How to Renew Your Green Card: Complete Guide (Form I-90)

Form I-90 replaces a Permanent Resident Card. It does not change your status, it does not remove conditions, and it does not move a citizenship case forward. USCIS keeps the fee when someone files the wrong form, so this check comes first.

If you are a lawful permanent resident with a ten-year card, I-90 covers renewal and every common replacement reason. USCIS lists them: the card is expired or expires within six months; it was lost, stolen, mutilated or destroyed; you got it before age 14 and have since turned 14 (unless it expires before your 16th birthday); it contains incorrect information; you legally changed your name or other biographic data; you never received the card USCIS issued; you hold an obsolete card such as Form I-151, AR-3 or AR-103; or your commuter status changed.

Conditional residents are different. The I-90 instructions say a conditional resident may not use the form to replace a card that is expired or will expire within 90 days. A two-year card from marriage is extended by filing Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, which costs $700 online or $750 on paper. A two-year card from investment calls for Form I-829, which costs $3,750. Our guide to removing conditions on a conditional green card covers that track. A conditional resident can still file I-90 for a lost, stolen or damaged card, a card with wrong information, a legal name change, or a card that never arrived.

Applying for naturalization does not excuse you from holding a valid card. The USCIS Form I-90 page says it plainly: a permanent resident must have a valid, unexpired green card with them at all times, and applying for citizenship does not change that. If your card runs out while an N-400 is pending, you still file the I-90, as our explainer on what to do when your green card expires while waiting for citizenship sets out.

The filing window opens six months before the expiration date on your card. Reason 2.f in Part 2 of the form reads “My existing card has already expired or will expire within six months,” and the instructions warn that an application filed under that reason for a card that is not within six months of expiring may be denied.

There is no closing date. A card that expired last month or three years ago is renewed the same way, with the same fee and no late penalty. The risk of waiting is practical rather than financial: until you have either a valid card or an I-90 receipt notice, you have no current document that proves your status to an employer, a state DMV, an airline or a border officer.

The best moment for most people is as early as the six-month window allows. Filing early starts the 36-month receipt-notice protection sooner and leaves room for a biometrics appointment and any request for evidence before the old card’s date passes.

If you are outside the United States when the six-month window opens, USCIS says to file as soon as you return, provided you come back within one year of departure and before the card expires. Filing from abroad creates a biometrics problem: the appointment notice will tell you to contact a U.S. embassy or consulate, and the finished card cannot be mailed to you there.

A straightforward renewal needs very little. If your card is simply expiring, the evidence USCIS asks for is a copy of the card, front and back. The paperwork grows only when the reason changes: a lost card needs a government photo ID instead of the copy, a name change needs the registered legal document, and a card with a DHS error needs the original card sent back.

Two pieces of older advice are wrong. Form I-90 does not ask for passport-style photos; USCIS takes your photo at a biometrics appointment if it needs one. And USCIS no longer takes personal checks or money orders for most paper filings, as Step 4 explains.

The detailed, reason-by-reason evidence list, including what to send for a card that never arrived, a card issued before age 14, or a commuter status change, is in our I-90 documents checklist.

You can file Form I-90 online through a USCIS online account or on paper by mail. Both are processed electronically: USCIS scans paper filings into its system and creates an online account for paper filers, then mails an Account Acceptance Notice with instructions to sign in.

The $50 difference is the standard online discount USCIS applies to most forms. Filers with low income or financial hardship can ask USCIS to waive the fee with Form I-912. The fee schedule says that for most applications a fee waiver cannot be requested online, so a fee-waiver I-90 is generally a paper filing with the I-912 attached.

For paper filings, the fee schedule says fees are paid by ACH debit or credit card unless you qualify for an exemption, which is claimed on Form G-1651, Exemption for Paper Fee Payment. Include only one payment authorization in the package. Cash is never accepted.

On paper, USCIS rejects the form outright if Part 1 is missing your family name, mailing address or date of birth, or if the form is unsigned. A rejected package comes back without a receipt notice, which means no 36-month protection until you refile.

After USCIS accepts a renewal, it issues Form I-797C, Notice of Action. For renewals, USCIS says the notice carries this language: “This notice, together with your Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card (also known as the Green Card), provides evidence of your lawful permanent resident status for 36 months from the expiration date on your Permanent Resident Card. You remain authorized to work and travel.”

Two details in that wording matter. The 36 months run from the date printed on the card, not from the date you filed, so filing early in the six-month window buys the most coverage. And the notice works only together with the expired card. Carry both.

For a new job, the expired card plus the receipt notice is acceptable for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. USCIS runs a separate line for employers and workers with I-9 questions about this pairing at 888-897-7781. State agencies vary in how quickly they accept the pair, which is the issue our guide to renewing a driver’s license when your green card expires deals with.

Receipt notices issued before USCIS adopted the 36-month wording carried shorter extensions. Our earlier coverage of the 36-month extension explains the change. If you filed before then and your case is still pending, USCIS has said it will mail a new receipt notice to use with your expired card.

Biometrics is not automatic for every I-90, and it is not a separate charge. The instructions say USCIS may require you to provide fingerprints, a photograph and a signature to verify your identity and run background checks, including an FBI criminal history check. If it decides it needs them, it mails an appointment notice with a date, time and Application Support Center location. The receipt notice is not that appointment notice.

Bring the appointment notice and a valid photo ID such as a passport or driver’s license. At the appointment you sign an oath reaffirming that everything in the application is complete, true and correct. The instructions are blunt about absences: if you do not attend, USCIS may deny the application. Rescheduling instructions are printed on the notice; use them before the date, not after.

If you filed from abroad, the notice will tell you to contact a U.S. embassy, consulate or USCIS office outside the United States to schedule. That is one more reason to file from inside the country when you can.

Biometrics also feed the background check, which is where a past arrest or conviction can surface. Renewal does not re-decide your green card, but USCIS can refer a file for further review. Anyone with a record should read our breakdown of how a criminal record affects green card renewal before filing.

USCIS does not set a fixed processing time for Form I-90; the time moves month to month with the queue. The two reliable places to check it are the USCIS Case Processing Times tool, which publishes I-90 times, and your own USCIS online account, which shows a personalized case completion estimate. Ignore any page quoting a specific number of weeks without a date attached; I-90 times have swung widely since 2024.

Because the receipt notice covers 36 months, a slow case is usually an inconvenience rather than a status problem. The cases that need attention are those where something has gone wrong: no receipt notice, a missed biometrics notice, a request for evidence, or a card that was produced but never arrived.

USCIS accepts expedite requests on a case-by-case basis and grants them at its discretion. Its published criteria include severe financial loss to a person or company, emergencies or urgent humanitarian situations, nonprofit requests in the U.S. cultural or social interest, government interests, and clear USCIS error. Because the receipt notice already proves status, an expedite request built only on the wish to have the plastic card sooner rarely fits these criteria. A documented job loss or an urgent humanitarian reason that the receipt notice cannot solve is the kind of case worth raising.

If USCIS denies the application, it sends a letter explaining why. There is no appeal. You can file a motion to reopen with new facts and evidence, or a motion to reconsider showing USCIS misapplied the law or policy. In most cases refiling a corrected I-90 is faster.

Withdrawing is possible but costly: requests go in writing to the Texas Service Center, and USCIS issues no refund.

To re-enter the United States after a trip abroad, a permanent resident presents a valid, unexpired green card. During a pending renewal, the expired card plus the I-90 receipt notice fills that role for 36 months from the card’s expiration date, since USCIS states on the notice that you remain authorized to travel. Carry the originals of both, plus your passport.

The safest plan is still the one in the I-90 instructions: if you know a trip is coming and your card is about to expire, file early and try to have the new card before you leave. Airlines check documents before boarding, and a receipt notice is less familiar to a gate agent than a card. Our dedicated guide to traveling internationally while your green card renewal is pending covers the airport side in detail.

Long absences carry a separate risk. USCIS uses an absence of more than a year as a general guide for abandonment of permanent residence, and it can find abandonment in shorter trips if the facts suggest you did not intend to keep the United States as your home. A reentry permit, filed before departure, is the standard protection for long trips, and our list of points to know before applying for a reentry permit explains the biometrics timing.

Absences of six months or more can also break the continuous residence you need for citizenship, a separate question from whether your green card is still valid.

Replacement uses the same Form I-90 and the same $415 or $465 fee as renewal, except in the no-fee cases. What changes is the reason you check in Part 2 and the evidence you attach. USCIS can deny an application filed under the wrong reason even when a different reason would have fit, so match the box to the facts.

The trap in that table sits between “lost” and “never received.” A card USCIS mailed to the address you gave it, and that was not returned as undeliverable, is treated as lost, which carries the full fee. The no-fee route applies only when the post office sent the card back to USCIS. Before filing, use USCIS card delivery tracking to see what happened to it.

The I-90 instructions do not list a police report as required evidence for a lost or stolen card. Filing one is still sensible if you suspect identity theft. For a name change, the I-90 instructions require that the marriage certificate or court document be registered with the proper civil authority.