Guide

IOE Receipt Number: What a USCIS Receipt Starting With IOE Means

Your receipt number is the identifier USCIS gives each application or petition it receives, and the one it uses to track the case. If yours starts with IOE, this guide explains what those letters mean, what they do not tell you, and where you can use the number.[1]

Last updated 8 sources

How a USCIS Receipt Number Is Built

USCIS describes the receipt number as a unique 13-character identifier for each application or petition it receives.[1]

It is made of three letters followed by 10 numbers. You can find it on the notices of action USCIS sends you, such as the Form I-797C receipt notice.[2][3]

The USCIS pages cited here describe the format but do not explain what the 10 numbers encode, so we do not read a filing date or a queue position into them.[1][2]

What the IOE Prefix Tells You

A USCIS Office of Legislative Affairs guide lists the three-letter prefixes and what they stand for. Most name the center where a case began, while IOE is described as the prefix used to identify electronic filing and the immigrant visa fee.[3]

  • IOE: electronic filing or the USCIS Immigrant Fee. The receipt for an Immigrant Fee payment also begins with IOE.[3][4]
  • EAC: Vermont Service Center. WAC: California Service Center. LIN: Nebraska Service Center. SRC: Texas Service Center. YSC: Potomac Service Center.[3]
  • MSC and NBC: National Benefits Center, which USCIS says is not a service center.[3][5]

IOE Does Not Always Mean You Filed Online

USCIS says that if you did not file online but have a receipt number beginning with IOE, you can add the case to your online account with the Online Access Code from your USCIS Account Access Notice.[6]

So an IOE prefix tells you the case is handled electronically, not which office has it and not, by itself, how it was filed. Your notices show where the case is.[3][6]

What You Can Do With an IOE Receipt Number

Check the status on USCIS Case Status Online. The tool needs your receipt number and shows the last action taken on your case and the next steps, if any.[2][7]

In a USCIS online account at my.uscis.gov you can see case status and history, send secure messages, view notices, upload evidence and respond to Requests for Evidence.[6]

Behind the account page, the case history is stored as data with short event codes, many of which appear in the NIEM list of benefit document status codes. Our USCIS API Tracker guide shows how to copy that data, and the CaseTicker case tracker explains each code in plain English, in your browser. Read more in IOE Case Status: How to Check and Read It.[8]

Not legal advice. This guide is general information from public sources. For advice about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney or accredited representative. CaseTicker is not affiliated with USCIS. Not legal advice.

Sources

Checked . Numbers in brackets in the text point here.

  1. [1]Glossary: Receipt NumberUSCIS
  2. [2]Checking Your Case Status OnlineUSCIS
  3. [3]Congressional Inquiries Refresher (Office of Legislative Affairs)USCIS
  4. [4]USCIS Immigrant Fee Payment GuideUSCIS
  5. [5]Contact UsUSCIS
  6. [6]How to Create a USCIS Online AccountUSCIS
  7. [7]Case Status OnlineUSCIS
  8. [8]NIEM 5.0 BenefitDocumentStatusCategoryCodeSimpleTypeNIEM

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