In previous years, long-time Greencard holders were often confronted with the choice and dilemma of whether or not to apply affirmatively to renew their 10-year Greencard, AND then apply for their U.S. Citizenship by Application (Naturalization), or whether to forego the Greencard renewal, and apply straight for U.S. Citizenship (and subsequently apply for the U.S. Passport).
There was no definitive ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer, as in most legal situations the most correct answer was usually “it depends.”
A variety of factors often played into the overall consideration, including:
- Was the Greencard needing to be uptodate to act as a form of I.D. ?
- Was the Greencard needed for proof of valid lawful permanent resident status? (often required for employment-purposes, tax purposes, banking/investment purposes, real estate transactions, or other legal/financial matters)
- Was a Greencard needed to replace a lost or stolen one?
- Is the foreign passport about to expire (or has it already)?
- is there an imminent need to renew the foreign passport?
- is there a possibility the foreign passport cannot be renewed because the Citizenship lapsed or is being relinquished?
- etc.
Typically, a lengthy consultation or legal discussion is necessary to ascertain the best way forward, in terms of what to file in which order, depending on the client’s need.
In December 2022, USCIS simplified things by automatically extending expiring 10-year Greencards for an automatic 24-month period, following the proper filing and receipt of a Naturalization Application (N-400). This was published in its Policy Alert PA-2022-26.
By doing so, the I-797 Receipt Notice from USCIS (confirming the pendency of the N-400) ALONG WITH THE EXPIRING/EXPIRED Greencard, will constitute ongoing valid Lawful Permanent Resident status of the Applicant for all travel and other purposes.