Green Card Renewal

What is a Green Card?

A green card is an official card issued to a person that is a legal permanent resident of the United States. A green card is evidence of a person's full legal rights and benefits, allowing a person to permanently live, work, and travel in the United States indefinitely. A person can also travel abroad and back to the United States with a green card and a valid passport. A green card is also known as a legal permanent resident card or Form I-551.

When is the deadline for a green card renewal?

A green card must be renewed every 10 years by submitting Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card. A person can renew it as early as six months before the expiration of the green card. A receipt is issued extending the expiration of a person's green card while Form I-90 is being reviewed by USCIS. A person may live, work, and travel with the expired green card and the renewal receipt issued by USCIS extending the expiration of the green card.

What are the consequences if I don't renew my green card before the expiration date?

If you have a 10-year green card, you will continue being a legal permanent resident even if you let you green card expire. You will simply need to submit Form I-90 to renew it to obtain a new green card. It may cause some inconvenience to you with your employer, or obtaining a drivers license, or traveling abroad, but you will not lose your legal permanent residence if you let your 10-year green card expire.

If you have a 2-year green card, however, USCIS will automatically terminate your conditional legal permanent residence if you do not renew your green card before the expiration date. A 2-year green card is considered a conditional legal permanent resident. Different rules apply to conditional legal permanent residents. To renew a 2-year green card, you must submit Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions to Residence, anytime within 90 days before the expiration of the green card. If you submit Form I-751 before 90 days of the expiration date, it will be rejected. If you submit Form I-751 after the expiration date, it will be denied unless you can show that you had good cause to submit it late. Form I-751 must be filed together with your spouse. Otherwise, you must submit a waiver request to file it alone, which does not have any deadline and can be submitted at anytime--even after the expiration of your 2-year green card.

What if my green card expires or is lost while I am traveling abroad?

If your green card expires while you are abroad, you may visit a U.S. consulate and submit Form I-134A to request a boarding pass to enter the United States. Once you enter the United States, you may submit Form I-90 with USCIS or Form I-751 if you have a 2-year green card. If you have been abroad for more than 1 year, then you may have abandoned your legal permanent residence. In such a case, a Customs and Border Patrol official or a U.S. consulate officer may inform you that cannot return to the United States because you have abandoned it by spending more than one (1) year outside the United States.

Do I need to renew my green card if I apply for naturalization?

No. You do not need to renew your green card if you also apply for citizenship. But as a practical matter, you should probably renew your green card anyway because having an expired green card may cause issues with your employment, your drivers license renewal, your ability to travel without hassle, or your ability to obtain any other benefit that depends on proving your legal status to reside in the United States. As a result, we recommend that applicants for naturalization also renew their green card as well.