22 CFR § 42.73 - Procedure in issuing visas.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t22/s42.73"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "22 CFR § 42.73 - Procedure in issuing visas."
title_number: 22
title_name: "Foreign Relations"
section_number: "42.73"
section_name: "Procedure in issuing visas."
chapter_name: "DEPARTMENT OF STATE"
subchapter_number: "E"
subchapter_name: "VISAS"
part_number: "42"
part_name: "VISAS: DOCUMENTATION OF IMMIGRANTS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT, AS AMENDED"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "8 U.S.C. 1104 and 1182; Pub. L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2681; Pub. L. 108-449, 118 Stat. 3469; The Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (done at the Hague, May 29, 1993), S. Treaty Doc. 105-51 (1998), 1870 U.N.T.S. 167 (Reg. No. 31922 (1993)); 42 U.S.C. 14901-14954 (Pub. L. 106-279, 114 Stat. 825); 8 U.S.C. 1101 (Pub L. 117-31, 135 Stat. 309); 8 U.S.C. 1154 (Pub. L. 109-162, 119 Stat. 2960); 8 U.S.C. 1201 (Pub. L. 114-70, 129 Stat. 561)."
regulatory_source: "52 FR 42613, Nov. 5, 1987, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "42"
---


# 42.73 Procedure in issuing visas.

(a) *Evidence of visa.* An immigrant visa shall be evidenced by a physical visa or by an electronic visa located in the Department's records. The appropriate symbol as prescribed in § 42.11, showing the classification of the alien, shall be entered on the visa.

(b) *Visa format.* A machine-readable visa shall be in the format designated by the Department, and contain, at a minimum, the following data:

(1) Full name of the immigrant;

(2) Visa symbol;

(3) Location of the visa issuing office;

(4) Passport number;

(5) The registration number (A-number) assigned to the immigrant;

(6) Sex;

(7) Date of birth;

(8) Nationality;

(9) Date of issuance;

(10) Date of expiration;

(11) Visa control number;

(12) Any annotations entered to reflect waivers or other information useful to an immigration officer at a port of entry (POE) upon the immigrant's application for admission to the United States;

(13) A digitized photo of the immigrant; and

(14) Machine-readable data that can be processed by an immigration officer at a POE.

(c) *Disposition of supporting documents.* Post shall, wherever possible, return original supporting documents furnished by the alien. Duplicate copies may be retained in the consular system, as required or necessary.

[84 FR 35299, July 23, 2019]