Many clients ask: What if my green card expires while waiting for citizenship? If your green card expires, or is about to expire, while you’re waiting for citizenship, you don’t need to worry. The USCIS has created Form I-90 specifically for the purpose of replacing an expired green card. If your green card has expired or will expire in the next six months, you can fill out Form I-90 and get a new one.

Here’s How to Get a New Green Card:

1. Go to https://www.uscis.gov/i-90.

2. You may file online or by mail.

3. If you want to file online, click the “file online” tab, and follow the instructions. You will have to create an account to file online. You don’t have to create an account to file by mail.

4. Fill out the form. On this form, you will have to provide:

  • Your alien registration number.
  • Your USCIS online account number (this applies only if you have an online account with USCIS. If you don’t have an online account, leave this line blank.)
  • Your full name. If your name has legally changed since you last received your green card, you must provide legal documentation of the name change. Send in this documentation when you send the form.
  • Your mailing address. When USCIS issues you a new green card, they will send the card to this address. USCIS will not send a green card to a foreign mailing address, only to a U.S. mailing address.
  • Your physical address (if different from your mailing address.)
  • Your gender
  • Your date and place of birth
  • Your mother and father’s names
  • The immigration category under which you were granted lawful admission. You can find this code on your green card. It’s usually one or two letters followed by a number (for example, IR2)
  • The date when you received your green card.
  • Your U.S. social security number, if you have one.
  • The reason you are filing a Form I-90 application. (You can file a Form I-90 application for many reasons. If you are filing because your green card has expired or is about to expire, check the box that says, “My existing card has already expired or will expire within six months.”)
  • The location where you applied for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status.
  • The location where USCIS issued you a visa or granted you adjustment of status.
  • Answer whether you have been in exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings, or have been ordered removed from the United States.
  • Answer whether you have abandoned your status.
  • Your ethnicity and race.
  • Your height, weight, eye color, and hair color.
  • Answer whether you have any disabilities which will require you to have special accommodations at your interview.

5. When you send the form, enclose a copy of your green card along with the form.

6. If you file by mail, send the form to:

U.S. Postal Service (USPS):

USCIS
Attn: I-90
P.O. Box 21262
Phoenix, AZ 85036-1262

FedEx, UPS, and DHL deliveries:

USCIS
Attn: I-90 (Box 21262)
1820 E. Skyharbor Circle S
Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85034-4850

7. USCIS may require you to attend a biometric services appointment for an interview, or to provide fingerprints, a photograph, or a signature to verify your identity. If USCIS requires this, they will send you information telling you where to go. If you do not appear, USCIS may deny your application.

8. You will also have to pay a filing fee. As of January 17, 2022, the filing fee is $455. If USCIS requires you to attend a biometric services appointment, you will have to pay an additional $85.

If your green card has expired or is about to expire, don’t despair. Take advantage of the procedure the USCIS has offered to replace your green card.

The instructions for filing Form I-90 are available here. Form I-90 is simple enough that many people can file it without an attorney. However, if you feel you need an attorney, contact the Persaud Law Office. In the past, we have successfully helped clients file Form I-90 and get a new green card.