IRCC application number format checker.

What an application number is

IRCC’s Help Centre defines the application number as specific to your application, and says it is different from a unique client identifier (UCI) or client ID. It is sent to you when IRCC starts processing the application. If you file several applications, they share your UCI but each gets its own application number.

The format, in IRCC’s words, is that application numbers “usually have 1 letter and 9 numbers”. The Help Centre gives three examples: C123456789 for citizenship, W993830598 for a work permit and E099977028 for an economic class application. Note the word “usually”. IRCC does not say every number fits, so this tool reports a mismatch as a mismatch rather than as proof of error.

Where to find it, and what to copy

IRCC lists two places. First, the top corner of letters you receive from IRCC, such as the acknowledgement of receipt letter or an invitation to a citizenship test or ceremony. Second, if you applied online, your account: look under “View the applications you submitted” or “Account messages”.

Copy the whole value, letter first. The most common slip is copying only the digits, which gives nine digits with no letter. Another is copying a different number from the same letter. A letter can show more than one number, and the application number is the one labelled as such.

How the check works, variable by variable

The checker removes spaces and hyphens, capitalises letters and then looks at three things. The first character must be a letter. The remaining characters must be exactly nine digits. Nothing else may appear. A number that passes gets a plain “right shape” result. If the first letter is C, W or E it also repeats what IRCC’s own examples show for that letter. For any other letter it says IRCC does not publish a list of meanings, so none is claimed.

The checker also recognises four near-misses. Eight or ten digits looks like a UCI. Seven digits is the shape of an LMIA number on form IMM 1295. The letter A plus seven digits is the shape of an offer of employment number for an LMIA-exempt job. Each gets a message naming the likely mix-up, because mixing these numbers up is the real-world mistake.

A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

Say a letter shows W012345678 near the top corner and a separate line shows 1234-5678. The first is a letter and nine digits, so it fits the application number shape. The second has eight digits with a hyphen, which is the shape IRCC gives for a UCI, so it is not the application number. If you typed 012345678 by mistake, the checker would say the first character must be a letter, and you would go back to the letter to copy the prefix.

If a form asks for an application number and you have not applied yet, you do not have one to enter, so do not guess; the number is sent only once IRCC starts processing.

Common mistakes

Entering the UCI in the application number box, or the reverse, is the usual error. The UCI follows you across applications and the application number does not. Another is treating the leading letter as noise and dropping it. A third is reading a capital O as a zero or a lowercase l as a one; the checker normalises case but cannot guess which glyph you meant, so compare against the letter character by character.

Finally, a shape match is not a status. A correctly shaped number can still be mistyped into another real application number, which is why you should always use it in your own IRCC account rather than rely on any third-party page.

Who this is for

Applicants, sponsors, employers and helpers who have an IRCC document in front of them and need to know which of its numbers goes in a field. It is also useful for anyone filling a form that asks for both a UCI and an application number.

What this page does not cover

• It does not look up or confirm any application, and it cannot tell you a status or processing time.
• It does not check a UCI, a Job Seeker validation code or an Express Entry profile number. IRCC’s Help Centre says the validation code appears in a message in your account under “To register with Job Bank”, but does not publish its format, so no format is claimed here.
• It does not apply any check digit, because none is published.
• It does not store, send or log what you type.