The immigration agency said that the applicants should update their address with the agency within 10 days of relocation.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Wednesday that it would destroy any green cards, EADs, and travel documents after 60 days if returned undeliverable by USPS.
“Starting April 2, USCIS will destroy Permanent Resident Cards, Employment Authorization Cards and Travel Documents returned as undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service after 60 business days if USCIS is not contacted by the document’s intended recipient to provide the correct address,” the agency said in a press statement.
USCIS said that applicants should keep their address updated with the agency. “USCIS encourages applicants to report a change of address within 10 days of relocation using the procedures outlined at uscis.gov/addresschange,” it said.
The decision may have been for security reasons, but some view this as an extra burden on immigrants.
In April 2017, the immigration agency redesigned the green cards and EADs as part of its Next Generation Secure Identification Document Project. “These redesigns use enhanced graphics and fraud-resistant security features to create cards that are highly secure and more tamper-resistant than the ones currently in use,” USCIS said in a press statement while announcing the changes in the cards.
The new cards have the individual’s photo in the front as well as in the back side of the cards. An image of the Statue of Liberty was added to the green cards and the EAD cards now show an image of a bald eagle. Additionally, holographic images were embedded and the individual’s signature is no longer displayed. The agency also removed the optical stripe that was displayed on the back of the green cards.
The same year in June, USCIS revised the form for green card applicants. The new form (Form I-485) requires more information from an applicant. It included a list of 27 immigrant categories that the applicants should choose to identify the category in which they are applying. In addition, questions about biographic information were added to the form.