013, the CBP I-94 website lets you retrieve your travel history using your passport details, which helps you reconstruct records even when the physical foil isn’t readable.3U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94/I-95 Website – Travel Record for U.S. Visitors If you need a replacement arrival-departure record, USCIS accepts Form I-102 for that purpose.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, Information for Completing USCIS Forms