Green Card Renewal Tips And Processes The Green card is the document that is issued to foreigners who have been allowed permanent residency or may be conditional permanent residents in the United States. When you need to renew this legal document, you are required to plan and start the Green Card Maintenance process six months prior to the card's expiration. All the information and procedures concerning this process are processed by the citizenship and immigration services of the United States (USCIS). Below are some helpful points on how to go about Green Card renewal. The United States government introduced issuing of these legal documents with expiry dates on them. In most cases, when the cards are issued these days, they are valid for only ten years. The date unto which the document expires is highlighted in the front face. To start off, you are required to fill a USCIS form 1-90. This form is for replacing a permanent resident document. Once you have applied for the restoration of this vital legal document, you will have to go to the USCIS head office so that you get a temporary document. This document is valid for only one year and you will get it immediately. That duration is enough to ensure that you get the main document renewed, which takes about ten to twelve months before being issued. Identify whether the document you have is for permanent residency or conditional permanent residency. The conditional permanent one is issued if someone was recently married in the US or if the applicant had applied on the basis of an entrepreneur status. Also note that this conditional resident document is issued for only two years. Before issuing you with a temporary document, the USCIS will conduct a thorough check of your criminal history. Your prints will be crosschecked and also they will require your passport size photograph. If you have been convicted earlier on, with a crime that can cause you to be deported, then you can be asked to appear at the deportation hearing. You cannot be issued with a new document if you have been involved in criminal activities. You are required to submit your current address and if you are planning to change it, you should notify the USCIS especially when the renewal process is on going. You can easily notify the board by a phone call or via internet. This is because they will want to know where to send the new legal document. The process is not free, so there are some fees that you are required to pay while going on with this procedure. The charges are for filing purposes and for conducting biometric tests. This amount is payable to the office of the USCIS accompanied by the forms and other requirements so that the process can commence. The process of Green Card Renewal is not as tough as many tend to think. You only need to avail yourself early together with the required documents. Remember that this document is very important and that you should know how to practice good Green Card maintenance skills.