Where to Find Your Nonimmigrant Visa Number: Foil and Forms

Your nonimmigrant visa number is the eight-character string printed in red ink near the lower right corner of the visa foil pasted inside your passport. Everything else on the foil is printed in black, so the red ink is the giveaway. The number is usually eight characters, either all digits or one letter followed by seven digits. That is the number the DS-160, USCIS benefit forms, and other immigration paperwork are asking for when they request your visa number.

Where to Look on the Foil

The visa foil is the colorful sticker a U.S. consulate placed inside your passport when it approved your visa. It carries your photo, your biographical details, your visa classification, entry allowance, and expiration date. Multiple strings of numbers appear on the foil, but only one of them is printed in red, and that one is your visa number. It sits toward the bottom right.

The red visa number is the primary identifier linking your physical foil to the electronic records in government databases.¹ If the ink has faded past the point of being readable, or the passport with the foil is gone, skip ahead to the recovery section.

Numbers That Are Not Your Visa Number

Picking the wrong number off the foil (or off a related document) is the most common mistake. The simple rule works most of the time: if it’s red, it’s your visa number; if it’s black, it’s something else. The usual suspects:

Control number. Printed in black near the top of the foil. This is an internal administrative tracking number generated automatically when the visa is printed.¹
I-94 admission number. An 11-character string (nine digits, a letter, then a digit) assigned when you enter the United States. It lives on your electronic I-94 record, not on the visa foil.²
Petition receipt number. A 13-character code beginning with three letters such as EAC or WAC, assigned by USCIS when an employer or sponsor files a petition for you. It tracks the petition, not the visa.
Passport number. Printed on your passport’s biographical data page, usually in the upper right corner. Some forms ask for the passport number and the visa number as separate fields.

SEVIS ID (F, J, and M Visa Holders)

If you hold a student or exchange visa, you also have a SEVIS ID: the letter N followed by digits, for example N0012345678. It appears in the upper left corner of your Form I-20 or the upper right corner of your Form DS-2019. It is required on certain forms, including the DS-160 when applying for a student or exchange visa, but it is a separate identifier from the red visa foil number.¹

When You Don’t Have a Visa Number

Not everyone in the United States has one, and a form that demands a visa number can be confusing if you never received a foil.

Visa Waiver Program and ESTA Travelers

Citizens of the 40 Visa Waiver Program countries enter on an approved ESTA, not on a visa. ESTA is not a visa and does not generate a visa number.³ If a form asks for a nonimmigrant visa number and you came in under VWP, the correct entry is “N/A” or a blank field, depending on the form’s instructions. Your I-94 admission number or passport number will do the work of identifying you.

Change of Status Inside the United States

If USCIS changed your status while you stayed in the country (say, from B-2 tourist to F-1 student), you may not have a visa foil for your current status. USCIS issues a Form I-797A, Notice of Action, which serves as a replacement I-94.⁴ The receipt number on that I-797 is not a visa number. Your most recent visa number is still the one on the last foil in your passport, even if that foil is for a different classification. If you have never held a visa foil at all, “N/A” is the right entry.

Which Forms Actually Ask for It

People often assume every immigration form needs a visa number. Most do not.

Form I-9, the employment eligibility verification form, does not ask for a visa number. Workers authorized to be employed provide one of three things instead: a USCIS number, an I-94 admission number, or a foreign passport number with country of issuance.⁵ None of those is the red foil number.

The DS-160 online nonimmigrant visa application does ask for a previous visa number when you are applying for a new visa. This is where the red number from your old foil matters. If the old passport is no longer accessible, see the recovery options below.

Various USCIS benefit forms, including some change of status and adjustment applications, contain a field for your visa number. Read the instructions for the specific form. When a field does not apply, most forms tell you to enter “N/A.”

If You Can’t Read the Number or Lost the Passport

Foils can fade, especially in a heavily used passport, and old passports are often surrendered or misplaced. A few ways to get the number back:

Check old photos, scans, or copies. If you or an immigration attorney or employer ever copied your visa page, the number should still be legible on the copy. Many people photograph the foil when it is first issued, and the image may still be on a phone or in email.
File a FOIA request with CBP. Submit through the SecureRelease portal at securerelease.us or through foia.gov. As of January 2026, CBP no longer accepts paper FOIA requests by mail, fax, or email. Include your full name, date of birth, passport number, alien number if you have one, and approximate travel dates. CBP holds travel records back to 1982.⁶
Contact the consulate that issued the visa. The issuing post keeps records of the visas it issues, though response times vary.

FOIA requests take time. If you need the number urgently for a pending application, tell the reviewing agency. USCIS adjudicators can access government databases that verify your visa history independently.

One thing the I-94 system will not do: the electronic I-94 at i94.cbp.dhs.gov shows your admission number and class of admission, but not your visa foil number.⁷ Those are different identifiers. If the form specifically wants the visa number, the I-94 lookup will not solve the problem.

Getting It Wrong on a Federal Form

An honest typo will not send anyone to prison. Knowingly submitting false information on an immigration document is a federal crime, with penalties of up to ten years in prison for a first or second offense unrelated to terrorism or drug trafficking, and up to 15, 20, or 25 years for repeat offenses or offenses tied to drug trafficking or terrorism.⁸

The practical rule: check the number you enter against the physical foil before you submit. If you cannot verify it, write “N/A” and explain the situation rather than guess. Agencies handle a missing field far better than a wrong one.

1
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 403.9 – NIV Issuances
2
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms: I-94 and I-94W
3
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Frequently Asked Questions About the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797 Types and Functions
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
6
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Frequently Asked Questions
7
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. I-94/I-95 Website
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1546 – Fraud and Misuse of Visas, Permits, and Other Documents