Lost green cards

Lost green cards can be a considerable headache to their owners. Replacing lost green cards does not only involve considerable amount of time and headache but it will ease your wallet of several hundreds of dollars as well. So take good care of it.

Why bothering replacing lost green cards at once, especailly if you are traveling abroad? As a green card holder you probably don't have (and don't need) an american visa in your passport. And because you don;t have your USA citizenship yet, the green card is the official confirmation of your permanent residence of your status. If you lost your green card you might not be allowed to board a US-bound airplane, thus to re-enter the USA.

Depending on your circumstances, wether the green card has been lost in the USA or outside America, the replacement process is different.

Lost green cards outside of the USA

If you lost your green card outside of America, things become a bit more complicated compared to losing your green card in the US. Here is abrief overview of the steps to be taken to replace lost green cards outside of the US:

Police report: go to the nearest police station and report the loss or theft of your green card. Make sure you get a written police report about the incident.
Newspaper ad: publish an ad in the classified section of the local newspaper, and declare the card void. Get the official receipt of the ad placement, as well as buy a copy of the newspaper with your ad, and keep it
Transportation letter from the US Embassy: go to the nearest US Embassy, report the loss of your green card and ask for a "transportation letter" or "boarding letter". In lack of a green card this letter confirms your legal status and permits you to board the airplane to the US. The transportation letter is valid for one entry, for one week to a month depending which US embassy issuing it. It can take up to a few days to get it issued, depending on how fast your permanent resident status can be verified. If you fail to travel within the letter's validity period, this will expire, and you will have to re-apply for a new letter, paying the appropriate fees again.

To get a transportation letter issued, you will tipically need the following documents:
- Completed application form, form I-90
- Valid passport with proof of your permanent resident status. This proof is a stamp in your passport, called ADIT-stamp (Alien Documentation and Identification System), which you receive when you first enter the US under the permanent resident status. This stamp in your passport is the only evidence of your green-card-status till you receive the plastic green card in the mail, which takes about a year. The ADIT stamp shows the date of entry to the USA, and your employment authorization so you can work freely.
- Police report about lost/stolen card
- Evidence of the most recent departure from the USA to show that you departed the US less than a year ago. You can use an airline ticket or a boarding pass stub
- 4 recent passport photographs of 5 x 5 cm (2.5. x 2.5 inch)
- Filing fee of $190 or equivalent local currency, payable in cash. The filing fee is non-refundable even if your application is not approved.
Green card replacement application: as soon as you get back to the United States you should file an application for lost green cards. Green cards can not be replaced or renewed by US Embassies, or outside of USA.