If you are a citizen of a foreign country and not a US citizen, you need a visa to enter America. Depending on the purpose of your travel, it can be of any type, such as an immigrant or non-immigrant. A non-immigrant visa is for temporary travel to the US, such as visiting for tourism, temporary work, study, etc. Unlike, the immigrant visa is for someone going to get a green card and become a permanent resident in the US
Many of you planning to go to the US may wonder what a USA visa looks like. Some of you may be going for Tourism as a visitor, some of you may be going to study as an F1 student, Some of you may be going to the US to work on an H1B visa, etc. Irrespective of the purpose of your travel, the US visa stamp remains pretty standard, but the info in it varies by the type of visa. You need to apply for a US Visa at a consulate to get the visa stamped on your Passport.
US Visa Design Changes – New Bridge Visa Foil
The original US Visa foil had Lincoln on it with the US Capitol Building. The US Visa design has changed, and starting in 2022, they are issuing the US Visa Foil with the Golden Gate Bridge on it.
Each US consular post has a stock of US Visa Foils, and once they have depleted the old stock, they will start issuing new visa foils. Do not be worried if you see a different visa fold from your friends/ colleagues in a different country. Both US Visa designs are valid, and previously issued visas on the old design remain valid until expiration.
Below is the high-level difference in the specimen as given by the US Department of State
Sample US Visa, Meaning of fields on a US Visa Foil.
Below are three samples of US Visas: B1/B2 visas and H1B visas. We review each of the fields on the visa, which means below.
B1/B2 Visa Issued in 2024 with the new design of the Golden Gate Bridge
B1/B2 Visa issued in 2024 with Lincoln’s old design.
Not much has changed if you notice both the B1/B2 Visas issued in 2024 and 2012. Even though the design has changed, the fields remain the same.
B1/B2 Visa Issued in 2012
| US Visa – Filed Name | Meaning of the Field, Information |
| Issuing Post Name | It has the location where the US visa was issued. It is the US Consulate / Embassy office location |
| Control Number | US Visa control number is an internal tracking number for DHS to track visas. |
| Surname | Family Name or Last name of the applicant that appears in the passport. |
| Given Name | First Name or Given name on your passport. |
| Passport Number | Visa issued applicant’s passport number |
| Sex | Sex of the visa holder. For Male = M, For Female = F |
| Birth Date | Date of birth of the visa holder as in passport |
| Nationality | Country of Citizenship or Nationality of the Visa holder |
| Visa Type / Class | Entries correspond to how many times you can use the visa. ‘M’ means you can use your visa to seek entry multiple times to enter the USA. If it is ‘S’ or ‘1’ it means a single entry and you can use it for only one. Also, if it has a number, you will be allowed to use that visa to enter that many numbers of times printed on Visa. Look at the sample of the same after this section. |
| Entries | Entries correspond to how many times you can use the visa. ‘M’ means you can use your visa to seek entry multiple times to enter the USA. If it is ‘S’ or ‘1’ it means a single entry and you can use it for only one. Also, if it has a number, you will be allowed to use that visa to enter that many numbers of times printed on Visa. Look at the sample after this section. |
| Issue Date | The Date when your US visa was issued. It will be Day – Month – Year format. |
| Expiration Date | It is the date when your USA visa would expire, it is also in the same format Day – Month – Year. But, the actual amount of time you can stay in US when you enter the US is decided by the CBP officer, and that date is written on your passport along with the stamp at the Port of Entry. The duration you can stay is also in the I-94 document that you get at port of entry. You can check it online, read US Travel History -I94 |
US Visa Number (Red Color Number) | The Red color number in the bottom of the visa, indicates the Visa Number. If you have to enter US visa number at any other place, you would use this number |
| Photograph ( Black and White ) | Visa holders photograph in Black and white. It will be front facing. If anything changes significantly in your appearance, you need to be prepared for answering the same. |
| Annotation | This section is for annotations by the Visa officer. Depending on the situation, it maybe blank or has some information in this section. For Students, you would have school name, for Work visa holders, you would have Employer Name and Case number. Also, if there are any checks, they would be noted here. This notes is used by the CBP officer at port of entry as needed for verification. If you look at the first visa sample above for B1/B2, there is no annotation. But, for the second US Visa sample screenshot above for H1B Visa, you would see annotation related to the Presidential proclamation that says “NIE UNDER ALL P. P. S ON NOVEL CORONAVIRUS”. In some cases, you may also get an annotation called “CLEARANCE RECEIVED”, which is important for you to keep in mind when you fill your next DS-160 form. |
| Stars below Photo | The stars below the photo in the US visa are of no significance. Sometimes, you see one start, sometimes, there are two or more. There are crazy assumptions and theories saying it signifies there a risk of the individual. It is just a security feature of the visa and has no significance. It was shared in past in one of the sessions with US Dept of State, no need to worry, if you see them. See the below screenshot from US Dept of State FAQs. You can read the Official Chat Transcript that talks about this  |
| Two Lines in Bottom with <<< | These are two lines that are computer-generated for machine-reading. When you at any visa counters or anywhere, they will swipe your passport to read info in it. This is used for swiping and reading by machine. It will have your first name, last name, passport numbers, etc to be read by a machine reader. |
| Background Images in USA Visa | The background images on the US visa are Lincoln Memorial and US Capitol Building in Washington D.C. The most recent visas issued starting from 2022 have the Golden Gate Bridge on them. |
Sample US Visa with Single Entry
Below is a sample of K1 Visa for someone entering the US to marry a US Sponsor as a fiancé(e). If you look closely, the number of entries shown under entries as ‘1’ that indicates a Single entry.
A person with this US Visa stamp with an entry number of ‘1’ can only enter the US once. Unlike, if you see above examples, they show as ‘M’, which indicates multiple entries. If it is ‘M’, it indicates that the person with such visa can enter the US multiple times using the same visa, as long as it is valid.
Your Comment l want to know I-94 number
Read article How to check I-94 Online for the process, it has step by step guide.