Skip to content
I-90

Green card renewal (Form I-90): fee, timing, how to file

Updated: Author: Alina Kanametova

Key answer

A 10-year green card is renewed - and replaced if lost, wrong or after a name change - on Form I-90. You file when the card expires within 6 months or has already expired. The fee is $415 online or $465 on paper. The receipt notice together with the expired card proves your status, work and travel authorization for 36 months.

Who files I-90 and when

Per USCIS you must replace your card if: it has expired or will expire within 6 months; it was lost, stolen or destroyed; you got it before age 14 and have turned 14 (unless it expires before 16); it contains an error; you legally changed your name or other details; or it was issued but never reached you. An EB-1A or EB-2 NIW green card is issued for 10 years - that is the card renewed on I-90. A 2-year conditional card is not renewed on I-90: marriage cases file I-751, investors file I-829.

How to file: online or by mail

Online - from a USCIS account (where you pay the fee, track the case and answer requests); a request for a fee waiver cannot be filed online. The paper form goes to the USCIS lockbox in Phoenix (the address is on the form page). Without your family name, mailing address, date of birth and signature the application is rejected. If biometrics are needed, a separate appointment notice arrives.

The fee

Under G-1055 (edition 09/09/26): $415 online, $465 on paper. Free if the card never arrived and was returned to USCIS as undeliverable, if the error on the card was made by DHS, and for the age-14 replacement when the card expires after the 16th birthday. A fee waiver can be requested (Form I-912). No refund if you withdraw the application.

While you wait for the new card

For a renewal, the I-90 receipt notice together with the expired card proves resident status for 36 months from the card expiration date; the notice says you remain authorized to work and travel. If you have no card at all, an ADIT (I-551) stamp can be placed in your passport on request through the USCIS Contact Center. An expired card does not end your status, but a resident must always carry a valid card or its equivalent.

If you are abroad

If the card expires within 6 months and you will return within a year of leaving and before it expires, USCIS advises filing I-90 as soon as you are back. If the card is lost or stolen abroad, you need carrier documentation on Form I-131A, not I-90. Before filing, USCIS suggests checking naturalization eligibility: after 5 years with the card (3 if married to a citizen) an N-400 may fit better than a renewal.

What the community reports

The chats say little about I-90 - 17 messages for 2024-2026: EB-1A and NIW card holders are only now reaching renewal. Most questions are about replacement: a typo in the address on the card, a card that never arrived by mail, a stolen card. In 2025 one member was surprised by "36 months" after biometrics - that is not the processing time but the status extension by the receipt notice. In 2026 members noted that the 10-year renewal is a basic form with no questions about income or assets.

Check processing times in the USCIS processing times.

Sources

FAQ

How much is a green card renewal?
$415 filed online and $465 on paper (G-1055, edition 09/09/26); there is no separate biometrics fee.
Can I travel with an expired card and the I-90 receipt?
Per the USCIS receipt wording - yes: the receipt together with the expired card proves status and the right to work and travel for 36 months.
When do I file I-90?
No earlier than 6 months before the card expires, or after it has expired.
I have a 2-year conditional card - do I file I-90?
No: conditions are removed on I-751 (marriage) or I-829 (investment). A conditional resident files I-90 only for a lost card, an error or changed details.

From community practice

  • A strong petition usually meets more than the required minimum of three criteria, with a margin on each - common advice in chats to reduce RFE risk.

  • What determines the strength of evidence is not the fact itself but its context: scale, selectivity and independent confirmation. This runs through almost every community case review.

  • Support letters are stronger when written by independent experts familiar with your work who cite concrete results rather than general praise.

Distilled from public community chats - observations, not legal advice.

From community discussions

  • «90 days isn't a rule, it's a recommendation, and not for you, but for the consul. O-1 is a dual-intent visa from the start, it's immediately assumed that you'll want to stay. Filing a petition for an immigrant visa already says 100% about your desire.»

    community member · from public community chats

  • «O-1 is a talent visa, which includes the understanding that getting it requires a lot of effort. Denials are normal. I get/got rejected by people for whom I did a lot out of friendship.»

    community member · from public community chats

  • «I went to an agency, asked them to help write an article - they made such nonsense. If you publish something like that and the officer reads it, they'll understand that such articles have little to do with the applicant's expert field.»

    community member · from public community chats

Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.

Related pages

More on the green-card path

The consular path (by city)

Reference information, not legal advice. Forms, eligibility and timing depend on your status - verify on uscis.gov.

Did this answer help?