USCIS LAUNCHES NEW LOS ANGELES I-90 PILOT PROJECT TO REPLACE OR RENEW A GREEN CARD WITHIN DAYS

Under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, aliens who depart the United States after being unlawfully present in the United States for certain periods can be barred from admission to lawful permanent resident status, even if they have obtained Advance Parole. Those aliens who have been unlawfully present in the United States for more than 180 days, but less than one year are inadmissible for three years; those who have been unlawfully present for a year or more are inadmissible for 10 years. Aliens who are unlawfully present, depart the U.S. and subsequently reenter under a grant of parole, may nevertheless be ineligible to adjust their status.

June 1, 2004: USCIS announced the launch of the I-90 pilot project in Los Angeles that will reduce the wait time to replace or renew a permanent resident card or green card from a year to less than a week. The pilot project takes advantage of electronic filing of applications on the USCIS website offering customers a convenient and simple-to-use alternative to mailing in applications for benefits.

This pilot allows USCIS to dramatically reduce the time it takes to process an application for renewal or replacement of a green card. Once the applicant has filed electronically, they only have to visit to one of the USICS Application Support Centers. Applicants get a new green card in less than a week, in most cases.

Applicants wanting to take advantage of the new I-90 pilot can go to www.uscis.gov and file by using the E-Filing feature. The receipt produced by that transaction shows a toll-free number that applicants can call to make an appointment at the USCIS Application Support Center (ASC) that is closest to them. During the visit, the ASC will order a permanent resident card for customers to receive in under a week.

The current wait time for green cards to be produced by the USCIS California Service Center is just under one year. Customers who wish to speed up the process of an already-filed I-90 application can elect to re-file electronically, and participate in this new pilot program.

The I-90 pilot project in Los Angeles is one of several USCIS Internet-based customer service initiatives. Since the implementation of E-Filing last year more than 100,000 customers have used it. E-Filing will soon be expanded to support more forms online. Customers can also track the processing of their applications by using Case Status Online.

In March, USCIS also launched InfoPass in Los Angeles. This applicant friendly initiative allows customers to go online instead of waiting in long lines at the Los Angeles District Office to make an appointment with an information officer. InfoPass began in Miami and was also recently implemented in Dallas. USCIS plans to expand InfoPass in Arlington, VA, New York City, and Detroit.