To track your green card delivery, use two tools in sequence: USCIS Case Status Online at egov.uscis.gov with your 13-character receipt number, and USPS tracking with the number that appears in your USCIS online account once the card ships. Most cards arrive within two to four weeks after the status changes to “Card Was Mailed To Me.”
What You Need Before You Start
Your receipt number is the key. It’s a 13-character code starting with three letters (EAC, WAC, LIN, SRC, NBC, MSC, or IOE) followed by ten digits, and it appears on every Notice of Action (Form I-797) USCIS has sent you.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number
Set up a USCIS online account at myUSCIS before the card ships. The USPS tracking number will post there once the card enters the mail stream, and the account lets you opt into phone or email notifications so you don’t have to keep refreshing the status page.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Track Delivery of Your Notice or Secure Identity Document or Card
Checking Case Status Online
Go to egov.uscis.gov and enter your receipt number with no dashes or spaces.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Case Status Online The system returns the most recent action on your case.
Two status messages matter for delivery. “New Card Is Being Produced” means the card is at the production facility but hasn’t shipped. “Card Was Mailed To Me” means it has left the facility and entered the postal system, and this update usually shows the date USCIS handed the card off to USPS. Once that second status posts, the delivery clock is running.
Production delays happen, especially in high-volume periods, so a stalled status by itself isn’t cause for alarm. But if the status has read “Card Was Mailed To Me” for more than a couple of weeks and nothing has shown up, it’s time to switch over to USPS.
Following the Card Through USPS
USCIS ships green cards through a program called the Secure Mail Initiative, which uses USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. Every shipment gets a USPS tracking number, and that number appears in your USCIS online account once the card is mailed.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Track Delivery of Your Notice or Secure Identity Document or Card
Plug that tracking number into the USPS tracking tool at usps.com to see every scan point, from the regional distribution center through the “out for delivery” notification. This is the most granular view you’ll get.
Using USPS Informed Delivery for Scan Alerts
Informed Delivery is a free USPS service that sends a daily email or app notification with grayscale images of incoming letter-sized mail and tracking updates for packages coming to your address. Sign up at informeddelivery.usps.com and verify your identity, which usually means receiving a one-time passcode on your mobile phone. If online verification fails, USPS offers in-person identity verification at a local post office; you bring a printed form and identification within 30 days.
Once you’re enrolled, add the USPS tracking number from your USCIS account to your Informed Delivery dashboard and turn on text or email alerts for scan events, including final delivery. It’s especially worth doing if you live in an apartment or shared housing where mail can vanish from a common area.
Moving While the Card Is in Transit
This trips people up more than any other step. If you move while the card is being produced or shipped, USPS will not forward mail from USCIS, even if you filed a standard forwarding request with the post office.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address The card goes to the old address, gets returned to USCIS, and you’re left requesting redelivery or a replacement.
Federal law requires you to report an address change to USCIS within 10 days of moving.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11, Aliens Change of Address Card The fastest route is the Enterprise Change of Address (E-COA) tool inside your USCIS online account, which updates your address almost immediately. Enter the receipt number for each pending case so the update applies to those specific applications.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address A paper Form AR-11 filed by mail is available too, but it doesn’t automatically update USCIS systems, so it’s slower and less reliable.
If your card was returned because the address was wrong, contact the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 or submit an online inquiry under the “did not receive card by mail” category. USCIS may be able to attempt a second delivery to the corrected address.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Track Delivery of Your Notice or Secure Identity Document or Card
If the Card Is Late or Missing
Don’t file too early. USCIS asks that you wait at least 90 days after receiving your approval notice before submitting a non-delivery inquiry about a recently approved card.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. e-Request – Non-Delivery of Card Once 90 days have passed and the card still hasn’t arrived, submit an inquiry through the e-Request portal under “non-delivery of card.” You can also call the Contact Center at 800-375-5283, though the automated system will usually push case status questions back to the online tools.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Contact Center
If USPS tracking says the card was delivered but nothing ever reached you, that’s a separate problem. File a non-delivery inquiry with USCIS through e-Request, and file a report with local law enforcement. A police report creates a formal record that helps if you later need to show the card was stolen rather than misplaced.
Replacing a Card That Never Arrived
If the card is genuinely lost or stolen in the mail, file Form I-90 for a replacement. The filing fee is $415 online or $465 on paper, and biometrics are included in that amount.
An important exception: if the card wasn’t delivered because of a USCIS or USPS error, you generally don’t have to pay the replacement fee. When filing Form I-90 for a card issued but never received, select filing category 2.b. or 3.b. (“My previous card was issued but never received”), include a copy of your latest Form I-797 Notice of Action, and provide government-issued identification.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration Documents and How to Correct, Update, or Replace Them Form I-90 can be filed online through your USCIS account or by mail.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)