Question:
I just came back from a trip to England. At US immigration, my mother
was told for the first time ( she became a permanent resident in 1983 )
that her green card must be replaced?
Now green cards without an expiration date must be replaced too.
Answer:
I think the change was in 1996...then they were preparing to notify all
holders with the procedure to change, but did say it will take some
time...I expect they are still working on the design of a new form
Yet another reason to get citizenship.
I have heard a few of these stories about immigration officers saying these
cards must be replaced, but it is not the case. Here is some material on
the issue.
First, see
http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/questsans/00.12GREE...
"Q. Do I need to renew my Green Card if it was issued between 1979 and 1988
and does not have an expiration date?
"A. No. Green Cards issued between 1979 and 1988 do not have expiration
dates and do not need to be renewed at this time. INS will develop an
orderly plan for replacing these cards at a future time. "
Next, see http://www.fels.org/insforms/insdocs.htm. This states about Form
I-151, an older version of the PR card: "As of March 20, 1996, the above
form 1-151 is no longer acceptable as evidence of permanent residence."
However, no such statement is made about Form I-551, the form number for
versions of the PR card after Form I-151, regardless of whether there is an
expiration date.
From 1946 until 1977, PR cards had the form number I-151. They did not have
expiration dates. In 1977 INS started issuing PR cards with the form number
I-551.
PR cards with the form number I-551 did not have expiration dates,
initially. Form I-551 was revised in August 1989. From that date on, an
expiration date was indicated on every card. So, from 1977 to 1989, PR
cards were issued without an expiration date.
There was a PR card replacement program which was completed in 1996. All PR
cards with the form number I-151 had to be replaced with cards with the form
number I-551 by March 20, 1996.
Here are some citations ("regulatory authority") to which you can refer when
questioned by an immigration officer:
8 CFR section 211.1(a), available through
http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/8cfr.htm, says that an arriving alien
shall present "a valid, unexpired Form I-551" as one of the options for
documents allowing entry.
I-551 means I-551. There are no subcategories of I-551. See 8 CFR section
299.1 for a list of INS forms. (On the internet, this does not appear to
include form numbers, but in paper form there are form numbers. I-151 does
not exist, and I-551 exists.)
