Green Card Number, Explained

Green Card Backside Decoded: What Those 90 Characters Really Mean

A green card number is an identifying number used by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to track your case before issuance.When you first look at a green card, it seems pretty straightforward. A little bit of a shock when you flip the card over and see 3 lines of 90 letters, numbers, and “less than” symbols.

A lot of important information is contained in this string of characters, including the number associated with your green card. Every green card holder has their own unique number.

Where is the Green Card Number

Green card numbers – also known as receipt numbers or permanent resident numbers – appear on the back of the cards, in the first line of a string of 90 characters. A less than symbol serves only as a space holder.

Green Card Number Location

It is important to note that the green card number – also known as the receipt number or a permanent resident number – appears in the first line of the string of 90 characters on the back of the card. As far as the less than symbols are concerned, they are simply there for the purpose of preserving space.

Green Card Number Format

Important Note: format of the 90-character string might vary slightly on different Green Card versions.

There are 90 characters on the back of a green card, and the first line of the string begins with either C1 or C2, which indicates that the person holds the green card as a permanent resident, whether long-term or commuter, within the US (C1) or from Canada or Mexico (C2). Following are letters indicating the country of residence, USA, digits 3-5. The next ten digits (6-15) are called the alien number.

Finally, the green card number appears. There are three letters in this series, which indicate the service centre that received the case for residency:

CSC – California Service Center

EAC – Eastern Adjudication Centre (now known as Vermont Service Center)

IOE – ELIS (efile)

LIN – Lincoln Service Center (now known as Nebraska Service Center)

MSC – Missouri Service Center (now known as the National Benefits Center)

NBC – National Benefits Center

NSC – Nebraska Service Center

SRC – Southern Regional Center (now known as Texas Service Center)

TSC – Texas Service Center

VSC – Vermont Service Center

WAC – Western Adjudication Centre (now known as California Service Center)

YSC – Potomac Service Center

There are two digits after the service centre code that represent the fiscal year in which the case was received. Unlike what your calendar says, the U.S. government’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. The fiscal year two digit code of 20 would be assigned to a case received on October 15, 2019.

Following the fiscal year, three digits indicate the computer workday of the year when the case was opened. For a weekday, why 3 digits? The calculation is based on 365/366 days per year, minus holidays and weekends. A green card that reads NBC 20 045 means that it was received at the National Benefits Center on the 45th day of the fiscal year 2020.

In the last 5 digits is your unique case number – the number of your green card case that was approved.

Green card numbers are formatted as this string. For example, NBC2004551423 would be the full green card number based on the case number 51423.

In addition to your birth date, your gender, the expiration date, and a country of birth are on the second line. Lastly, you will need to include a space holder for your last name, first name, father’s first initial, and mother’s first initial in the third line.

What are the 90 Characters on the Green Card

As soon as you receive your permanent resident card, check that all of the information on it is accurate. 

On the green card, most of the information is self-explanatory. There are, however, three lines at the bottom of the card that are difficult to read. If that is the case, how would you ensure accuracy? Here is information you will need to decode these lines on your permanent resident card.

Line 1

1-2: Either C1 or C2

The C1 status indicates that you are a resident in the United States

A C2 is defined as a Permanent Resident Commuter who lives in Canada or Mexico.

3-5 USA.

The country that issued the document (The United States)

6-14: A# or Alien number, a nine-digit number.

15: Check digit

16-30: Immigrant case number that resulted in the approved green card. If you see the symbol “<” in those characters, it means a blank space.

Line 2

1-6: Date of Birth in YY/MM/DD format

7: Check digit

8: Gender

9-14: Expiration date of the green card in YY?MM/DD format

15: Check digit

16-29: Country of Birth

30: Check digit

Line 3

Your last name, “<”, first name, middle name, first initial of father, first initial of mother. If your name itself is too long, parents’ initials may be omitted.