The visa number on a U.S. visa is the eight-character code printed in red ink near the lower-right corner of the visa sticker (the “foil”) glued inside your passport. Most visa numbers are entirely numeric, like 12345678. Some older ones start with a single letter followed by seven digits. The red ink is the reliable visual marker: everything else on the sticker is printed in black.
Where the Visa Number Sits on the Foil
Open your passport to the page bearing the U.S. visa sticker. Look at the bottom-right area. The eight-character string in red is your visa number, sometimes called the visa foil number. It’s randomly generated and has no connection to your visa category, your nationality, or when you applied.
On visas issued many years ago the exact position can shift slightly, but the red coloring stays consistent across formats. If you have a photograph or scan of an old visa, the red number should still be legible in the image.
The Other Numbers on the Same Sticker
Several other numbers appear on the visa foil and are easy to grab by mistake. Knowing what each one is prevents you from copying the wrong value onto a federal form.
- Registration Number (A-Number). On an immigrant visa stamp, the field labeled “Registration Number” is your Alien Registration Number: the letter “A” followed by eight or nine digits. If yours has fewer than nine digits, add a zero after the “A” to pad it to nine when a form asks for it.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigrant Fee Payment: Tips on Finding Your A-Number and DOS Case ID
- IV Case Number (DOS Case ID). Also on immigrant visa stamps, this field starts with three letters followed by numbers. To use it as your DOS Case ID, drop the last two digits. A stamp reading “ABC1234567801” gives a DOS Case ID of “ABC12345678.”1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigrant Fee Payment: Tips on Finding Your A-Number and DOS Case ID
- Passport Number. Your passport number is reprinted on the visa foil because the visa is tied to a specific passport. It identifies your travel document, not your visa.
- Control Number. Some visa stickers include a separate control number used internally by the State Department. It is not the visa foil number.
When in doubt, look for red. Only the visa foil number is printed that way.
When a Form Asks for Your Visa Number
The most common place you actually need this number is a new visa application. The DS-160 Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application has a section on previous U.S. travel that asks for your prior visa number, and that value comes from the red digits on your old visa foil (or a photocopy of it). Adjustment-of-status applications and certain consular processing forms may also ask for it.
One misconception is worth flagging because it causes real problems: Form I-9, the employment eligibility verification form, does not ask for your visa number. For authorized aliens, Form I-9 accepts one of three identifiers only: your A-Number, your I-94 admission number, or your foreign passport number with country of issuance.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification The visa foil number is not on that list. Entering it anyway can create compliance issues for your employer, who faces civil penalties for verification failures.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Penalties
Note that the visa foil number is different from the numbers assigned to your other immigration documents. Your I-94 Arrival/Departure Record carries its own 11-character admission number.4U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W A USCIS Form I-797 notice carries a 13-character receipt number (three letters, then ten digits) used for online case status checks.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checking Your Case Status Online Students and exchange visitors are assigned a SEVIS ID that starts with “N” and appears on Form I-20 or DS-2019.6BridgeUSA. Detailed Description of the DS-2019 And the A-Number, unlike the visa number, stays with you for life; on a Permanent Resident Card issued after May 10, 2010, it appears on the front as the nine-digit “USCIS Number.”7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Number None of these substitute for the red digits on the foil when a form specifically asks for the visa number.
If You Can’t Read or Locate the Number
Start with copies. If you photographed or scanned the visa page when it was issued (something immigration attorneys routinely recommend), the red number should be legible in the image. Old emails to attorneys or employers sometimes carry attachments with the same scan.
Contact the Issuing Embassy or Consulate
If the visa is lost, damaged, or illegible, contact the U.S. embassy or consulate that issued it. Email the consular section with your full name, date of birth, place of birth, U.S. address, and a description of the visa category and the passport number from the missing document. Attach a partial copy if you have one.8U.S. Department of State. Lost and Stolen Passports, Visas, and Arrival/Departure Records
One warning before you report the visa as lost or stolen: that report permanently invalidates the visa. Even if you find it the next day, it can no longer be used for travel to the United States, and you’ll need to apply for a new one.8U.S. Department of State. Lost and Stolen Passports, Visas, and Arrival/Departure Records Don’t file a lost-visa report just because you can’t put your hands on the passport at this moment.
File a FOIA Request
As a last resort, you can request your own immigration records from USCIS through a Freedom of Information Act request. As of January 22, 2026, FOIA requests for USCIS records must be submitted online at first.uscis.gov after creating a USCIS account; online submission is the only accepted method.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Request Records through the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act Processing times vary widely, so this route works only when you’re not up against a deadline.