All right, so my husband recieved his CR-1 visa a couple months ago through direct consular filing.

We're all set to go back to America and we have most of his belongings packed, nearly ready to be shipped. We have to fill out customs forms for his belongings though, and one of the questions on the customs form asks for his alien registration number.

What exactly IS his alien registration number? Is it one of the numbers on the actual visa in his passport? I see a line on the passport that says "Registration number" and I'm guessing that'd be it, but it doesn't specifically say ALIEN registration number so I thought I'd ask.

thanks to anyone who can clarify this for me.

I just don't want to risk slowing down the long period before he gets his belongings again. I'm more concerned about his stuff than he is.

There should be an 8 or 9 digit number starting with an A. Have a look on the I-94 as well.

I have his passport in front of me with the visa label and there's no number starting with an A anywhere on the visa- that's the problem I'm having. We have a number to the far right, under the case number that starts with SYD (for the Sydney consulate) then under that there is an 8 digit number that is called the registration number, however, it does not start with an A. On the very bottom right row there is ANOTHER 8 digit number in red.. not titled and different from previously mentioned "registration number"

As we have not entered the U.S.A yet we do not have an I-94 to look on, unfortunately, and we have to ship these boxes out before we do enter the states. Nor do we have any NOA that have his A-Number printed because we were a DCF case and filed every bit of paperwork in one day and recieved the visa a few days later.

Thanks for the response, though.. it is appreciated, but I am still confused! Any other insight?

I asked this very same question a few days ago! Confusing, isn't it?? I THINK the A# is the one called "registration". I may call the consulate today and ask them. If I do, I'll post what they tell me.

Also, your husband will not get an I-94 when he enters the US as he's entering on a CR-1. I-94s are only for Non-Immigrant visa holders (K-1, K-3, etc).

thanks for the clarification on the I-94. And yes, please do post if you find out which one is the A-Number!! I emailed the Sydney consulate, but haven't heard back from them yet.

The red one is the visa number, NOT the A number (aka Alien Registration Number). Gareth didn't do CR-1 so we didn't get his A number until we got the NOA, but the red number is standard to all visas and, as I said, is not the A number.

I believe A numbers normally start with 0 (if they're 9 digits) or 8 or 9 (if they're 8 digits). And Gareth's is always written in groups of three digits: A 099 123 456.

The best bet is definitely to find out from the consulate. Do you not have any copies of paperwork they gave you, besides the visa itself? Just wondering.

thanks for the clarification on the red number- even if it's not th A number it's kind of good to know what number it really is.

and no, we don't have any paperwork the consulate gave us, except a letter from them informing us when our appointment date is but that just lists our case number. I guess that's the down side to the whole direct consular filing thing.

we've emailed and faxed the consulate, so now the rest is really up to them on when we get a reply but it's getting very close to the day we have to ship our stuff out so I'm going to contact the moving company in a few days and ask if the belongings can be imported without an A number.

if I had thought of this sooner, before filling out all the paperwork for importation, I would've put all of our belongings in my name instead of him- since I'm a citizen they wouldn't want the stupid number!

thank you for the help, though. I will go check the registration number on the visa and see if it starts with a zero, eight, or nine out of curiosity.

Update:


all right, so this evening I was sitting here thinking how could I find out what his A-number is? I did check his passport, and the so-called registration number is 8 digits; however, it does not start with a zero, eight, or nine. It actually starts with a five. Thinking I had no actual paperwork from the consulate, aside from the letter with our case number, I was getting a bit frustrated but then I remember we have the "brown envelope" that you have to take to the port of entry with you when you enter the United States packed away safely in my carry on bag for when we fly out- it's been there for months, ever since we recieved it. I remembered it had all of our case details on a sheet of paper stapled in front so I just ran into the bedroom to get it and it lists the A-Number in one of the very first fields. The A-Number is, in fact, IDENTICAL to the registration number on the visa label in his passport, minus the A. So there you are, for anyone having the same problem!!

Woohoo! Awesome! Thanks!

when you come through POE, the opfficer will stamp your passport and write it in it IS on the visa so I guess he just does it for clarification

The officer didn't write anything in my passport. He stamped my passport, on the page opposite my green card. It just says "CR-1, entered on March 21st 2006".