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Green Card Renewal: the full process, step by step

This pack renews your 10-year green card with Form I-90. By the end of this guide you will know exactly what to do from the first click to the day USCIS mails your new card.

Read it once before you start. It takes about five minutes and saves you the most common mistakes.

One important branch: if your card is a 2-year conditional card that is expiring, you do not renew with I-90. You remove conditions with Form I-751, which is also included in this pack. The interview asks which case you are and uses the right form.

Before you start

  • Your current or expiring green card in your hand. You will read numbers from it.
  • Your A-Number (the 9-digit number on the card), if you know it. The interview shows you where to find it.
  • A clear photo or scan of the card's front and back for your own records.
  • An email address you actually read. USCIS and WhyFill both write to it.
  1. 1

    Create your free account

    Click the sign-up button and enter your email. We send you a magic link. Click it and you are in.

    There is no password to remember and nothing to install. Everything runs in your browser.

  2. 2

    Fill your profile once

    Your profile holds the basics every government form asks for: your name, date of birth, addresses, phone, and immigration details if you have them.

    You only enter this once. Every form you buy later reuses it, so a form that takes an hour by hand takes minutes here.

    Sensitive items like your Social Security number are encrypted and only used inside the form you are working on.

  3. 3

    Answer the interview in your language

    Instead of the confusing government form, you get simple questions in English, Spanish, Chinese, or Hebrew. Pick your language at the top of the page.

    Each question explains what it means and where to find the answer on your documents. If you are not sure about something, the help text tells you exactly what to do.

    Most questions are already answered from your profile. You only confirm or fix them.

  4. 4

    Check the free watermarked preview

    Before you pay anything, we place your answers on the official form and show you every page with a watermark on top.

    Read it like a proof. Check every name, date, and address. If something is wrong, go back and fix it for free. You pay only when it looks right.

  5. 5

    Pay once, no subscription

    Payment runs through Stripe, the same processor big stores use. We never see or keep your card number.

    The price on the page is the whole price. There is no subscription, no per-month charge, and no upsell after.

    This payment is for our service. The government has its own filing fee, which you pay separately when you file. The guide lists it for every form below.

  6. 6

    Download, print, and sign

    Right after payment, your finished form appears in Documents. Download the PDF as many times as you want, forever.

    Print it on plain white letter paper, single sided. Do not shrink it to fit.

    Now the part only you can do: sign and date every signature box in black ink, exactly like the name printed under it. Government forms reject digital signatures and blue ink is sometimes rejected too.

  7. 7

    File it with the government

    WhyFill prepares your paperwork but never files it for you. Filing is always you, and it is easier than it sounds.

    Every form below has its own card: where to send it, how much the government charges, what to include in the envelope, and how to track it after.

    If the form offers online filing, you can upload or copy your answers there instead. The Prep Sheet and the filled PDF both work for that.

Filing it with the government

Filing your I-90 (renew or replace a 10-year card)

Where to file
  • Best option: file online at uscis.gov. It is cheaper ($415 instead of $465) and faster. Your filled PDF has every answer ready to copy.
  • By mail: send the signed form to the USCIS Phoenix Lockbox: USCIS, Attn: I-90, P.O. Box 21262, Phoenix, AZ 85036.
Government fee
$465 by mail, $415 online, paid to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
How to pay
Online: credit or debit card. By mail: check or money order made out to U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Never send cash.
Photos
No photos with the form. USCIS sends you a biometrics appointment letter after filing, and they take your photo and fingerprints there.
What to include
  • The signed I-90 form (black ink, dated).
  • A photocopy of the front and back of your current green card.
  • The $465 fee if you file by mail (online you pay at the end).
  • If your name changed since the card was issued: a copy of the document that proves it, like a marriage certificate or court order.
How long it takes
The receipt notice arrives in 1 to 3 weeks. The biometrics letter comes after that. The new card usually takes several months. Times change, so check the current estimate on the USCIS processing times page.
How to track it
  • Your receipt notice has a 13-character receipt number. Enter it at egov.uscis.gov to see every step.
  • If you file online, the receipt appears in your USCIS account the same day.

If your card is a 2-year conditional card (I-751 instead)

Where to file
  • I-751 is filed by mail to a USCIS Lockbox. The correct lockbox depends on where you live, and it is printed in the I-751 instructions page 1.
  • File it in the 90 days before your conditional card expires. Filing too early gets rejected.
Government fee
$750 plus $85 biometrics, paid to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Check the I-751 page on uscis.gov for the current amount before you mail.
How to pay
Check or money order made out to U.S. Department of Homeland Security, one payment for the total.
Photos
No photos with the form. USCIS schedules biometrics after filing.
What to include
  • The signed I-751 form, filed jointly with your spouse if you are still married.
  • A copy of your conditional green card, front and back.
  • Proof your marriage is real: joint lease or mortgage, joint tax returns, photos together, children's birth certificates. Two or three strong items beat ten weak ones.
  • The fee payment.
How long it takes
Filing on time extends your status automatically for 48 months while USCIS decides. The receipt letter is your proof of status if anyone asks. Decisions usually take a year or more.
How to track it
  • Track the 13-character receipt number at egov.uscis.gov.
  • Do not let the receipt letter expire without knowing your status. If the extension date approaches with no decision, contact USCIS with the letter in hand.

The mistakes that come back

  • Filing I-90 with a 2-year conditional card. That is the wrong form and it gets rejected. Use I-751 instead.
  • Signing in blue ink or forgetting the date. Black ink and a date, every signature box.
  • Sending the form with the old fee amount. Fees change. The guide says the current one, and uscis.gov confirms it.
  • Mailing before you check the preview. The free preview exists so you never pay for a typo in your own name.

That is the whole process: account, profile, interview, preview, pay, print, sign, file, track. Take it one step at a time and it is genuinely easy.

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