need some help: renewing green card & fee waiver info

[stillbaffled 25]

Hello VJers!

I had received SO MUCH help for wonderful VJ people, in this forum years ago, when going through my K1 journey into permanent residency. I've lost my login info and had used a now non-existent email (lycos, gasp!), and so I just started a new account. I can't even recall the name I used way back then....that was 2007-2008. Do excuse my long-winded writing. Hahaha!

Here are my questions - and I did do a search here and couldn't find any topics on this. Feel free to post links here if you know where they might be.

1. My green card surprised me when I dug it up and looked at it to see that it actually expires August 2020. (Friends who have been here a long time have green cards without expiration dates.)
I saw that is can take up to a year to get the new card in the mail after applying, so would you apply early, for just wait until say 3 months before? (I got my K-1 visa January 2008, and, unfortunately, got divorced 2011, maybe 2012...I forget. It was, obviously a tough time. I've stayed and lived in the US as my primary residence; I'm from Canada.)

2. The current cost is exorbitant, about $600 (!!!!!!), and I found that there is a fee waiver form/application to request, because of hardship, not to pay for the renewal. HOWEVER, having just read USCIS' page on info about this, it isn't totally clear that one wouldn't be reprimanded (possibly denied) for using social services like medical (supplied by California, thank goodness because I had a terrible accident that has made me slightly disabled). Has anyone here used this? Any guidance or advice on this idea? Maybe I should just borrow the money.

3. I read that one doesn't need a non-expired green card to apply for citizenship; that is can be expired. That doesn't change your status as a permanent resident, but to be careful of going out of the country and trying to return. You are at the mercy of the person at the border to allow you back in with the expired card. I'm curious if the certificate you get once successful with the N-400 (naturalization application), and become a citizen, who's signature is on that certificate? The president? As you may have guessed, I would prefer to wait for the next (actual and real) president. Hahaha! 

Thank you kindly!

[geowrian 22,337]

Any reason you don't want to just naturalize? Then you never have to worry about it again, can move outside the US if you want, etc.

 

1) You can apply within 6 months of expiration (or if it is lost, stolen, damaged, etc.). See: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/renew-a-green-card

After filing, if necessary, you can get an I-551 stamp to act as a green card for 1 year.

 

2) Yup...it's not cheap. Thew fee waiver is an option if you can show that you meet the requirements.  You aren't deemed a public charge or can be denied because of this, though.

Regarding the use of certain benefits, it depends on the specific ones used and under what circumstances. Medi-Cal is CA's Medicaid program, but they're one of the few states that permits LPRs within the first 5 years to use it as that portion  is funded via state resources, not federal funds (which are bared for the first 5 years).

 

3) Correct. Although I also don't suggest any alien being in the US without evidence of legal status/authorized stay. In practical terms, it would be an issue if you apply for a new job (I-9 requirements, unless you have a valid state ID + unrestricted Social Security card (or other list B + C items)) or travel abroad. Without a valid green card, you have to make sure you can even get to the US border (Canadian passport is useful here I guess), then CBP should be able to see that you are still an LPR and let you in.

 

Summary: Either apply for citizenship or do the I-90.

[HRQX 4,145]

1 hour ago, stillbaffled said:

I saw that is can take up to a year to get the new card in the mail after applying, so would you apply early, for just wait until say 3 months before?

Apply within 6 months before it expires. After you receive the I-90 receipt notice and the card expires you can call USCIS and request a document services appointment: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices/california-san-francisco-field-office Its at their discretion on whether or not to put an I-551 stamp in your passport.

1 hour ago, stillbaffled said:

Maybe I should just borrow the money.

USCIS also accepts credit cards.

1 hour ago, stillbaffled said:

I read that one doesn't need a non-expired green card to apply for citizenship; that is can be expired.

That is correct.

1 hour ago, stillbaffled said:

who's signature is on that certificate?

The local Field Office Director: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Verification/I-9 Central/N-560.pdf

1 hour ago, stillbaffled said:

(Friends who have been here a long time have green cards without expiration dates.)

Not a requirement, but CBP recommends to replace with the newer cards: "If a CBP Officer is unable to identify you from the old photo as the legal owner of the green card, you could be delayed until your identity is verified." https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/75/kw/i-551 without expiration date

[geowrian 22,337]

1 minute ago, HRQX said:

The local Field Office Director: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Verification/I-9 Central/N-560.pdf

I wish I could find the thread, but there was somebody about a year or 2 ago who also had it signed by the POTUS....but it was Obama's signature still so they were saying how they were pleasantly surprised and found it quite appropriate. lol

[stillbaffled 25]

3 hours ago, geowrian said:

I wish I could find the thread, but there was somebody about a year or 2 ago who also had it signed by the POTUS....but it was Obama's signature still so they were saying how they were pleasantly surprised and found it quite appropriate. lol

Yes, in 2012, a woman I know showed me, proudly, her certificate and it had Obama's signature. So I was, ahem, concerned about having the current occupant of the white house's signature on a certificate I'd be keeping forever. Hahaha! 
Thank you kindly for all your help.

3 hours ago, geowrian said:

I wish I could find the thread, but there was somebody about a year or 2 ago who also had it signed by the POTUS....but it was Obama's signature still so they were saying how they were pleasantly surprised and found it quite appropriate. lol

 

3 hours ago, HRQX said:

Apply within 6 months before it expires. After you receive the I-90 receipt notice and the card expires you can call USCIS and request a document services appointment: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices/california-san-francisco-field-office Its at their discretion on whether or not to put an I-551 stamp in your passport.

USCIS also accepts credit cards.

That is correct.

The local Field Office Director: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Verification/I-9 Central/N-560.pdf

Not a requirement, but CBP recommends to replace with the newer cards: "If a CBP Officer is unable to identify you from the old photo as the legal owner of the green card, you could be delayed until your identity is verified." https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/75/kw/i-551 without expiration date

Thank you kindly.

[stillbaffled 25]

I didn't respond to the question why I may not want to naturalize:

I'm afraid that if I decide to live elsewhere, I'll be indebted to continue paying taxes to the US as a citizen.
The ONLY reason at this point that I would seriously consider becoming a citizen is to vote. !!!

[HRQX 4,145]

13 minutes ago, stillbaffled said:

I'm afraid that if I decide to live elsewhere, I'll be indebted to continue paying taxes to the US as a citizen.

As a citizen you would be required to file a US tax return (except in a few circumstances). Odds are that after the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) and/or the Foreign Tax Credit, your US tax bill would be zero (or near zero): https://www.americansabroad.org/us-taxes-abroad-for-dummies-update/ "So you see that by judiciously combining the FEIE with the foreign tax credit or by applying only the foreign tax credit you can substantially reduce or even get your US tax bill down to zero. Again, this is only an approximate calculation to serve as an example of how the system works."

 

Also, there is the process of voluntarily renouncing US citizenship: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Renunciation-US-Nationality-Abroad.html

Edited August 18, 2019 by HRQX