If your green card is good for only two years, you are a conditional resident, and the card is not renewed the way a ten-year card is. You keep your residence by filing Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, in the 90 days before the card expires. Once that petition is filed, the receipt notice extends your card for 48 months past the date printed on it (USCIS policy as of October 2026), and your status continues while USCIS decides the case. If you have lost the card and its printed date has already passed, a replacement application (Form I-90) will not work; ask USCIS for a temporary I-551 stamp, called an ADIT stamp, instead. This page explains each step, the waivers for people who are divorced, widowed or abused, and what to do when the card is gone.
This guide is part of our section on the green card process and follows on from a green card through marriage. If you already know you need help, contact us.
Why is my green card only good for two years?
Because you were married less than two years on the day you became a permanent resident. Since the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986, a spouse in that position, and any child who immigrated with them, receives permanent residence “on a conditional basis” for two years (INA § 216, 8 U.S.C. § 1186a). The idea is simple: a marriage entered only to get a green card is hard to keep up on paper for two years, so Congress made the couple prove the marriage a second time.
A conditional resident is a permanent resident. You can live and work anywhere in the United States, travel, and count your time toward citizenship. What you cannot do is let the second anniversary pass without acting, because the law ends conditional status automatically at that point unless a petition to remove the conditions has been filed.
Can I renew a conditional green card?
No. There is no renewal. The two-year card is replaced by a ten-year card only when USCIS approves Form I-751. Form I-90, the application that renews an ordinary green card, cannot be used for this. The I-90 instructions (edition 01/20/25) say a conditional resident “may not use this application to replace, for any reason, an existing Permanent Resident Card that is expired or will expire within 90 days,” and tell the reader to file the I-751 instead (Form I-90 instructions).
We still see people search for “conditional green card renewal,” which is why this page carries that name. If you have a two-year card, the filing you need is the I-751.
When do I file Form I-751, and what happens if I miss the window?
If you are filing together with your spouse, you file during the 90 days immediately before the card’s expiration date, which is the second anniversary of the day you became a resident (8 CFR § 216.4(a)(1)). USCIS may reject a joint petition filed before the window opens; its removing-conditions page links to a calculator that gives the first day you can file. You can file online or on paper. As of the USCIS fee schedule dated October 26, 2026 (Form G-1055), the fee is $700 online or $750 on paper, and there is no fee for a waiver request based on battery or extreme cruelty.
Children who became conditional residents at the same time as the parent, or within 90 days after, can be included on the parent’s petition. A child who became a resident later files a separate I-751.
Missing the window is serious. Under INA § 216(c)(2) and 8 CFR § 216.4(a)(6), conditional status ends automatically on the second anniversary if no petition has been filed, and USCIS starts removal proceedings by issuing a Notice to Appear. A late petition can still be accepted, but only with a written explanation that USCIS finds is good cause for the delay. If the late petition is filed before the immigration court takes over the case and USCIS excuses the delay and approves it, USCIS restores your status. We file as early in the window as we can, because a driver’s license or a job verification that comes due during a gap is a problem nobody needs.
What if we are divorced, separated, widowed, or the marriage was abusive?
If your spouse has died, you file the I-751 alone as an “individual filing request,” not a waiver. You still prove the marriage was real, but the decision is not discretionary (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part I, Chapter 4). Our page on widowhood immigration cases covers the related problems.
In the other cases you file alone and ask USCIS to waive the joint-filing requirement. The statute and the regulations allow it when:
- The marriage ended in divorce or annulment and you married in good faith. See our guide to the I-751 waiver after divorce.
- During the marriage, you or your child were battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse (or, for a child, by a parent), and you married in good faith. There is no filing fee for this waiver.
- Removal would cause extreme hardship. USCIS may consider only circumstances that arose while you were a conditional resident (INA § 216(c)(4)).
You can ask for more than one waiver in the same petition, and a waiver petition is not tied to the 90-day window: USCIS accepts it before or after that window, up until a final removal order. Unlike a joint petition, a waiver is decided in USCIS’s discretion.
Separated but not yet divorced? USCIS says that if you file a waiver while divorce or annulment proceedings are pending, it will send a request for evidence asking for the final decree, and if you filed jointly and then separated, it will ask for the decree and a statement that you want the petition treated as a waiver (USCIS, Removing Conditions on Permanent Residence Based on Marriage). Separation alone does not sink a joint petition: the Policy Manual says USCIS may not deny one just because the spouses are separated or a divorce has been filed, as long as you are still married. It is a final divorce that forces the switch to a waiver. The decree has to arrive within the response period, so the timing of the divorce matters. We plan these filings case by case.
If the abuse happened before you ever received a green card, there may be no conditional card to deal with at all. The route then is usually a VAWA self-petition, which lets an abused spouse apply for residence without the abuser’s help.
What evidence proves a good-faith marriage?
The regulation lists the kinds of proof USCIS expects: joint ownership of property, a lease showing you live together, commingled finances, birth certificates of children born to the marriage, affidavits from people who know the relationship, and anything else that shows the marriage was real (8 CFR § 216.4(a)(5)). In practice the strongest files show two people building one household over time: a mortgage or lease in both names, a joint account that both actually use, insurance and tax returns that list each other, and a child’s birth certificate where there is one.
Divorced petitioners face a harder version of the same question, because they must prove the marriage was genuine at the start even though it ended. Those petitions draw more requests for evidence. We have helped many people through that request after they started on their own; if you receive one, our RFE response service explains how we approach it.
What does the I-751 receipt notice do?
It keeps your card working. USCIS prints language on the I-751 receipt notice (Form I-797) that extends the card for 48 months past the “Card Expires” date. USCIS started this on January 25, 2023, replacing shorter extensions, and its removing-conditions page still states the 48 months as of October 2026. Together, the expired card and the receipt notice are your proof of status, of permission to work, and of your right to return from a trip abroad (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 11, Part B, Chapter 2). Keep the original receipt with the card.
Your status does not depend on the receipt. The regulation says a properly filed I-751 extends conditional status automatically until USCIS decides the petition (8 CFR § 216.4(a)(1)). The receipt is the document that lets an employer, a driver’s license office or an airline see that. If the case is still pending when the 48 months run out, USCIS tells you to call its Contact Center at 800-375-5283 for new evidence of status.
I lost my conditional green card while my I-751 is pending. What now?
Your status did not end when the card was lost. A green card is evidence of status, not the status itself. What changes is how you get replacement evidence, and that depends on the date printed on the lost card:
- More than 90 days left before the printed date: file Form I-90 to replace the card. The replacement carries the same two-year expiration date as the lost card (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 11, Part B, Chapter 2). As of the October 26, 2026 fee schedule, the I-90 costs $415 online or $465 on paper.
- Within 90 days of the printed date, or past it: the I-90 is closed to you. The form instructions say so, and the Policy Manual says USCIS denies a conditional resident’s I-90 filed in the 90 days before the card expires and points the person to the I-751. Ask for an ADIT stamp instead, as described below.
That second situation is where people get stuck. We recently saw a conditional resident whose I-751 was already pending when the card went missing. Their I-90s kept coming back with a notice saying to file an I-751, which they had already done. The notice is form language and was never written for that case. The 48-month receipt does not solve it either, because the receipt extends a card, and a card you no longer have cannot be extended. One more source of confusion: USCIS’s own removing-conditions page (last updated December 2023) says a conditional resident cannot file an I-90 at all, which is broader than the Policy Manual and the form instructions. Those two control, and both say the I-90 is available only while the card has more than 90 days left.
The answer is the ADIT stamp. An ADIT stamp, also called an I-551 stamp, is temporary proof of permanent residence that USCIS places on a Form I-94 (with your photo and a DHS seal) or in an unexpired passport. The Policy Manual names it for residents who no longer have their card, and it serves as proof of status and of permission to work. To get one:
- Call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283. Explain that you are a conditional resident with a pending I-751 and that your card is lost. Have your I-751 receipt number and A-number ready.
- Expect one of two outcomes. Under a procedure USCIS announced in March 2023, it can mail a Form I-94 with an ADIT stamp, its seal and a photo from its records, without an office visit, after the Contact Center confirms your identity and mailing address. When it cannot do that, or the need is urgent, it schedules an appointment at a field office. For Montana residents that is usually the Helena field office (our experience as of October 2026).
- Ask about the validity period. USCIS sets it case by case. Its 2023 announcement of the mailed stamp said the validity would not exceed one year unless regulation or policy says otherwise (USCIS, March 2023). If your I-751 is still pending when the stamp expires, call again.
If the card is lost or stolen while you are outside the United States, the tool is different: Form I-131A, which asks a U.S. consulate for carrier documentation so an airline can board you. USCIS says on its I-131A page that conditional residents can use it.
The permanent fix is approval of the I-751, which brings a new ten-year card. If the missing card is costing you a job, a professional license or urgent travel, an expedite request explaining that harm is worth making alongside the ADIT request.
Can I travel while my I-751 is pending?
Yes. Carry your passport, the expired conditional card and the original I-751 receipt notice, or an ADIT stamp if the card is lost. Three points are worth knowing before you go:
- The airline will ask for the receipt. CBP’s guidance to airlines lets them board a resident on an expired card without penalty only if it was a ten-year card. An expired conditional card has to be shown with the I-797 extension notice, and the airline must see the original. Our note on traveling with an expired green card explains how TSA, the airline and CBP each treat an expired card.
- The regulation has not caught up with the 48 months. The returning-resident document rule still describes an expired card with an I-751 receipt “issued within the previous 6 months” (8 CFR § 211.1(a)(5)). The USCIS Policy Manual says the card and receipt prove your right to return during the extension, and CBP’s page for returning permanent residents lists an expired card with a receipt notice as evidence of continued status (as of October 2026). If your receipt is old, travel with the receipt and consider an ADIT stamp for a long or important trip.
- Long trips need planning. A conditional resident who plans to be abroad for a year or more should apply for a reentry permit before leaving, and you must be back for any I-751 interview (8 CFR § 216.4(a)(4)) and for your biometrics appointment.
Will there be an interview, and when does the ten-year card come?
USCIS can waive the interview when the file proves the marriage, and in our experience well-documented joint petitions are usually decided without one (as of October 2026). Waiver petitions, and joint petitions with thin evidence, are more likely to draw a request for evidence or an interview at the local field office. After filing, expect a biometrics appointment. For how long the decision is taking now, check the USCIS processing times tool; the 48-month extension exists because these cases take a long time.
When USCIS approves the petition, it removes the conditions as of the second anniversary of your residence and produces a new ten-year card. You hand in the old card when the new one arrives (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part I, Chapter 6).
What happens if USCIS denies the I-751?
A denial ends your permanent residence as of the date of the decision, and USCIS issues a Notice to Appear. There is no appeal within USCIS, but you can ask the immigration judge to review the denial, and in a case built on a joint petition the government has to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the facts in your petition were not true (INA § 216(c)(3)(D)). You may also file a motion to reopen or reconsider with USCIS, or a new I-751 on a waiver basis if one fits. Our page on what to expect in immigration court explains the court side.
Can I apply for citizenship while my I-751 is pending?
Yes. Time as a conditional resident counts toward naturalization, and a person married to and living with a U.S. citizen can usually apply after three years (see the three-year rule for spouses of U.S. citizens). USCIS will not approve the naturalization application while the I-751 is pending; it decides the I-751 first or at the same time (USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 12, Part G, Chapter 5).
How can we help?
The cases that need a lawyer are the ones on this page that do not fit the form: a divorce in progress, a spouse who will not sign, a missed window, a request for evidence, an interview, a denial, or a card that is lost after its date has passed. We have handled removal of conditions for conditional residents across Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming for more than twenty years, and we would rather help at the start than at the request-for-evidence stage, though we do both. Contact us to talk about your case.
