22 CFR 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.