Form I-90 has no single document list. What you attach depends entirely on which reason box you check in Part 2, and USCIS rejects or denies applications that carry the wrong evidence for the reason selected. A renewal filed because the card is expiring needs one document. A replacement filed because USCIS printed the card wrong needs the original card handed back, not a copy.
The current edition of Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, is dated 01/20/25. USCIS will reject a paper package if any page comes from a different edition. The fee is $415 to file online and $465 to file on paper, and the USCIS fee schedule lists no separate biometric services fee for this form. That $50 gap is the standard online filing discount USCIS applies across most forms.
Two things in this checklist contradict advice you will still find on older pages. First, Form I-90 does not ask for passport-style photographs. The instructions never list them; USCIS captures your photograph, fingerprints, and signature at an Application Support Center if it decides biometrics are needed. Second, USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, cashier’s checks, or money orders for paper filings unless you qualify for a documented exemption. You pay with a credit card authorization or a bank debit authorization instead.
Free toolCSPA Age-Out Calculator OnlineThe other change worth knowing before you file is what you get back. Since USCIS revised the receipt notice language, an I-90 receipt notice presented together with your expired green card is evidence of lawful permanent resident status, work authorization, and travel authorization for 36 months from the expiration date printed on the card. That is a long runway, and it is why the filing package matters more than the processing queue.
This checklist covers all 41 items across the seven groupings that actually matter: the core package everyone files, the reason-specific evidence that most rejections trace back to, the separate rules for conditional residents holding two-year cards, what happens at biometrics, the fee and fee-relief paperwork, the documents you must keep after filing, and the pre-submission checks that stop a lockbox rejection.
Use the priority markers to triage. Green items are required of every applicant filing that way. Amber items are not mandatory but repeatedly save applicants a request for evidence or a lost month. Gray items apply only when your circumstances match, and in the reason-by-reason section exactly one gray item will apply to you.
Every fee, address, form edition, and evidence rule below is taken from the USCIS Form I-90 page, the 01/20/25 Form I-90 instructions, and Form G-1055, the USCIS fee schedule, edition 05/29/26.
Is Form I-90 Even the Right Form?
Filing the wrong form is the most expensive mistake in this process, because USCIS keeps the fee. Form I-90 replaces a Permanent Resident Card. It does not change your status, it does not remove conditions, and it does not advance a citizenship application.
If you hold a ten-year card and it is expired or expires within six months, Form I-90 is correct. If you hold a two-year conditional card and it is approaching expiration, Form I-90 is wrong: you file Form I-751 to remove conditions on a marriage-based card, or Form I-829 to remove conditions on an investor-based card. Our guide to removing conditions on a conditional green card walks through that separate track. The 2026 fees for those forms are $700 online or $750 on paper for Form I-751, and $3,750 for Form I-829.
Conditional residents can still use Form I-90, but only for a narrow set of reasons: the card was lost, stolen, mutilated or destroyed, the card contains incorrect information, your name or biographic data legally changed, or you never received the card USCIS issued. Never for a card that is simply reaching its two-year expiry.
Naturalization does not replace renewal either. Form N-400 costs $710 online or $760 on paper, and USCIS is explicit that applying for citizenship does not relieve you of the duty to hold a valid, unexpired green card. If your card runs out mid-case, you still file the I-90, as our explainer on what to do when your green card expires while waiting on citizenship lays out.
USCIS states on the Form I-90 page: do not submit this form if you are a conditional resident seeking to remove conditions on your green card. A conditional resident who files I-90 to renew an expiring two-year card loses the fee and still has to file I-751 or I-829.
The Core Package Every Applicant Files
These eight items travel with every Form I-90 regardless of why you are filing. Assemble them first, then add the reason-specific evidence from the next section.
Evidence Depends Entirely on Why You Are Filing
Part 2 of Form I-90 asks lawful permanent residents to pick exactly one reason from Section A. Each reason carries its own evidence requirement, spelled out in the 01/20/25 instructions. Pick the wrong box and USCIS may deny the application even when the underlying facts would have supported a different box.
The most common trap sits between two of these: if your card was mailed to the address you gave USCIS and was never returned as undeliverable, you cannot claim it was issued but never received. You file it as lost, stolen or destroyed instead, which carries a fee where the undeliverable-card reason does not. Our breakdown of how renewal differs when the card is lost or stolen goes deeper on that split.
Conditional Residents Use a Different Section
Holders of a two-year card complete Section B, not Section A. The five reasons available are narrower, and none of them covers an expiring card.
Photographs: What Form I-90 Actually Requires
Nothing. The 01/20/25 instructions contain no passport-photo requirement, and the USCIS filing checklist does not list photographs among the documents for this form. Older guides that tell you to send two 2×2 inch photos with your name penciled on the back are describing a requirement that is not in the current instructions.
What USCIS may do instead is call you to an Application Support Center. The instructions say USCIS may require biometrics, fingerprints, photograph or signature, at any time to verify identity and run FBI background checks, and that it will mail an appointment notice if it decides one is necessary. Miss that appointment and USCIS may deny the application.
You sign an oath at the ASC reaffirming that you provided or authorized all information on the application, reviewed it, and that it was complete, true and correct at filing. Review your own copy before you go, because you are attesting to it under oath.
The 2026 Filing Fee and Who Pays $0
Form G-1055, the USCIS fee schedule, edition 05/29/26, sets the general Form I-90 filing fee at $415 online and $465 on paper. There is no separate biometric services fee line for this form. Any total quoting a filing fee plus an $85 biometrics charge is describing the pre-2024 fee structure and is wrong.
Four situations drop the fee to zero. Filing after your 14th birthday when the existing card expires after your 16th birthday is free, while the same filing is $415 or $465 if the card expires before the 16th birthday. Filing because USCIS issued a card you never received and it came back to USCIS as undeliverable is free. Filing because the card was printed with incorrect information owing to a DHS error is free. And applicants who qualify under Form I-912 pay nothing, though a fee waiver forces you onto paper: USCIS states you cannot file Form I-90 online if you are applying for a fee waiver.
Filing Online Versus Filing by Mail
Online filing costs $50 less, gives you case updates, personalized completion estimates, and a channel to respond to a request for evidence inside your account. You need a USCIS online account to use it. The one hard block is the fee waiver.
Paper is not a second-class route. USCIS scans paper filings into the same electronic system, and if you do not already hold an online account it creates one for you and mails a USCIS Account Acceptance Notice with access instructions. You are not required to use that account; USCIS will keep sending notices by mail.
Mail to the correct lockbox. Packages sent to the wrong facility get forwarded when possible and rejected when not, and the delay lands entirely on you. Only USPS, FedEx, DHL and UPS are accepted couriers.
USCIS, Attn: I-90, P.O. Box 21262, Phoenix, AZ 85036-1262. Include the Attn line exactly as written or the package can be misrouted.
USCIS, Attn: I-90 (Box 21262), 2108 E. Elliot Rd., Tempe, AZ 85284-1806. Use this street address for any courier delivery; the Phoenix P.O. box cannot receive courier packages.
Assemble a paper package in the order USCIS asks for: photographs first if you are sending any, then the payment or fee waiver form, then Form G-1145, then Form G-28 if applicable, then Form I-90 itself, then any supplements, then supporting documents. Lockboxes are closed on weekends and federal holidays and cannot take deliveries on those days.
Withdrawals go somewhere else entirely. To withdraw a filed I-90 you send a written request to the Texas Service Center, 6046 N Belt Line Rd. STE 114, Irving, TX 75038-0015. USCIS issues no refund for a withdrawal or cancellation.
Your Proof of Status While You Wait
The receipt notice is the single most valuable document this process produces. USCIS prints language on the I-90 receipt notice stating that the notice, together with your Permanent Resident Card, is evidence of lawful permanent resident status for 36 months from the expiration date on the card, and that you remain authorized to work and travel. Our coverage of the extension of green card validity to 36 months tracks how that policy landed.
Note where the 36 months are measured from: the expiration date printed on the card, not the date you filed. Filing late shortens your own coverage. If USCIS had already accepted your renewal before the language changed, it mails a fresh receipt notice carrying the current terms.
If you no longer hold the card at all, the receipt notice by itself does not prove status, because the notice is designed to be shown with the card. USCIS may issue an ADIT stamp, also called an I-551 stamp, after you file, and you request it through the USCIS Contact Center. Employers verifying Form I-9 with an expired card plus receipt notice can call 888-897-7781.
Travel is where this gets tested hardest. The receipt notice plus expired card is the documentation pair to carry, and our guide to traveling internationally while a renewal is pending covers what airlines and CBP look for. If you need the physical card sooner than the queue allows, review the criteria in our piece on requesting an expedited green card renewal. Current queue lengths for this and every other form sit on our USCIS processing times page.
The Rejection Traps Worth One Final Pass
A rejection is not a denial: USCIS returns the package unadjudicated and you refile. It still costs weeks, and if your card is close to expiring those weeks come out of your own 36-month cushion. Almost every rejection traces to something on this list rather than to the substance of the case. Where USCIS instead issues a request for evidence, our guide on how an RFE affects a renewal timeline explains what happens to the clock.
USCIS mails the receipt notice, any biometrics notice and the new card to the address on file. If you move while the case is pending, update it through your USCIS online account or file Form AR-11. A card returned as undeliverable creates a second filing you did not need.
Frequently Asked Questions
What documents do I need to renew my green card with Form I-90?
Every filing needs the 01/20/25 edition of Form I-90, your signature, a copy of the front and back of your current card, payment authorization, and certified English translations of any foreign-language document. On top of that you add evidence tied to the specific reason you checked in Part 2, such as a copy of the expiring card for a standard renewal.
How much does Form I-90 cost in 2026?
Form G-1055, the USCIS fee schedule, sets the general Form I-90 fee at $415 to file online and $465 to file on paper. There is no separate biometric services fee for this form, so the older $455 plus $85 total of $540 no longer applies.
Does Form I-90 require passport photos?
No. The 01/20/25 Form I-90 instructions contain no passport-photo requirement. USCIS captures your photograph, fingerprints and signature at an Application Support Center if it decides a biometrics appointment is necessary, and it mails a separate appointment notice when that happens.
Where do I mail Form I-90?
USPS filings go to USCIS, Attn: I-90, P.O. Box 21262, Phoenix, AZ 85036-1262. FedEx, UPS and DHL deliveries go to USCIS, Attn: I-90 (Box 21262), 2108 E. Elliot Rd., Tempe, AZ 85284-1806. Only those four couriers are accepted, and the Attn line must be included.
How long does the I-90 receipt notice extend my green card?
USCIS prints language on the Form I-90 receipt notice stating that the notice, presented together with your Permanent Resident Card, is evidence of lawful permanent resident status for 36 months from the expiration date on the card. It also confirms you remain authorized to work and travel during that period.
Should conditional residents with a 2-year card file Form I-90?
Not to renew an expiring card. A conditional resident whose two-year card is expiring files Form I-751 to remove conditions on a marriage-based card, or Form I-829 for an investor-based card. Conditional residents may use Form I-90 only for a lost, stolen, mutilated or never-received card, incorrect data, or a legal name change.
Can I file Form I-90 online if I need a fee waiver?
No. USCIS states you cannot file Form I-90 online if you are applying for a fee waiver. Fee waiver requests use Form I-912 and must be filed on paper. An approved waiver drops the fee to $0, so you are not paying either the $415 online rate or the $465 paper rate.
What are the most common reasons USCIS rejects Form I-90?
Pages from mixed form editions, a missing signature, a blank family name, mailing address or date of birth in Part 1, the wrong fee, and submitting both Form G-1450 and Form G-1650 in one package. Sending the package to the wrong lockbox and using highlighter or correction fluid also trigger rejections.
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