Green Card Duration: How Long It Lasts and When to Renew

A standard green card lasts 10 years from the date it’s issued, and a conditional green card issued through marriage or investment lasts only 2 years. The card is a document; your permanent resident status is separate and doesn’t automatically end when the card expires. But an expired card creates immediate problems for international travel, job verification, and daily identification, and a conditional card that isn’t acted on before it expires can actually cost you your status.

Ten-Year Cards vs. Two-Year Conditional Cards

Form I-551, the physical green card, comes in two versions. Most permanent residents receive the 10-year version.¹ When those 10 years pass, the card expires and can no longer be used to board international flights, prove employment eligibility, or re-enter the country cleanly.² The underlying status continues; the usefulness of the card does not.

If you obtained your green card through marriage to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, or through certain investment-based programs, your first card is valid for only two years. This is called conditional permanent residence, and the shorter window exists so the government can confirm the underlying relationship or investment was legitimate.³

Conditional Cards Cannot Be Renewed

A two-year conditional card is not renewable the way a 10-year card is. Instead, you file a petition to remove the conditions during the 90-day window immediately before the card expires.⁴ Marriage-based residents use Form I-751. Investment-based residents use Form I-829.³

Miss that window without filing, and you lose your permanent resident status entirely and become removable from the United States. This is unlike the 10-year card, where letting the card expire is a paperwork problem rather than a status problem.

Cards With No Expiration Date

Green cards issued between January 1977 and August 1989 were printed without an expiration date and technically don’t require renewal. Many holders still choose to replace them to avoid confusion at airports or with employers who don’t recognize the older format.²

How to Renew a 10-Year Green Card

Renewal uses Form I-90, which you can submit online through a USCIS account or by mailing a paper form to a designated lockbox facility.⁵ Filing online costs $415; filing on paper costs $465. There is no separate biometric services fee.⁶ Paper filings must be paid by credit card, debit card, or direct withdrawal from a U.S. bank account. USCIS no longer accepts personal checks or money orders for paper I-90 filings unless you qualify for an exemption.

To file, you’ll need your Alien Registration Number (the A-Number printed on your card), your current legal name, and your address. USCIS recommends filing at least six months before your card expires because processing times have grown long. After filing, USCIS schedules a biometrics appointment at a local Application Support Center where you provide fingerprints, a photograph, and a signature.⁷

Conditional residents cannot use Form I-90 at all. If your card came through marriage, file Form I-751. If it came through investment, file Form I-829.³

What You Can Use While Renewal Is Pending

Once USCIS accepts your I-90, you receive a Form I-797 receipt notice. Since September 2024, that receipt automatically extends your expired green card’s validity for 36 months from the expiration date printed on the card.⁸ During that period, presenting your expired card together with the I-797 works as proof of status and work authorization.

For Form I-9 employment verification, the expired card plus the I-797 receipt is acceptable documentation.⁹ Airlines are a different story. Many carriers will refuse to board a passenger holding an expired green card unless the original I-797 receipt is also presented, so carry both any time you fly internationally.²

Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Cards

If your card is lost, stolen, or damaged, replacement uses the same Form I-90 and the same fees as a renewal.⁵ You still receive an I-797 receipt notice after filing, which serves as temporary evidence of your status while the new card is produced. Until it arrives, the receipt paired with another form of government-issued identification is your best proof of lawful permanent residence.

When Status Itself Can End Before or After the Card Expires

The word “permanent” on a 10-year card is misleading. The card’s expiration date is not the same as the status’s expiration, and several things can end the status regardless of what the card says.

Long Trips Outside the United States

Any trip lasting more than 180 consecutive days changes your legal footing. Under federal immigration law, a permanent resident absent for more than 180 continuous days is treated as applying for admission all over again on return.¹⁰ A border officer can then question whether you actually abandoned your residence and deny entry based on what they find.

Absences of a year or longer are worse. At that point, your green card is no longer valid for re-entry on its own, and you’ll generally need a re-entry permit that you obtained before you left, or in some cases a returning resident (SB-1) visa from a U.S. consulate.¹¹ Immigration officers weigh where you work, where your family lives, whether you keep a U.S. home, and whether you file U.S. tax returns. A valid card doesn’t override evidence that your real life is elsewhere.

Re-Entry Permits

If you know in advance you’ll be outside the country for a year or more, you can apply for a re-entry permit by filing Form I-131 while you’re physically present in the United States.¹² The permit is generally valid for two years from issuance, though it is limited to one year if you’ve been outside the country for more than four of the last five years since becoming a permanent resident.

A re-entry permit isn’t a guarantee of readmission. It preserves your ability to apply for admission without a returning resident visa, but border officers can still question your ties. If the permit expires while you’re still abroad, you may need an SB-1 visa at a U.S. consulate, and you’ll have to prove your extended stay was caused by circumstances beyond your control. Consular decisions on SB-1 applications cannot be appealed.

Criminal Convictions

Certain convictions trigger deportability regardless of how long you’ve held the card. The main categories are aggravated felonies, firearms violations, most controlled substance offenses, and crimes involving moral turpitude such as fraud or theft. Simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana is specifically carved out and does not, on its own, make you deportable.¹³ Nearly every other drug conviction does.

Losing your status through any of these routes ends the card’s usefulness immediately, no matter what date is printed on it. Tracking the card’s expiration is only half the job. The other half is understanding what keeps the status behind it alive.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Lawful Permanent Residents LPR
2
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. LPR – Lost, Stolen or Expired Green Cards or Has No Expiration Date
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Conditional Permanent Residence
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. When to File Your Petition to Remove Conditions
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Preparing for Your Biometric Services Appointment
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Extends Green Card Validity Extension to 36 Months for Green Card Renewals
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Extends Validity of Expired Permanent Resident Cards from 24 Months to 36 Months for Renewals
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Can a U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident Leave the United States Multiple Times and Return
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens