Permanent Resident Card - A New Green Card

The Redesigned Permanent Resident Card

On May 11, 2010, USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) announced it will begin issuing a “new and improved” Permanent Resident Card, which most of us know as the Green Card. In a moment of genius, the designers of the card decided to make it green in color for ease of recognition!

The new Permanent Resident Card incorporates state-of-the-art technology to prevent counterfeiting and facilitate accurate authentication. USCIS will now issue all Green Cards in the new, more secure format. Recipients of the redesigned Permanent Resident Card will include those newly approved lawful permanent residents, as well as those who get a renewal or replacement card.

Although this seems to be a positive step in decreasing incidents of identity theft and document fraud, it creates more uncertainty for employers. It becomes the employer’s burden to identify legitimate documents when many employers are not familiar with every version of the Green Card issued over time.

There have been several versions of the Green Card issued over the years. The first Green Card was issued in 1946 and was referred to at that time as an Alien Registration Receipt Card. Few of these are still in circulation; they contain no expiration date and as of March 20, 1996 are no longer valid evidence of permanent residency. Other versions of the Resident Alien Card were issued in 1977 and again in 1989. Neither the 1977 card nor the 1989 were green in color.

In 1997, the card was renamed to Permanent Resident Card and updated yet again in 2004. Each time the card was updated, additional security measures were added. As for the most current version issued just this week, holders of older cards will only receive the redesigned Permanent Resident Card when seeking a renewal or replacement card.

Employers should choose to work with a qualified expert to help them navigate the complex requirements of the Form I-9. Inspecting work authorization and identity documents is an integral part of meeting your responsibility to verify the work eligibility of each person you hire. The experts at I-9 Okay have reviewed thousands of employee identity documents and are ready to assist you with all of your Form I-9 and E-Verify needs.

Be Sociable, Share!