# Citizenship number (need answer fast) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119 "2018-07-18T03:20:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/1 "2018-07-18T03:20:57Z")
What is a “citizenship number” for someone born in the US (not naturalized?) Different than SSN? I haven’t heard of this before. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/2 "2018-07-18T03:28:24Z")
I’ve never heard it referred to as such in the U.S. We don’t have a national ID card, and the SSN number is the only nationally-issued ID number that’s routinely issued to (virtually) all U.S. citizens. Despite the fact that the Social Security Administration insists that your SSN isn’t really an ID, it’s become a de facto one. Passports have ID numbers, as well, but a lot of U.S. citizens don’t have them, and I wouldn’t consider that to be a “citizenship number” in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/3 "2018-07-18T04:15:28Z")
What’s the context for your request? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/4 "2018-07-18T04:17:05Z")
It is a unique number provided on naturalization papers that is approximately equivalent to a Social Security number. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/5 "2018-07-18T04:21:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It is a unique number provided on naturalization papers that is approximately equivalent to a Social Security number. Except that his question was specifically for people born in the U.S. (not naturalized). ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/6 "2018-07-18T04:21:50Z")
What do you need this for? The US does not issue citizenship numbers. If you are filling out something like a Visa document to visit another country, what you need to put in the answer box varies. Some forms want you to put “NA” (not applicable). Others want your driver’s license number and state. In other contexts, it may refer to your SSN. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > It is a unique number provided on naturalization papers that is approximately equivalent to a Social Security number. The OP specified non-naturalized, so this doesn’t apply. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/7 "2018-07-18T04:28:03Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > What do you need this for? > > The US does not issue citizenship numbers. If you are filling out something like a Visa document to visit another country, what you need to put in the answer box varies. Some forms want you to put “NA” (not applicable). Others want your driver’s license number and state. > > In other contexts, it may refer to your SSN. > > The OP specified non-naturalized, so this doesn’t apply. I gave him the only answer available when it comes to citizenship numbers, afaik. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/8 "2018-07-18T05:21:09Z")
So I think I erred - I think I misread a form. It does say citizenship but the number requirement below it was probably for something else. The most elementary of errors… Nevertheless, if the term ever comes up, I would guess it means SSN? Thanks and sorry guys. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/9 "2018-07-18T12:56:31Z")
If a form is asking for a “citizenship number,” you need to get clarification from the entity that created the form, because the USA does not keep a list of all citizens that such a number would refer to. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/10 "2018-07-18T18:10:27Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > the USA does not keep a list of all citizens that such a number would refer to. …as far as we know at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/11 "2018-07-18T18:19:41Z")
It’s tattooed on the inside of your lower lip in the hospital when you are an infant. It normally is done in reverse, so that when you look at it in a mirror you can effectively read it. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citizenship-number-need-answer-fast/818119/12 "2018-07-19T02:30:01Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Nevertheless, if the term ever comes up, I would guess it means SSN? No. Never. If they want SSN they always specify SSN (or spell it out). SSN has nothing to do with citizenship. You can be a citizen and not have an SSN and you can have a legal SSN and not be a citizen.