Pending citizenship application while GC is about to expire

[evapaula 230]

Hi everyone, 

My cousin is an unconditional permanent resident and her 10 year green card is about to expire. She has applied for citizenship and has a date for the biometrics appointment. What happens if her GC expires before her citizenship is approved? I've been reading that legal status doesn't change even if the plastic itself is expired, but could it still lead to some issues? Anything that can be done to prevent potential issues? 

Thanks! 

[EDJS 4]

I'm not a lawyer or anything like that but in my opinion, she should be fine as long as she doesn't travel.

[Starkilla09 366]

On 3/12/2017 at 11:36 AM, evapaula said:

Hi everyone, 

My cousin is an unconditional permanent resident and her 10 year green card is about to expire. She has applied for citizenship and has a date for the biometrics appointment. What happens if her GC expires before her citizenship is approved? I've been reading that legal status doesn't change even if the plastic itself is expired, but could it still lead to some issues? Anything that can be done to prevent potential issues? 

Thanks! 

Your cousin's permanent resident status is still valid even with the expired green card. The only issue is with an expired one she won't be able to travel if need be or show such evidence of status such as in employment or otherwise. It's still fine for her to take the expired one on her interview during naturalization. Makes no financial sense renewing since she has already applied for naturalization though. Just hope her N 400 process doesn't take forever.

[evapaula 230]

Thanks you both! I was hoping that travel would be the only potential issue.