It happens all the time: You are planning your next trip or changing your job and you notice your green card is expiring! Do you have to cancel everything? The laws and procedures that apply to this situation are not as clear as one would hope.

There are two groups for permanent residents, those who are on a “conditional” two-year green card, and those who have a “permanent” 10-year green card. The following will only talk about expiring 10-year green cards. Please come back to read the next issue for what to do with expiring conditional green cards.

Unconditional permanent residents green cards are issued with a 10 year validity. However, the expiration date on the green card does not mean that your status as permanent resident will expire on the expiration date, it is just the expiration of the card itself, the proof of your permanent residence. Same as with your driver’s license. The driver’s license expires at a given date and you will have to renew it, but you don’t have to re-do the license all over again (under normal circumstances anyway).  You will still be a permanent resident until you either voluntarily relinquish the green card, become subject to a final order of removal, or become a U.S. citizen.

Once the 10 years are up, you will have to apply for a replacement green card by filing a Form I-90 with USCIS to obtain continuing proof of your permanent residence. It usually takes a few months to process I-90s and if you want to travel outside the U.S. during this process or change jobs, you will need to get a temporary green-card stamp in your passport. The receipt of having filed an I-90 does not serve as proof of your status.

To obtain a temporary green-card stamp, you will first need to file an I-90 application (which can be done electronically or on paper) and then you will need to make an InfoPass appointment at your local USCIS office through the USCIS website (https://infopass.uscis.gov/), bring the expired card and the I-90 receipt to the appointment and you should automatically be issued a stamp valid for 12 months.

Even if you don’t have any travel plans or plans to change jobs, it is a good idea to get proof of your status, file the I-90 with sufficient time for processing and also get the temporary green card stamp in your passport. For one, permanent residents are required by law to carry with them evidence of their permanent-resident status and an expired card give cause for trouble. You will also not be able to apply for naturalization (U.S. citizenship) with an expired card. In fact, if you want to apply for U.S. citizenship, you must do so no later than 6 months before your green card expires. Otherwise, you must apply for a replacement card and then apply for citizenship.

As in any area of immigration law, processes and procedures are often more important than the law itself. Dealing with expiring green cards is no exception.

If your green card is about to expire and you would like to either apply for U.S. citizenship (6 months before expiration) or a replacement green card, I will be happy to assist you.