Your Border Crossing Card number is the alphanumeric document identifier printed in the machine-readable zone (MRZ) on the back of the card. It sits on the top line of the MRZ, immediately after the three-letter country-of-issuance code, and it includes the leading letters as part of the number. U.S. Customs and Border Protection scans this number at ports of entry to pull up your identity, your B-1/B-2 visa status, and your crossing history.
Where the Number Appears on the Card
Turn the card over. The MRZ is the block of two or three lines of characters printed in a monospaced font across the back. CBP guidance describes the number you need as the second set of characters on that top line, after the country code, and tells travelers to include the leading letters when they read it off.1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Rail APIS Document Guidance The layout follows the same standard as a U.S. passport card, so anyone familiar with that document will recognize the arrangement.
When CBP’s own systems ask for the number, they refer to it by its MRZ location. The provisional I-94 application, for example, instructs travelers to enter the BCC number “as shown in zone 1 on the MRZ of your border crossing card.”2Homeland Security. I-94/I-95 Frequently Asked Questions Zone 1 is that top line. The document number is the string that follows the country code on it.
What the Number Is Used For
The BCC number functions the way a passport number does. At a land or sea port of entry, a CBP officer scans the MRZ, and the number reads your file: identity, B-1/B-2 visitor visa status, and a log of the current crossing.3U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W
You will also need the number yourself in a few situations:
- Applying for a Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record, which is required if you plan to travel beyond the border zone or stay longer than 30 days.2Homeland Security. I-94/I-95 Frequently Asked Questions
- Applying and paying for a provisional I-94 through the CBP Link mobile application, which can be done up to seven days before arriving at a land port of entry.
- Retrieving your arrival and departure records online, which employers, schools, or other agencies sometimes request as proof of lawful visitor status.
In each of these, the number is the key that links your entry to your immigration file, so it has to be transcribed exactly as it appears on the card, letters included.
What the Number Does Not Do
Having the number, or even having the card, does not by itself extend the reach of your visit. Without a Form I-94, a BCC limits you to a narrow strip along the southwestern border: roughly 25 miles into California or Texas, up to 55 miles into New Mexico, and up to 75 miles into Arizona at designated ports.4eCFR. 8 CFR 235.1 – Scope of Examination Within that zone, stays are capped at 30 days per visit.5U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Customs Bulletin and Decisions, Vol. 47, No. 27 To go farther inland or stay longer, you need the I-94, and that application is where the BCC number gets typed in.6Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 402.2 – Tourists and Business Visitors and Mexican Border Crossing Cards
The card on its own is valid at land ports, on pleasure vessels, and on ferries from Mexico. To use it at an airport or when crossing from Canada, you need to present it together with a valid Mexican passport.7U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Border Crossing Card – What Documents Do I Need as a Mexican National to Visit the United States
If You Cannot Read or Locate Your Number
If the MRZ on your card is worn, damaged, or unreadable, or if the card itself is lost or stolen, you cannot recover the number by requesting a lookup inside the United States. Report the loss or damage as soon as possible by emailing the consular section of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Mexico that issued the card. Include your full name, date of birth, place of birth, U.S. address, and a note on whether the card was lost or stolen. If you have a photocopy or scan of the card or of the passport it was tied to, send that as well.8U.S. Department of State. Lost and Stolen Passports, Visas, and Arrival/Departure Records
One consequence to know before you file the report: once you report the card lost or stolen, it is permanently invalid. If you find it the next day, you still cannot use it. You have to apply for a replacement at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Mexico, and the application must include a written account of the loss along with a copy of any police report. Replacement is not available inside the United States.8U.S. Department of State. Lost and Stolen Passports, Visas, and Arrival/Departure Records
Reading the Number Correctly
Two small habits cut down on data-entry errors when you type the BCC number into a CBP form:
- Include the leading letters. The document number is not purely numeric; the letters at the start are part of it.1U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Rail APIS Document Guidance
- Skip the country code. The three-letter code that appears before the document number identifies the issuing country and is not part of the number itself.
If a form rejects the number, check the top line of the MRZ again and compare character by character. Zeros and the letter O, ones and the letter I, are the usual culprits in an unfamiliar font.