Where Is the Receipt Number on Your Green Card?

On a current green card, the receipt number is on the back, tucked inside the first line of the three-line machine-readable zone at the bottom of the card. It’s the same 13-character case tracking number USCIS assigned when it received your permanent residency application, and knowing where is the receipt number on a green card matters because it’s what USCIS asks for whenever you check case status or file a follow-up application.

Reading the Back of the Card

Flip the card over. You’ll see three lines of letters, digits, and angle brackets, with the “<" symbols acting as spacers. Focus on the first line.

On the current design, that first line runs 30 characters and stacks several pieces of data together: a residency code, the country abbreviation (USA), your nine-digit Alien Registration Number, and the case number tied to your approved green card. The receipt number corresponds to that case number portion toward the end of line one.

The second line carries your date of birth, gender, card expiration date, and country of birth. The third line holds your name and, if there’s room, your parents’ initials. Neither of those lines contains the receipt number.

Older Cards May Not Have One

USCIS redesigns the Permanent Resident Card every few years, so earlier versions look different.¹ Cards issued between January 1977 and August 1989 have no expiration date and no document number at all.² If you have one of those, there is no receipt number printed on the card itself. Check your original receipt notice or your USCIS online account instead.

Don’t Confuse It With Your A-Number

Two different numbers appear on the same card, and mixing them up is the single most common mistake. They do different things.

The receipt number is a 13-character case tracking identifier — three letters followed by 10 digits — that USCIS assigns to one specific application or petition. It tracks that filing through the system.³
The Alien Registration Number (A-Number, sometimes labeled USCIS#) is your personal identifier. It stays with you across every immigration filing you ever make. It starts with the letter “A” followed by eight or nine digits, and it appears on the front of the card next to the “USCIS#” label as well as within positions 6 through 14 of the first line on the back.

When a form asks for your “receipt number,” it wants the 13-character code. When it asks for your “A-Number” or “USCIS Number,” it wants the A-prefixed identifier. Submitting the wrong one can delay your case, so read the label on the field before you fill it in.

What a Valid Receipt Number Looks Like

Every USCIS receipt number follows the same structure: three letters, then 10 digits, 13 characters total.⁴ Each segment tells you something:

The first three letters identify where your case was processed. Common prefixes include EAC, WAC, LIN, SRC, NBC, MSC, and IOE. Most correspond to physical service centers; IOE means your case was filed or receipted through the USCIS electronic filing system.³
The next two digits are the federal fiscal year USCIS received your filing.
The next three digits are the computer workday within that fiscal year when your case was opened.
The last five digits are the unique case number for your individual application.

If what you’re looking at doesn’t match that pattern, you probably have the wrong number. When entering the receipt number online, drop any dashes but keep asterisks or other characters that appear on your notice.⁴

If You Can’t Read the Card, or Don’t Have It

The number on the back can wear down, and cards get misplaced. The same receipt number lives in several other places.

Form I-797C Receipt Notice

When USCIS accepted your application, it mailed or emailed you a receipt notice on Form I-797C. The receipt number is printed in the upper-left area of that notice. If you signed up for electronic notifications, search your email for messages from USCIS; the number will be in the confirmation.

Your USCIS Online Account

If you filed electronically or created an account at my.uscis.gov, your receipt number and case history are stored there. The account shows up to the last five actions taken on your case and lets you access electronically filed applications.⁵ This is usually the fastest way to recover the number once paper notices have gone missing.

Bank Records

If you paid your application fee by personal check, pull up the cleared-check images in your bank statement. USCIS sometimes writes the receipt number on the back of the cashed check.

USCIS Contact Center

As a last resort, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY: 800-767-1833). Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, excluding federal holidays.⁶ They’ll verify your identity before sharing any case details, so have your A-Number, date of birth, and other identifying information ready.

One boundary worth flagging: if your card is lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed, you’re required to apply for a replacement by filing Form I-90.⁷ Recovering the receipt number from your online account or a receipt notice doesn’t substitute for the physical card, and permanent residents are legally required to carry valid, unexpired proof of status.⁸

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 13.1 List A Documents That Establish Identity and Employment Authorization
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 7.1 Lawful Permanent Residents LPR
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Case Status Online – Case Status Search
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checking Your Case Status Online
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Contact Us
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Replace Your Green Card
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card Green Card