Living in the United States as a permanent resident with the green card does not ultimately give you liberty from the visa and document trip. The card might allow you to live and work there, but once the card is expired, you will not be able to get a job, travel abroad, and other activities that need your resident card identification. Therefore, every permanent resident must renew their green card in time unless they get naturalization as the United States citizen.
Prepare Your Renewal Card Earlier
Before the expiry date, you must prepare all the documents needed earlier and submit the extension green card application around five to six months. If you register it more than six months before the expiry date, USCIS also warns, however, that your application will be rejected.
Prepare the form I-90 to renew a card that you can download along with its instruction through the USCIS website. As you can also use the I-90 form to replace something that contains data that has been incorrect, lost/stolen, or damaged, read the instructions carefully to be sure with your form I-90 and any documents related as well. USCIS may reject your registration submitted incorrectly, and these errors, occasionally, may lead to immigration problems.
Most people do not call a lawyer to do the renewal. Still, if you are busy and cannot spare time to comply with the process, including the vital medical immigrant examination regulation that keeps changing, you can start looking for an immigration law firm. It should be a must when you have immigrant violations such as spending a significant amount of time abroad (more than 180 days in the same period), getting arrested, or committing crimes. If you think that asking for a lawyer helps cost you more, you might want to do the renewal online.
Collect Documents and E-mails
Although most individuals only need few documents to submit along with form I-90, the applicants have to pay the USCIS registration fee and a photocopy of their permanent resident card. In other cases, some applicants must submit additional documents to prove their residency. Please make a copy of your green card renewal application along with the documents to pass through the local office line and mail it directly to the USCIS. Do not forget to send it in a confidential mail and save the receipt.
Keep Your E-mail Notice from USCIS
You will receive an application form I-797 C from USCIS by e-mail after 2-3 weeks. Save this document because it acts as the receipt and proof that you can continue to proceed to the next step. In the receipt, you may also get a receipt number that you can use to track the progress of your case in the “check the status of your case” feature of the USCIS website.
Attend Your Biometric Appointment
After one or two weeks later, you will again receive a letter of referral for review by USCIS. This letter is a biometric appointment that includes fingerprinting and photography. The biometric data are used to create an FBI background check. Bring the letter of referral to the biometric appointment along with essential documents and items mentioned in the message. The renewal process will probably be postponed if you delay the schedule of this process.
Get Your New Green Card
Almost all people would successfully get their card after five or six months unless there were errors or complications when applying a green card renewal. However, processing times vary depending on the workload and are determined by the USCIS Service Center. Your card may look different and will probably be updated with new security features.
Become a United States Citizen
If you want to say goodbye to the renewal green card process, you might want to consider applying for naturalization and becoming a united states citizen.
The process is more accessible than you think, and there are many advantages to be one of them. American citizens enjoy the benefits of never having to pay another fee to the USCIS. Besides, they also have the security and freedom of the United States passport, and no worry of permanent residency card gets revoked.