If your Permanent Resident Card — the “green card” — is missing, the fix runs through one federal form no matter where in California you live. But a few of the practical questions that come next (what protects you if it was stolen, what you can show a TSA officer or a new employer in the meantime) have California-specific answers.
This guide walks through both: the federal filing process every green card holder in the country follows, and the state-level steps that matter if your card was stolen along with a wallet or purse. It’s written for any lawful permanent resident in California, not only IHSS caregivers and recipients — though if you’re both, the identity-theft steps below matter just as much.
At a glance: replacing a lost or stolen green card
- Form: I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card
- Fee: $415 online / $465 by mail
- Reason to select: card was lost, stolen, or destroyed
- Police report: not required by USCIS, but recommended for identity-theft protection
- Proof while you wait: I-797C receipt notice or an ADIT (I-551) stamp
- Processing time: volatile — check USCIS's live tool before filing
Your status doesn't disappear with the card
Being a lawful permanent resident is a legal status, not a piece of plastic. Losing the card, having it stolen, or letting it expire doesn’t end that status by itself. What changes is your ability to quickly prove the status to an employer, an airline, or a bank — which is why the steps below matter even though nothing about your immigration status itself is at risk from a missing card.
Step 1 — File Form I-90 with USCIS
Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, is the only form U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses to issue a replacement. You can file it two ways: online through a myUSCIS account, or on paper by mail. If you’re requesting a fee waiver, you must file on paper — fee-waiver requests (Form I-912) can’t be submitted through the online system.
What It Costs
| Filing method | Fee |
|---|---|
| Online (myUSCIS account) | $415 |
| By mail (paper Form I-90) | $465 |
| Fee waiver approved (Form I-912) — must file by mail | $0 |
| USCIS mailed your card and it came back undeliverable, or made a data error on it | $0 |
Worth knowing: USCIS fees change. The figures above reflect the USCIS Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) in effect at the time this article was verified. Confirm the current amount at uscis.gov before you pay.
USCIS folded the old separate biometrics fee into the base I-90 fee in 2024, so there’s no extra charge for fingerprints or the photo appointment. There’s also no premium-processing option for Form I-90 — no matter how urgently you need the card, you can’t pay more for a faster decision.
What to select and what to submit
On the form, choose the reason that says your previous card was lost, stolen, or destroyed. Because you don’t have the card to submit a copy of, USCIS asks for a different piece of government-issued photo identification instead — a valid passport or driver’s license both work.
Step 2 — If it was stolen, protect yourself from identity theft
USCIS does not require a police report to process Form I-90. Filing one is about protecting yourself — not about satisfying a USCIS requirement — so don’t let a busy police department talk you out of it if you want that record on file.
- File a report with your local police department. Recovering the card is unlikely, but the report creates an official record of the date and circumstances, which matters if someone later tries to use your identity.
- Under California law, using someone else’s identifying information for an unlawful purpose is a crime (Penal Code § 530.5) — a police report is the first step if that happens to you.
- Consider a security freeze with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. California residents can place and lift freezes at no cost, and a freeze is the strongest protection against someone opening new credit in your name.
- If your California driver’s license or state ID was stolen along with the green card, call the DMV’s fraud hotline and consider requesting a new license number.
Flag: The identity-theft steps here — police report, credit freeze, DMV fraud line — are general California consumer-protection practice, not a legal requirement tied to Form I-90. USCIS will process your replacement card without any of them. Treat these as protective measures for you, not paperwork USCIS is waiting on.
Step 3 — Get proof of your status while you wait
Two documents can stand in for the card while your replacement is processed:
- Form I-797C Receipt Notice. USCIS mails this within a few weeks of filing. It confirms your application is pending and shows your receipt number, which you’ll need for any follow-up.
- A temporary I-551 stamp (commonly called an ADIT stamp), placed in your passport at a USCIS field office or, in some cases, requested by phone through the USCIS Contact Center. It’s accepted as proof of lawful permanent resident status and is typically valid for up to one year.
To request the stamp, have your I-90 receipt number and A-Number ready, and bring a valid passport (or expect USCIS to place the stamp on a Form I-94 if you don’t have one). Call ahead — appointment availability and whether a given field office can issue it by mail varies.
What this means for work, travel, and everyday ID
Work (Form I-9)
Losing the green card doesn’t end your authorization to work. If an employer already verified you with the card on a previous Form I-9, they generally don’t need to re-verify just because it’s now missing. For a new I-9 with a new employer, you can present any acceptable combination of documents — an employer generally cannot insist on a green card specifically.
Flying within the U.S.
A valid, unexpired green card is on TSA’s accepted list of alternatives to a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license — but that doesn’t help if the green card itself is the thing that’s missing. Use a valid U.S. or foreign passport, or a REAL ID-compliant California license, instead. As of February 1, 2026, travelers who show up without any accepted ID have the option to pay a $45 TSA ConfirmID fee so an officer can attempt to verify identity another way, rather than being turned away outright.
Driving and everyday ID
A missing green card has no effect on a valid California driver’s license or ID card. If those were stolen too, that’s the DMV fraud-hotline situation described in Step 2, not a USCIS matter.
If your card was lost or stolen outside the United States
The order of operations flips when it happens abroad:
Report it locally
File a police report where the theft happened and get a copy.
Contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate
Request a boarding foil (transportation letter) so you can board a flight back without the physical card.
File Form I-90 right after you land
Submit it as soon as you're back in the United States — don't wait until you're settled back in.
If your card is only expiring (not lost or stolen) while you’re abroad, and you’ll be back within a year, USCIS’s guidance is to file Form I-90 as soon as you return rather than trying to file from overseas.
How long will this take?
Processing times for Form I-90 have moved a lot in the last two years. USCIS’s own historical data (published through its case-processing-times tool) showed a national median around one month in fiscal year 2024 climbing to roughly eight to nine months in fiscal year 2026 — and separate current-estimate figures from that same tool put the time to complete 80% of cases at around ten and a half months as of mid-2026.
A few situations worth knowing about
- Turned 14 recently? If your card was issued before you turned 14, there’s a different filing reason and a 30-day window tied to your 14th and 16th birthdays. The standard lost/stolen process described here doesn’t apply the same way — check the current Form I-90 instructions for the right category.
- Two-year conditional card? If your card says it’s conditional (typically from a recent marriage-based or EB-5 case), a lost card is still replaced with Form I-90 — but removing the conditions themselves takes a different form (I-751 or I-829), not I-90.
Need help with your own case?
- Free / low-cost legal helpLawHelpCA.org
- USCIS Contact Center1-800-375-5283
- CA identity theft helpoag.ca.gov/idtheft
About this article
IHSS Connect publishes this article for general information and education. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. IHSS Connect is not a law firm and is not affiliated with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Homeland Security, or any county agency.
Filing fees, processing times, and document requirements change — sometimes with little notice. Only USCIS can tell you the status of your own case, and only an immigration attorney or accredited representative can advise you on your specific situation.
If you want help with your own case, or a decision looks wrong:
- Free and low-cost legal help: LawHelpCA.org
- USCIS Contact Center: 1-800-375-5283
- California Department of Justice, Identity Theft Unit: oag.ca.gov/idtheft
Figures reflect the USCIS Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) and processing-time data available as of the verification date below. Verified September 2026.
Sources
- USCIS — Replace Your Green Card
The Form I-90 replacement process, filing methods, and ADIT stamp background.
- USCIS — Form G-1055, Fee Schedule
Current Form I-90 filing fees and no-fee filing categories.
- USCIS — Form I-90 Instructions
Which filing reason to select and what identity evidence to submit.
- USCIS — Case Processing Times
Live tool for current Form I-90 processing-time estimates by service center.
- TSA — REAL ID Frequently Asked Questions
The green card's status as an accepted alternative to a REAL ID-compliant license.
- TSA — Acceptable Identification at the Checkpoint
The $45 TSA ConfirmID option for travelers without accepted ID.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection — Lost, Stolen, or Expired Green Cards Abroad
The boarding-foil process for a card lost or stolen outside the United States.
- California Department of Justice — Identity Theft Victim Checklist
California's identity-theft steps, including the DMV fraud hotline and credit-freeze guidance.
