Updated November 9, 2026

Check a USCIS case by receipt number

The number at the top of an I-797 notice. See which office issued it, what the digits mean, and where USCIS shows its status. A DOL number (G-100-…) goes on the PERM case page.

Check case status with USCIS

The three letters

Seven office prefixes from USCIS's glossary, plus one seen on notices. More

USCIS's glossary names seven prefixes. One more, YSC, appears on notices from the Potomac Service Center and is listed here as seen on notices. USCIS doesn't define it. Any three letters are accepted by USCIS's own validation, so a new one would still look up.

Every prefix, and the office it names

EAC: Vermont Service Center The letters stand for Eastern Adjudication Center, the center's old name.
WAC: California Service Center Western Adjudication Center, the old name.
LIN: Nebraska Service Center Lincoln, where the center sits.
SRC: Texas Service Center Southern Regional Center, the old name.
NBC: National Benefits Center Cases that end at a field office, including most I-485 adjustment filings.
MSC: National Benefits Center Missouri Service Center, the center's earlier name. It's still issued.
IOE: USCIS online filing (ELIS) Filed through a USCIS online account. The Case Status API returns no filing or modified date for IOE receipts.
YSC: Potomac Service Center (seen on notices, missing from USCIS's glossary list)

FAQs

What is a USCIS receipt number?

The 13-character identifier USCIS assigns to a filing: three letters and ten digits, like EAC2190123456. USCIS's glossary says the letters are the office that took the case (EAC, WAC, LIN, SRC, NBC, MSC or IOE) and the ten digits are the number itself. It's the key to the case at USCIS, the way a G-100 number is the key to a PERM case at the Department of Labor.

Where do I find my receipt number?

At the top of the I-797 notice USCIS mailed after the filing was accepted, and on every later notice about the same case. If the filing went through a USCIS online account, the receipt starts with IOE and is shown in the account. The employer's attorney has it if you don't.

Does this page show my case status?

No. It reads what the receipt number encodes. For the status itself, USCIS Case Status Online answers every receipt, and Emma, USCIS's virtual assistant, answers questions about a case. Both are linked on this page.

Is this the same as my PERM case number?

No. A PERM case number (G-100-26125-868956) is the Department of Labor's record of the labor certification. A USCIS receipt number is USCIS's record of the petition filed after it, most often the I-140, or of the I-485 filed after that. Each agency answers only its own number. Type a DOL number here and this page sends you to the PERM lookup.

What do the digits mean?

USCIS doesn't publish a reading of them. The convention practitioners use is that the first two digits are the federal fiscal year, the next three are the workday of that year on which the case was receipted, and the last five are a sequence number. This page shows that reading and labels it a convention, because USCIS hasn't confirmed it.

Do you store the receipt number I type in?

This page doesn't store it. The number sits in the page's address so you can bookmark or share the result, and decoding it asks nothing of USCIS. A list you save stays in your own browser.

The office names come from USCIS's glossary. The reading of the digits is a convention and is labelled as one. USCIS is the authority for any receipt, and its own status page answers every one.

The rules behind these numbers

Waiting on a PERM case?

When it'll likely be decided
An email when DOL moves it

Don't have the number?

Search every filing by employer