USCIS Increases Green Card Validity Extension for Renewal Applicants

Effective September 26, 2022, USCIS has increased the automatic extension granted to green card renewal applicants to 24 months, up from an automatic extension of 12 months under the prior policy. Lawful permanent residents who properly file a Form I-90 application to renew their green card will receive an application receipt notice documenting the new 24-month extension. USCIS is expected to update its M-274 Handbook for Employers to reflect the changes for purposes of Form I-9 employment eligibility verification under the new policy.

The issue

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that effective September 26, 2022, the agency has increased the automatic green card validity extension granted to green card renewal applicants to 24 months, up from 12 months under the prior policy. Lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who properly file Form I-90 applications to renew their green cards will now receive application receipt notices granting 24-month extensions of their expiring or expired green cards. USCIS began issuing these notices on September 26, including issuance of amended receipt notices for green card renewal applications that were already pending on that date and had received a 12-month extension under the prior policy. 

In today’s announcement, USCIS states that I-90 receipt notices issued with the new 24-month extension policy may be presented with an expired green card as evidence of continued LPR status. USCIS is expected to update its M-274 Handbook for Employers to reflect the change for purposes of Form I-9 employment eligibility verification.

What it means for foreign nationals

Under the new policy, green card renewal applicants will benefit from a longer automatic extension of expiring or expired green cards as they await USCIS adjudication of the individual’s Form I-90 renewal application. Receipt notices providing the 24-month extension period are evidence of the renewal applicant’s ability to work and travel as a permanent resident during that timeframe. The increased green card validity extension should mitigate the impact of USCIS’s lengthy Form I-90 processing times, which sometimes rendered the prior 12-month extension inadequate to prevent disruptions to a permanent resident’s ability to complete the Form I-9 employment verification process or to travel internationally and reenter the United States.