USCIS Extends Green Cards 24 Months For Naturalization Applicants

A U.S. green card enables an individual to reside, work, and begin the naturalization process in the country. The holder of this card is considered a permanent resident of the US and is therefore qualified …

A U.S. green card enables an individual to reside, work, and begin the naturalization process in the country. The holder of this card is considered a permanent resident of the US and is therefore qualified for many, but not all, of the same advantages as citizens.

More than a million green cards are granted by the American government each year. An estimated 13.9 million people with green cards have legal permanent resident status in the US as of 2019, 9.1 million of them were eligible to apply for citizenship. if you intend to stay in the country permanently, In order to complete the conditions for naturalization, a green card would be helpful. Maybe you don’t have prior know-how; you can consult a US Naturalization Lawyer in Michigan.

Importantly, Applicants seeking to become citizens of the United States fill out Form N-400. The application asks questions about the applicant’s history, place of residence, and other criteria that must be met before naturalization is granted. The application form also asks for information regarding the applicant’s tax status, tax history, military service, and physical presence in the United States, as well as any application-related errors the applicant may have committed. Before receiving citizenship, candidates must complete Form N-400, go to a biometrics appointment, have a naturalization interview, and pass an English language civics test. Unless the applicant qualifies for one of the age and time as resident exemptions of English or meets the requirements for a medical waiver, all applicants taking the civics test must show they can communicate in English at the time of the naturalization examination.

A new procedure that enabled USCIS to automatically extend the validity of a Permanent Resident Card for a period of 24 months through the issuance of an N-400 Application for Naturalization, receipt notice was announced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on December 9, 2022. As a result, most Permanent Residents who have a pending N-400 Application wasn’t given a chance to submit Form I-90 in order to renew their green cards.

Legal permanent residents who applied for N-400 naturalization before December 12, 2022, will not receive an N-400 reception letter with the 24-month extension and must complete Form I-90 if their green card expires or schedule an appointment to have an ADIT stamp placed in their passport.

A 24-month automatic Green Card renewal will be granted to lawful permanent residents who have submitted a Form N-400 Naturalization Application to USCIS on or after December 12, 2022. The requirement to submit a later Form I-90 Green Card Renewal Application will probably be eliminated by this rule change.

However, Naturalization applicants typically no longer need to file Form I-90 while their Form N-400 is pending due to the automatic 24-month extension offered by their receipt notice. Please be aware that even if you applied for citizenship on or after December 12 and received the automatic 24-month extension, naturalization applicants who have lost their green cards still need to submit Form I-90. This is due to the legal obligation for permanent residents always to carry identification proving their residency.

This change allows permanent residents to present their expired permanent resident card and the 24-month extension on their Form N-400 receipt notice as proof of their status as legal permanent residents and of their right to work under List A of the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) if they do so before the 24-month extension period stated in the N-400 receipt notice expires. And if you didn’t get the receipt, contact any US Naturalization Lawyer in Michigan for retrieval. The receipt notification can be used to demonstrate continuous legal status and the ability to work within a 24-month window when the Green Card has expired.

If you submitted Form N-400 and Form I-90 before December 12, 2022, and you need documentation proving that your immigration status in the US is still valid, you can make an appointment at a USCIS Field Office by calling the USCIS Contact Center. This appointment will allow you to get an ADIT stamp in your passport. Note, In order to preserve legal documentation of their LPR status beyond the expiration of their Green Card, LPRs typically need to complete Form I-90 or obtain an ADIT stamp in their passport.

Additionally, even if they have applied for citizenship and gotten the automatic extension under this revised procedure, LPRs who lose their Green Cards normally still need to file Form I-90. By calling the USCIS Contact Center, applicants who need an ADIT stamp can make an appointment at a USCIS Field Office or talk to a Naturalization lawyer in Michigan.