What Does My H1B EAC Case Number Mean?

Posted by Frank Gogol in Immigrants | Updated on August 10, 2023

At a Glance: An H1B petition number is a 13-digit code assigned to visa applications, including the H1B visa. It consists of four parts indicating the location, year, day, and case number. The location code represents the service center processing the petition (e.g., SRC for Texas Service Center). The year indicates the year of filing the petition. The day code represents the computer workday in the fiscal year when the fee was taken. The last five digits are random numbers. It’s important to note that EAC or WAC in the case number does not necessarily mean it’s an H1B petition.

You have probably made your way to this article to try to understand what in the world the numbers and acronyms on your H1B EAC number mean.

If you have filed your petition for the H1B visa lottery, you’ve received a case number for your petition. When you first look at this number, it looks like a bunch of random digits and letters that have been sporadically put together. However, there is meaning to the way these numbers come together, and we’re here to explain it to you so that you can crack the code and its meaning.

You are not the only person scratching his or her head, wondering what the sequence of those 13 digits means. It is not just you who is lost, we promise. The reason this is a common question is because the USCIS doesn’t explain what the numbers mean in detail unless you ask them. They do not brief you on what the number means, so normally people are left in the dark trying to figure it out.

Do not fret, because it will all make sense once you get through this article. We will give you the full explanation to help you decode the mysterious case of the H1B case number.

What is an H1B Petition Number?

An EAC case number is a 13-digit code assigned to every visa applications, including the H1B. It is broken up into four parts that represent the location, year, day, and case number for each applicant.

The H1B Case Number: Example

The case number you get after filing a report looks a little something like this: SRC-16–022–57890.

So what do these numbers and letters mean? We have a simple explanation prepared for you. Take a look at the code you have and follow along with this article so you cover everything. With the aforementioned example, we are going to pick this number apart so you understand what every part means.
SRC-15–222–47890

In this example, SRC indicates the location where the H1B petition is being processed. We will get more into each part below:

LOCATION: SRC

In our example, the letters are SRC, which is the abbreviation for Texas Service Center, indicating that you filed your H1B petition at the Texas Service Center. There are 4 different service centers where your H1B petition can be filed, and their acronyms and location names include:

4 Locations Where Your H1B Petition Can be Filed

LIN — Nebraska Service Center; LIN refers to Lincoln, Nebraska
EAC — Vermont Service Center; EAC refers to Eastern Adjudication Center, which was the original name given to the center.
SRC — Texas Service Center; SRC refers to Southern Regional Center, which was the original name given to the center
WAC — California Service Center; WAC refers to Western Adjudication Center, which was the original name given to the center.

The only acronym which pairs up with what the actual abbreviation for the service center should look like is LIN — although, even in that case the abbreviation is a bit off. Don’t let this part of the code fool you and make the connection for your own EAC number to find out where your H1B is being processed.

H1B Case Number YEAR: 16

The first two numbers you see after the location shortage indicates the number of the year you filed your H1B petition. So in our example, this number corresponds to the year 2016. Please note that the number responds to the current year of the petition, it does not correspond to the fiscal year of the H1B petition by the USCIS. Although the petition was filed in 2016, the corresponding fiscal year would be for the FY17 quota. Keep that in mind as you check your numbers out.

H1B Petition Number DAY: 022

This next part of the code gets a little tricky. The next three-digit number represents the computer workday in the fiscal year on which the fee was taken. For example, if your fee was processed on the first day of the fiscal year (October 1st) the number in this section would be 001. This would follow suit for the days following the start of the fiscal year.

So, let’s say your fee was processed on the 17th working day of the fiscal year, then the number in this section would be 017. This number can be quite confusing since the number refers to working days only and excludes weekends and federal holidays. For instance, in our example, our three-digit number is 022; since the fiscal year starts on October 1st, you would start counting 22 days from October 1, excluding weekends and federal holidays to get to the day your fee was processed. In this case, it would be the 22nd working day of October, not on the 22nd of October.

If this does not make sense, you can look up an online counting system where you simply type in your number and the system gives you the correct date.

H1B VISA NUMBER: 57890

The last 5 digits are random numbers that have no meaning! One interesting thing to note about this “case number” is that it always starts with the number 5.

Word of Caution — EAC or WAC does not mean H1B

Pay special attention if your case number starts with the letters EAC or WAC. If you have a case number that begins with EAC or WAC, it DOES NOT automatically mean that the petition you filed for is an H1B visa petition.

The USCIS gives out the letters of EAC or WAC to other petitions as well as the H1B visa petition. Therefore, EAC or WAC can also be used for visa types, such as H2A, H3, L1, O1, P1, P1S, and so forth.

We hope this article helped you crack the code that is your H1B visa case number. If you have any further questions or don’t fully understand what your number means, feel free to contact us.

If you have any experiences to share regarding the topic, feel free to share them with us down below. Other than that, we wish you the best of luck in your H1B visa processing and we hope everything works out in your favor this H1B season!

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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