Your A-number: where it is, and the six numbers it is not
On a green card or an EAD it is the number under USCIS # on the front. On an immigrant visa it is the Registration Number. It is A plus 8 or 9 digits, it identifies you rather than a case, and plenty of people in lawful status for years have never had one. It is not your receipt number, your account number, your I-94 number, your SEVIS ID or the control number on a visa foil.
Last verified October 13, 2026 against 8 CFR 264.1, the USCIS Alien Registration Requirement page and Form G-1055.
- The USCIS # on your green card IS your A-number
- A + 8 or 9 digits — add a leading zero if a form wants 9
- It identifies you for life, not one application
- An I-94 does not show it; a nonimmigrant visa does not either
- Already hold an I-94 or a green card? You are already registered
- Treat it like a national ID number
Informational only, not legal advice. This page explains how a government process works and what the published rules say. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. For advice on your own facts, speak to a licensed immigration attorney — here is what one typically costs.
Which number is this?
Type a number and the check tells you which of the six identifiers it is, what it identifies and where it is used. It reads only the shape — the length and the prefix — and nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. What comes back to you is masked.
Nothing leaves your browser
Identify a number
Type the number as it appears on the document. The check reads only its shape — how many digits, which letters it starts with. Nothing is stored, nothing is sent, and what comes back to you is masked.
Never enter a full receipt number or A-number on a site that offers to check your case status for a fee. Your own case status is free at egov.uscis.gov and in your myUSCIS account.
Waiting
Type a number to identify it
Type the number as it appears on the document. Nothing you type leaves your browser — the check looks only at the shape of the number.
What it actually is
A unique number attached to your alien-registration record. It identifies the person, for life, across every case and every agency — which is what makes it different from a receipt number, a case number or an account number, all of which identify a transaction or a login.
The name it goes by depends on the document you are holding. USCIS calls it the Alien Registration Number in its glossary, prints USCIS # on cards, prints A# on many notices, and the State Department prints Registration Number on an immigrant visa. All four labels mean the same number, which is most of why this question has the search volume it does.
| Full name | Alien Registration Number |
|---|---|
| Also printed as | A-Number, A#, USCIS #, Alien Number, Registration Number |
| Format | The letter A followed by 8 or 9 digits. |
| Example (invented) | A000123456 or A00012345 |
| Identifies | You, as a person, for life |
| Changes when | Never. One number per person, however many cases you file |
| Appears on an I-94? | No. An I-94 carries its own 11-character admission record number, which may be alphanumeric |
| Sensitivity | High. It is the key to your immigration file |
Not everyone has one. Not everyone. You get an A-number when USCIS or the State Department creates an immigration record for you — a green card, an Employment Authorization Document, an immigrant visa, a removal case, an asylum application, certain other filings. Plenty of people in lawful status for years have never had one: an H-1B or F-1 holder who has never filed for an EAD or a green card typically has no A-number at all, and that is normal rather than a problem.
Zero-padding. If a form or an online field demands 9 digits and your number has 8, add a leading zero after the A. A000-123-456 and A00123456 are the same number written two ways; the digits are what matter, and the hyphens and the A are formatting.
Where it is printed, drawn rather than described
Prose directions to a spot on a card are oddly hard to follow, so here are schematic drawings instead. The dashed boxes mark where to look. These are not reproductions — not to scale, no security features, and every number on them is invented.
| Document | Printed label | Where to look | Always there? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green card (Form I-551) | USCIS # | On the front, in the block of text beside your photograph, labelled USCIS #. The digits also appear inside the machine-readable zone on the back.On a current-design card the A prefix is not printed — the label reads USCIS # and the digits follow. | Yes |
| Employment Authorization Document (EAD) | USCIS # | On the front of the card, beneath the label USCIS #. | Yes |
| Immigrant visa foil in your passport | Registration Number | In the upper portion of the visa foil, labelled Registration Number. This is your A-number.Only an IMMIGRANT visa carries this. A nonimmigrant visa foil — H-1B, L-1, B-1/B-2, F-1 — does not, and the number printed on it is a visa control number, which is a different thing entirely. | Yes |
| Immigrant Data Summary | A-Number | At the top of the sheet, where you have one. If your consular case produced a physical sealed immigrant visa package, this may have come stapled to the front of it at the consulate in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad or Kolkata.Not universal. Many immigrant visa cases are now processed electronically and never involve a physical sealed packet, in which case there is no Immigrant Data Summary to find — the Registration Number on the visa foil itself is the reliable place to look instead. | Not always |
| Form I-797 notices | A# or USCIS # | Upper-right area of the notice, beside the receipt number.Not every I-797 shows one. An H-1B approval notice for someone with no immigration record typically has a receipt number and no A-number. An I-485 or I-765 notice almost always has both. | Not always |
| Biometrics appointment notice (Form I-797C) | A# | In the header block with the application type and the appointment details. | Not always |
| USCIS online account | A-Number | Under your profile or on the case page, where USCIS has associated a number with your account.A reliable place to look if the card is not to hand. | Not always |
| Form I-94 record | Not shown | An I-94 does not display your A-number. It carries its own 11-character admission record number, which may be all digits or nine digits followed by a letter and a digit.Worth knowing because the I-94 is where people look first. It is also, under 8 CFR 264.1, your registration record — the number on it just is not the A-number. | Not always |
Six numbers, and what each one is for
People do not confuse these numbers because they look alike. They confuse them because nothing explains that one of the six identifies a human being and the other five identify transactions and pieces of paper.
| Number | Shape | Identifies | Where you find it | Lasts | Sensitive? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-Number (Alien Registration Number) | A + 8 or 9 digits | You, as a person, for life | Green card, EAD, immigrant visa foil, many I-797 notices | Permanent — one number, however many cases you file | High |
| USCIS receipt numberfull guide → | 3 letters + 10 digits | One specific application or petition | Top of any Form I-797 receipt or approval notice | One case. A new filing gets a new number | High |
| USCIS online account numberfull guide → | 12 digits | Your myUSCIS login, not you and not a case | Inside your myUSCIS account profile | As long as the account exists | Medium |
| I-94 admission record numberfull guide → | 11 characters — digits, or 9 digits + a letter + a digit | One admission to the United States | Your I-94 record at i94.cbp.dhs.gov, or the tear-off on an I-797A | One entry. Every admission generates a new one | Medium |
| SEVIS IDfull guide → | N + 10 digits | Your student or exchange-visitor record | Top-left of your Form I-20 or DS-2019 | The life of that student record | Medium |
| Visa control number (visa foil number) | 8 digits, often red, on the visa foil | The physical visa sticker in your passport | On the visa foil itself — lower right on most foils | That one visa. A new visa gets a new number | Medium |
Every example number above is invented and deliberately shaped so it cannot be a live record.
Two of these have guides of their own on this site, because they come with their own sets of questions. The receipt number guide decodes the three-letter prefixes and explains why an I-485 receipt can change from LIN to MSC mid-case. The online account number guide covers what it is for and how to give it to an attorney filing a paper petition. The I-94 number, and the travel history behind it, are on the I-94 guide.
The sixth one deserves its own sentence, because it is the one missing from every other guide to this question. A visa control number is the number printed on a visa foil — often in red, usually at the lower right. It identifies the sticker. Every new visa gets a new one. It is what a consulate or VFS will ask you for, and it has nothing to do with your A-number.
The registration rule: does it apply to you?
Since 2025 there has been a lot of alarm about a federal requirement to register with the government, and a form, G-325R, to do it on. If that reached you and you hold a visa and an I-94, it was almost certainly not about you. Here is why, from the regulation.
Start here: are you already registered?
This is the part that matters for most readers of this page. 8 CFR 264.1 makes the I-94 both a registration form and evidence of registration, and the green card evidence of registration. If you flew in on an H-1B, H-4, L-1, F-1 or B-1/B-2 visa and have an I-94, or you hold a green card or an EAD, you are already registered and there is nothing to file. USCIS also publishes a determination tool on its own registration page if you want to check your specific facts.
You are already registered if any of these is true:
- You were admitted as a nonimmigrant and issued a Form I-94, I-94A or I-94W — paper or electronic — even if the admission period has since expired
- You hold a Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551)
- You were issued an Employment Authorization Document
- You were admitted on a visa issued by the Department of State and used that visa at your most recent arrival
- You hold another document the regulation designates as evidence of registration
- You have an application on file that is itself a registration form — Form I-485 is one
8 CFR 264.1(a) and (b)
| Your situation | What you need to do |
|---|---|
| Admitted on an H-1B, H-4, L-1, L-2, F-1, B-1/B-2 or any other visa, with an I-94 | Nothing. The I-94 is both a prescribed registration form and evidence of registration under 8 CFR 264.1. Carry it. |
| Hold a green card (Form I-551) | Nothing. The I-551 is evidence of registration. Carry it — INA 264(e) requires it. |
| Hold an Employment Authorization Document | Nothing. The EAD is on the evidence list. |
| Have an I-485 on file | Nothing. Form I-485 is itself a prescribed registration form. |
| In the United States for fewer than 30 days | Nothing. The requirement attaches to a stay of 30 days or more. |
| A Canadian who crossed by land, was not issued an I-94, and is staying 30 days or more | This is the group the requirement is actually aimed at. File Form G-325R before the 30 days run out. |
| A child who has just turned 14 | Apply for re-registration and fingerprinting within 30 days of the 14th birthday — even if already registered. 8 CFR 264.1(g). |
| A parent of a child under 14 who must register | You register them, through an account created in the child's own name. |
| A US citizen or national | Exempt. |
Who is actually left. Strip out everyone already registered and the group that genuinely has to file G-325R is small and specific: people who entered without a visa and without being issued an I-94, which in practice means long-staying Canadian visitors who crossed by land, plus people who entered without inspection and children who were born or turned 14 here without an immigration record of their own. If the news about registration reached you and you hold a visa and an I-94, it was not about you.
Where the rule stands
If you do have to file it
- Create a USCIS online account at my.uscis.gov — the person registering needs their own account, including a child under 14, whose account a parent or guardian creates in the child's name
- Complete Form G-325R inside that account. It is filed online only; there is no paper route
- Attend a biometrics appointment if USCIS schedules one
- Keep the proof of registration USCIS issues, and carry it
The current form edition is 09/04/26 and the fee is $0 — Form G-325R carries no filing fee on the current fee schedule. The deadline is before the 30 days run out. the clock is the length of the stay, not the date you discover the rule. The requirement attaches to each stay of 30 days or more, so it is a question to ask about each entry rather than once in a lifetime.
Three things registration is not
Registration is not an immigration status. Registration documentation does not create a status, does not establish employment authorization, and does not provide any other right or benefit under the INA or any other US law. It is a record-keeping duty, and completing it changes nothing else about your situation.
It does carry a duty to carry. Anyone issued evidence of registration must carry it and have it with them at all times. INA 264(e)
And it carries penalties. Failing to comply can carry criminal and civil penalties. The statute, not USCIS guidance, sets them.
When you cannot find it
| Situation | What to do | Cost | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| You have the card but cannot read the number | Look for the label USCIS # on the front of a green card or EAD.The A prefix is not printed on current card designs — the digits after USCIS # are the number. | $0 | Immediate |
| You do not have the card to hand | Sign in to your USCIS online account. Where USCIS has associated a number with the account it appears in your profile or on the case page.Also check any I-797 notice you have saved, and the immigrant visa foil in an old passport. | $0 | Immediate |
| Your green card is lost, stolen or damaged | File Form I-90 to replace it.No fee if USCIS issued a card you never received and it came back undeliverable, or if the card was issued with wrong information because of a DHS error. | $465 paper, $415 online | Check the current USCIS processing times for Form I-90 |
| You have no document at all that carries it | File Form G-639, a Freedom of Information Act request, for your own immigration file. The file contains the number. | $0 | FOIA processing times vary widely — plan in months, not weeks |
| Two different A-numbers appear on your documents | Do not pick one. Tell USCIS in writing, through your attorney or on the next filing, that there are two records and give both numbers with the documents each appears on, so the records can be consolidated.It happens, usually when a second record was created before the first was found — a childhood case and an adult one, or a name recorded differently in Hindi or a regional language and then transliterated two ways. Filing under one number while a case sits under the other is how people end up with an approval attached to a record that has their other history in it. | $0 | Depends on the case |
| A form demands 9 digits and yours has 8 | Add a leading zero after the A. | $0 | Immediate |
Fee figures from Form G-1055, the USCIS fee schedule.
Four confusions specific to Indian applicants
The immigrant visa foil versus the nonimmigrant visa foil
The immigrant visa issued at a US consulate in India carries a field labelled Registration Number, and that is your A-number. The nonimmigrant visa foil for an H-1B, L-1, F-1 or B-1/B-2 carries a visa control number, which identifies the sticker and not you. People hand over the control number when a form asks for an A-number, and the filing comes back.
An OCI card number is not a US identifier
An OCI card number, a PIO number and an Indian passport file number belong to Indian systems. None of them is an A-number and none of them belongs on a USCIS form. The same is true in reverse: your A-number has no place on an Indian consular or VFS application.
Transliteration is the usual cause of a duplicate record
A name recorded one way on a school certificate and another way on a passport, or a surname that appears first on one document and last on another, is the most common route to two immigration records for one person. It is worth checking consistency across your documents before a green card filing rather than after.
What VFS and the consulate actually ask for
For Indian visa and OCI services through VFS, the identifiers in play are your Indian passport number, the VFS reference and, for an OCI application, your US green card details. Your A-number is not part of that process, and the green card number you are asked for is the USCIS # on the card.
How to handle it
Treat it like a national ID number, because that is what it functions as. It is the key to your immigration file. Share it with your own attorney, your employer's attorney and the agency asking for it on a form — not in a forum post, not with a service that offers to check your case for a fee, and not in a screenshot.
- Check your own case status for free. USCIS publishes it at egov.uscis.gov and in your myUSCIS account. A service that charges to tell you the same thing is charging for access to your own record.
- Redact before you share a document. If you are posting an I-797 or a card to ask a question, the A-number, the receipt number, your date of birth and your address all come out first.
- Give it to your employer’s attorney, not your employer’s HR inbox. The attorney needs it for the filing. A shared mailbox does not.
- Keep one copy of each notice. A saved PDF of every I-797 is the cheapest insurance there is against needing a FOIA request years later. The same goes for every I-94 — download it after every entry.
Frequently asked questions
What is an A-number?
An A-number, or Alien Registration Number, is the unique number attached to your alien-registration record. It identifies you as a person, for life, across every case and every agency — which is what makes it different from a receipt number or an account number, both of which identify a transaction. The format is the letter A followed by 8 or 9 digits. Not everyone. You get an A-number when USCIS or the State Department creates an immigration record for you — a green card, an Employment Authorization Document, an immigrant visa, a removal case, an asylum application, certain other filings. Plenty of people in lawful status for years have never had one: an H-1B or F-1 holder who has never filed for an EAD or a green card typically has no A-number at all, and that is normal rather than a problem.
Where do I find my A-number?
On a green card and on an Employment Authorization Document it is on the front, in the block of text beside your photograph, labelled USCIS #. On a current card design the letter A is not printed — the digits after that label are the number. On an immigrant visa foil in your passport it is the field labelled Registration Number. It also appears on the Immigrant Data Summary that came with a consular visa package, and on many Form I-797 notices in the upper-right area. It does not appear on an I-94.
Is the USCIS number on my green card the same as my A-number?
Yes. The label on the card reads USCIS #, and the digits under it are your Alien Registration Number. USCIS changed the label on the card; it did not change the number. This is the single commonest question about the A-number and the answer is that they are the same thing with two names.
Is an A-number 8 or 9 digits?
Both exist. Older records carry 8 digits and more recently issued numbers carry 9. If an online form demands 9 digits and yours has 8, add a leading zero after the A — the digits are what matter, and the A and any hyphens are formatting. Writing it as A012345678, A-012-345-678 or 012345678 describes the same record.
What is the difference between an A-number and a receipt number?
An A-number identifies you and never changes. A receipt number identifies one specific application or petition, is three letters followed by ten digits, and is new for every filing — so someone with an I-140, an I-485 and an I-765 on file has three receipt numbers and one A-number. Our receipt number guide decodes the prefixes.
Do I have an A-number if I am on an H-1B?
Often not, and that is normal. An A-number is created when USCIS or the State Department opens an immigration record for you — a green card, an EAD, an immigrant visa, certain other filings. Someone who has been on an H-1B for years, has never applied for an EAD and has not started a green card process usually has no A-number at all. If a form asks for one and you do not have one, that is the answer rather than a problem to solve.
Do I need to register with USCIS under the alien registration rule?
Probably not. 8 CFR 264.1 lists the documents that constitute evidence of registration, and the Form I-94 is on that list — as is the Permanent Resident Card. If you were admitted on a visa and issued an I-94, or you hold a green card or an EAD, you are already registered and there is nothing to file. The requirement reaches people 14 or older who were not registered and fingerprinted when they got a visa and who stay 30 days or more, which in practice is chiefly long-staying visitors who crossed a land border without a visa and without an I-94. USCIS publishes a determination tool on its own registration page if you want to check your specific facts.
What is Form G-325R?
Form G-325R, Biographic Information (Registration), is the form someone who is not already registered uses to satisfy the requirement. It is filed online only, through a USCIS online account, and each person needs their own account — including a child under 14, whose account a parent or guardian creates in the child's name and files on their behalf. There is no filing fee. Registration is not an immigration status and does not create work authorisation.
What do I do if I cannot find my A-number?
Work down three routes in order. Check your USCIS online account, where the number appears in your profile or on a case page if USCIS has associated one with the account. Check your saved I-797 notices and any old passport with an immigrant visa foil. If neither works, file Form G-639, a Freedom of Information Act request, for your own immigration file — it contains the number, and it is free, though FOIA processing runs in months rather than weeks.
What if I have two different A-numbers?
Do not pick one. Tell USCIS in writing, through your attorney or on your next filing, that two records exist, giving both numbers and the documents each appears on, so the records can be consolidated. It happens more often than people expect, usually when a second record was opened before the first was found — a childhood case and an adult one, or a name transliterated two different ways. Filing under one number while your history sits under the other is how an approval ends up attached to the wrong record.
Is the number on my H-1B visa stamp an A-number?
No. A nonimmigrant visa foil carries a visa control number, which identifies the sticker in your passport rather than you, and it is not interchangeable with an A-number. Only an immigrant visa foil carries a Registration Number, and that one is your A-number. Handing over a control number when a form asks for an A-number is the commonest version of this mistake.
Should I share my A-number?
Treat it like a national ID number, because that is how it functions — it is the key to your immigration file. Share it with your own attorney, your employer's attorney, and the agency asking for it on a form. Do not post it in a forum, do not include it in a screenshot, and do not give it to a service offering to check your case status for a fee. Your own case status is free at egov.uscis.gov and in your myUSCIS account.
Sources and last verified
Registration rules read from 8 CFR 264.1 and the USCIS Alien Registration Requirement page on October 13, 2026. Fee figures from Form G-1055. Every example number on this page is invented.
- 8 CFR part 264 — registration and fingerprinting ↗
- USCIS — Alien Registration Requirement ↗
- USCIS — Form G-325R, Biographic Information (Registration) ↗
- Federal Register — Alien Registration Form and Evidence of Registration ↗
- INA 262 — 8 U.S.C. 1302, registration of aliens ↗
- INA 264 — 8 U.S.C. 1304, forms and carrying evidence ↗
- Form G-639, Freedom of Information Act request ↗
- Form G-1055 — USCIS fee schedule ↗
- myUSCIS ↗
- USCIS glossary ↗
Informational only, not legal advice. This page explains how a government process works and what the published rules say. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. For advice on your own facts, speak to a licensed immigration attorney — here is what one typically costs.
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