How to Check Green Card Delivery Status: USCIS Account, USPS, and Delays

Once USCIS approves your permanent residence, you can check your Green Card delivery status through your USCIS online account, the Case Status Online tool, or USPS tracking once the card ships. The full process from approval to a card in hand can take up to 90 days, and USCIS mails the card by USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation so you can follow it the whole way.¹²

When to Start Watching for Your Card

USCIS ships Green Cards through its Secure Mail Initiative using USPS Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation.² Once the card enters the postal system, Priority Mail typically arrives in one to three business days. The wait before that is card production, which is where most of the 90 days goes.

If you entered the United States on an immigrant visa and paid the immigrant visa fee before arrival, expect your card within about 90 days of your entry date. If you paid the fee after entry, the 90-day clock starts from your payment date. If you haven’t paid the fee, USCIS won’t begin producing the card at all until you pay online.¹

Track It Through Your USCIS Online Account

The fastest way to check delivery status is through your USCIS online account at myaccount.uscis.gov. Once you sign in, the account shows automatic case updates and gives you the USPS tracking number as soon as USCIS ships the card.² Take that tracking number and drop it into the USPS website or app for real-time updates.

If you filed online, you already have an account. If you filed on paper, create one and link the case using your receipt number. The account updates are more detailed than what the public Case Status tool shows, so it’s worth setting up even late in the process.

Use the Case Status Tool if You Don’t Have an Account

Without a USCIS online account, the backup is Case Status Online at egov.uscis.gov.² You’ll need your 13-character receipt number (three letters followed by ten digits) from the Form I-797C receipt notice or any later notice tied to your case. Leave out the dashes when you type it in.

The tool moves through status messages like “Card Is Being Produced,” “Card Was Mailed To Me,” and “Card Was Delivered To Me.” If the post office returned the card, that status appears too. Updates sometimes lag a day or two behind reality, so a fresh status change doesn’t always mean the card is physically moving at that exact moment.

Sign Up for USPS Informed Delivery

USCIS recommends registering for USPS Informed Delivery, a free service that emails you daily images of mail arriving at your address and automatically tracks incoming packages.² Turn on email and text alerts and you’ll know the moment the card is out for delivery. This helps if you share a mailbox or live in a building where packages sometimes go astray. Sign up at informeddelivery.usps.com using the same address USCIS has on file.

Checking by Phone

If the online tools don’t give you what you need, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833). Have your receipt number ready. The automated system runs around the clock in English and Spanish, and live representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, with interpreters for other languages.³

One catch: if the automated system decides an online tool can answer your question, it may point you there instead of transferring to a live agent. If you need a person because a self-service option failed you, be ready to explain why.

The Status Says Delivered but the Card Isn’t There

A “delivered” status without a card in hand is stressful but common. Check with anyone who might have picked it up: household members, a building manager, a front desk, or neighbors who occasionally receive misdelivered mail. Wait a few business days, since tracking occasionally registers a delivery before the carrier actually drops it off.

If the card still hasn’t shown up, submit a non-delivery inquiry through the USCIS e-Request tool at egov.uscis.gov. Select the option for non-delivery of a card, and have your receipt number, A-number (if applicable), and filing date ready. USCIS asks that you wait until at least 90 days after your approval notice before submitting this type of inquiry, because production and mailing can take that long in the normal course.⁴

If USCIS confirms the card was mailed but never reached you, you may need to file Form I-90 for a replacement. When the card was returned as undeliverable, replacement is free. When it was delivered to the correct address but went missing, you’ll pay the standard filing fee.

The Card Was Returned to USCIS as Undeliverable

A “returned to USCIS” status almost always means the address on file was wrong, incomplete, or the carrier couldn’t access the delivery point. Cards shipped through the Secure Mail Initiative cannot be forwarded by USPS the way ordinary mail can. If you moved without updating USCIS, the card goes straight back.

The timeline matters here. USCIS destroys returned cards after 60 business days if no one contacts them with a corrected address, which is roughly three calendar months.⁵ Update your address in time and USCIS can reship at no cost. Miss the window and you’ll need Form I-90, though the filing fee is waived when the card was returned as undeliverable and never reached you.⁶

Update Your Address With USCIS

Federal law requires noncitizens in the United States to report an address change to USCIS within 10 days of moving.⁷ The fastest route is through your USCIS online account, where the change processes almost immediately and can be applied to all pending cases by entering the relevant receipt numbers.⁸ Without an account, mail in a paper Form AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card.⁹

USPS Forwarding Won’t Cover It

A change-of-address form with the post office is a separate step, and it won’t redirect a Green Card. A USPS forwarding order catches ordinary correspondence but doesn’t apply to mail sent through the Secure Mail Initiative. The USCIS address update is the one that actually gets your card to the right place. Do both.

No Updates or a Very Long Delay

If the case looks frozen, first check the USCIS processing times page for your specific form and the office handling your case. Times vary a lot by form and location, so what feels like a delay may still be normal. USCIS also treats your case as actively processing if, within the past 60 days, you received a notice, responded to a request for evidence, or got an online status update.¹⁰

If your case genuinely exceeds the posted processing time with no recent activity, submit an “outside normal processing time” inquiry through the e-Request tool or by calling the Contact Center.¹¹ For form types not listed in the processing time tables, USCIS aims to decide within six months of filing and asks you to wait that long before inquiring.¹⁰

Temporary Proof of Status While You Wait

A delayed card doesn’t erase your permanent resident status, but it can still cause practical trouble at a new job or when traveling. USCIS can issue an ADIT stamp (also called a temporary I-551 stamp) placed on a Form I-94 as valid proof of permanent residence.¹²

To request one, call the Contact Center at 800-375-5283. An officer verifies your identity and mailing address, then either schedules an in-person appointment at a field office or arranges for the field office to produce and mail the stamped Form I-94 to you.¹² The stamp is an acceptable List A document for Form I-9 and E-Verify, so it covers employment verification until the physical card arrives.¹³

Replacing a Card That Never Arrived

If USCIS confirms your card was delivered or lost and can’t be reshipped, file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card. As of the fee schedule dated March 2026:⁶

Online filing: $415
Paper filing: $465
Card returned as undeliverable: $0 (no fee when USCIS issued the card but the post office returned it)

The $0 fee applies only when the card was physically returned to USCIS. If tracking showed delivered but you never received it, you’ll pay the standard rate. Online filing is cheaper and generally faster, so use it when you can. USCIS will ship the new card to whatever address is on file when you file the form, so update your address first if anything has changed.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. When to Expect Your Green Card
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Track Delivery of Your Notice or Secure Identity Document (or Card)
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Contact Center
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. e-Request – Non-Delivery of Card
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Undeliverable Permanent Resident and Employment Authorization Cards and Travel Documents to be Destroyed After 60 Days
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 8 – 1305 Notices of Change of Address
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11 Aliens Change of Address Card
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. e-Request – Check Case Processing
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. e-Request – Self Service Tools
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Temporary Status Documentation for Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Temporary I-551 Stamps and MRIVs