6.1 Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)

You must allow employees to choose which document(s) they will present from the Lists of Acceptable Documents. In Section 2, an LPR may choose to present a List A document (such as Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card, commonly referred to as a Green Card) or a List B and C document combination (such as a state-issued driver’s license and unrestricted Social Security card).

Forms I-551 may have:

  • No expiration date. We issued these cards from January 1977 to August 1989.
  • A 10-year expiration date.
  • A two-year expiration date.

Temporary Form I-551 Requires Reverification

If an LPR or conditional resident presents one of the temporary Forms I-551 listed below, you must reverify their employment authorization:

  • List A receipt: The arrival portion of Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, containing an unexpired temporary I-551 stamp and a photograph of the employee. They must present their Form I-551 to you no later than when the stamp expires, or one year after U.S. Customs and Border Protection issues the Form I-94 if the stamp does not contain an expiration date.
  • List A document: A foreign passport with either a temporary I-551 stamp or I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa (MRIV). They must present their Form I-551 to you when the stamp expires, or one year after the admission date if the stamp does not contain an expiration date.
    • Most MRIVs contain the following language on the visa: “UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR.” The one-year time period begins on the date of admission. If the employee receives an MRIV without the statement “FOR 1 YEAR,” you should treat the MRIV as evidence of permanent residence status for one year from the date of admission.
    • If the stamp in the passport is endorsed “CR-1” and is near but not on the MRIV, it is still a valid endorsement.
    • Enter the number in red font under the MRIV “Expires On” date as the document number.
  • List C document: An expired Form I-551 with a Form I-797, Notice of Action, that indicates USCIS has extended the card’s validity. You must reverify the employee’s employment authorization in Section 3 before their extension ends.