9/12/2007

Currently, there are numerous lawful permanent residents who possess cards without expiration dates. USCIS intends to terminate the validity of such Forms I-551. This rule proposes to establish a 120-day period for lawful permanent residents who have Forms I-551 that do not bear expiration dates to apply for replacement cards. This proposed rule is published today with the comment date of 09/21/2007. It will take some time before this rule is enacted as a final rule, but those who do not possess the green card with the expiration date may as well apply for the new card now. 

Permanent Resident Cards (Forms I-551) are issued to permanent residents to serve as evidence of immigration status, registration, identity, and employment authorization; they also serve as entry documents upon return from trips outside of the United States. A card that is too old, with out-of-date photographs, cannot effectively serve these purposes.

This proposed rule is an important initiative. Once final, it would enable USCIS to update cardholder information, conduct background checks, and electronically store applicants’ biometric information. It is important to remember that the cards impacted by this initiative are now between 17 and 30 years old. The new card will be a modern version with greater security, be more tamper-resistant, and will have an expiration date requiring that the card be periodically renewed.

Replacement of the outstanding permanent resident cards without expiration dates is critical to the national security mission of USCIS. Replacement of the cards will ensure that cardholders’ fingerprints and photographs are updated so as to provide better evidence of the identity of the cardholders, more modern and secure cards are placed into circulation, and the replacement cards will be more tamper-resistant. In the past, USCIS has recalled and replaced earlier versions of the Permanent Resident Card that did not contain an expiration date. It is critical that USCIS begin to remove from circulation this final version of the Permanent Resident Card containing no expiration date.

Since the replacement program is only proposed, affected individuals are not yet required to replace their cards. However, they nevertheless may choose to apply now to replace their cards. Early applications may be processed in shorter times than those filed later, given the number of permanent residents affected