Renewing or Replacing Your Green Card
A legal permanent resident is issued Form I-551, Permanent Residence Card as evidence of their legal status in the United States.
A legal permanent resident card, or “Green Card,” is granted for a period of ten years unless a person is granted conditional legal permanent residence for two years. A person may renew his or her Green Card six months prior to the expiration date printed on the Green Card.
Before renewing a Green Card, there are factors that one should consider. If a person has been convicted of certain crimes, he or she may deportable under the Immigration and Nationality Act. For example, if a person convicted of a theft offense and is sentenced to a year or more in jail (regardless of whether spending any time in jail or not) will render the legal permanent resident deportable. On the on the other hand, if a person is convicted of a theft offense and is sentenced to a less than a year in jail, then the legal permanent resident may not be deportable. The distinctions between the two are complex and turn on federal immigration law. Therefore, before renewing a Green Card, one should take into account that their application may trigger negative, unintended consequences.
A commonly asked question is whether a person must renew his or her Green Card if they are applying for naturalization. According to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, a person should renew their green card if they are applying for Naturalization within six months of the expiration of their green card. If a person applies for Naturalization before six months prior to the expiration date of their green card, then they do not have to renew their green card.