Replacing a lost Green Card takes a long time. USCIS currently reports that about 80 percent of applications to replace a lost, stolen, or destroyed permanent resident card finish within roughly 23 months.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Processing Times How long it takes to replace a lost Green Card in your specific case depends on the service center handling your file, USCIS staffing, and the volume of applications in the queue, but a year or more is normal. Because the wait is so long, the more important question is usually not when the plastic card arrives — it is how you prove your status in the meantime.
What the 23-Month Estimate Actually Means
The 23-month figure is the outer edge of USCIS’s own posted range: 80 percent of lost, stolen, or destroyed card replacements finish within that window.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Processing Times Your case could finish faster, and some finish slower. The estimate moves as workloads shift, so check the USCIS processing times page for the current number before you file and again as your case sits.
Once USCIS accepts your Form I-90, you will receive Form I-797C, Notice of Action, which confirms receipt and gives you a 13-character receipt number.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action That number is what you use to track your case through the USCIS online case status tool.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checking Your Case Status Online If you filed online, your USCIS account will also show personalized completion estimates and push notifications when the status changes.
Two things can extend the wait beyond the posted estimate. The first is a Request for Evidence, which USCIS issues when something in your file is missing or unclear; a slow or incomplete response can lead to denial.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Request for Evidence (RFE) The second is missing your biometrics appointment. After USCIS accepts your application, it schedules you at a local Application Support Center to collect fingerprints, a photograph, and a digital signature; skipping that appointment without rescheduling stalls the case.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Preparing for Your Biometric Services Appointment
Can You Get It Faster?
USCIS will consider an expedite request in narrow circumstances. The agency lists urgent humanitarian factors such as serious illness or disability, a death in the family, or extreme living conditions caused by a natural disaster or armed conflict.6USCIS. Expedite Requests Being inconvenienced by the wait is not enough. You must explain and document the specific time-sensitive factor, and filing a humanitarian-category application by itself will not qualify you.
Temporary Proof While You Wait
Federal law requires every permanent resident age 18 or older to carry their registration card, and without it you may not be able to prove work authorization to a new employer or board a return flight from abroad.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. List A Documents That Establish Identity and Employment Authorization With a 23-month outer wait, you need something to carry.
That something is an ADIT stamp, also called a temporary I-551 stamp. It is valid temporary proof of your lawful permanent resident status. USCIS sets the validity period based on your situation, and it generally does not exceed one year.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Announces Additional Mail Delivery Process for Receiving ADIT Stamp
To request one, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (800-767-1833 for TDD).9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Temporary Status Documentation for Lawful Permanent Residents An officer verifies your identity and address. In many cases USCIS will mail you a Form I-94 bearing the ADIT stamp, a DHS seal, and your photo pulled from their records, with no office visit required. If your identity cannot be confirmed by phone, if USCIS has no usable photo on file, or if your need is urgent, you will be scheduled for an in-person appointment at a local field office instead.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Announces Additional Mail Delivery Process for Receiving ADIT Stamp If the ADIT stamp expires before your new card arrives, you can request another.
One point of confusion worth clearing up. USCIS extends the validity of Green Cards by 36 months for renewal applicants, but that extension works by pairing the receipt notice with the expired physical card.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Extends Green Card Validity Extension to 36 Months for Green Card Renewals When the card is lost, that pairing is impossible, which is precisely why the ADIT stamp exists.
Filing Form I-90 to Start the Clock
You replace a lost card by filing Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card. Select reason 2.a on the form for a lost card.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-90, Instructions for Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card You need your Alien Registration Number, full legal name, date of birth, and current mailing address, plus a government-issued photo ID such as a passport or driver’s license.
The filing fee is $415 online and $465 by mail; there is no separate biometrics fee.12USCIS. G-1055 Fee Schedule Online filing is faster and cheaper for most applicants, and lets you upload documents, pay through Pay.gov, and respond to any Request for Evidence in one place.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) USCIS no longer accepts personal, business, or cashier’s checks; paper filers pay by credit, debit, or prepaid card using Form G-1450, or authorize a bank withdrawal using Form G-1650.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees
If you cannot afford the fee, Form I-912 lets you request a waiver based on receipt of a means-tested benefit, household income at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or documented financial hardship.15U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Request for Fee Waiver Fee waiver applicants must file on paper; online filing is not available for them.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)
One boundary worth flagging. Form I-90 is not the right form if you are a conditional resident who needs to remove conditions; that is Form I-751 for marriage-based conditional residents and Form I-829 for investment-based conditional residents.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)
If You Lost Your Card Outside the United States
A card lost abroad is a different timeline problem, because airlines may refuse to board you on a U.S.-bound flight without proof of status. Call your carrier first: CBP policy sometimes allows boarding without further documentation for a 10-year card holder who has been outside the U.S. for less than a year, if the airline agrees.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-131A, Application for Carrier Documentation
If the airline refuses, file Form I-131A, Application for Carrier Documentation, at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate to obtain a boarding foil. You pay the filing fee through the USCIS online system in advance and bring proof of payment to your embassy appointment. At the embassy, bring your original passport plus a copy of all pages, any evidence of permanent resident status you can produce (a copy of the lost card, your immigrant visa, or a CBP admission stamp), your travel itinerary, and two passport-style color photos taken within 30 days with your name and A-Number lightly written on the back. Foreign-language documents need certified English translations.17USCIS. Instructions for Application for Carrier Documentation Form I-131A
The boarding foil only gets you home. Once you are back in the United States, you still have to file Form I-90 and wait out the replacement timeline.
When Your New Card Ships
After approval, USCIS produces the new card and mails it through USPS Priority Mail with delivery confirmation under its Secure Mail Initiative.18U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Track Delivery of Your Notice or Secure Identity Document (or Card) If you have moved during the long wait, this is where things go wrong. Federal law requires you to report any address change within 10 days by filing Form AR-11 or updating through your USCIS online account.19U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card USCIS recommends the online tool: paper address changes do not automatically update the case management systems, so your card can still ship to the old address.20U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address
When the card arrives, check that your name, date of birth, and expiration date are correct, sign it, and store it somewhere secure. If the original card turns up later, destroy it so there is no confusion about which one is valid.