In U.S. immigration, Temporary I-551 Stamps and Machine-Readable Immigrant Visas (MRIVs) serve as proof of an individual’s status as a permanent residence in situations where a valid Permanent Resident Card has expired or is otherwise not available.
Temporary I-551 Stamps
An I-551 Stamp is generally appropriate in two situations:
- When an immigrant enters the United States as a permanent resident (green card holder) and requires evidence of their lawful status in their passport; or
- When a permanent resident has an expired/ otherwise invalid permanent residence card and needs proof of his or her continued lawful status.
Immigrants who enter the United States as permanent residents receive a I-551 stamp in their passport, evidencing their status until their physical green card is received in the mail. These are most often seen on Machine-Readable Immigrant Visas (MRIVs,) further explained below. For permanent residents who need temporary proof of their status (most often in cases where an immigrant has a Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card pending,) I-551 Stamps are issued by the local USCIS Field Office. This is by no means an exhaustive list of circumstances where an I-551 stamp is appropriate, but most cases fall under these two categories.
Machine-Readable Immigrant Visas (MRIVs): Decoding Their Role
Many immigrants arrive in the United States as permanent residents. However, the physical green card is not issued until the intending immigrant has arrived, and is sent to the immigrant to a U.S. address through the postal service. Therefore, there’s a need for a document to prove status while new arrivals wait for their physical green card. To remedy this, CBP issues a MRIV, which is put in the immigrant’s passport. MRIVs are imprinted with the statement “UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR,” and serve as the immigrant’s proof of status until the green card arrives. Employers should recognize MRIVs as acceptable List A documents, valid for one year from the date of admission.
Conclusion
Temporary I-551 Stamps and MRIVs are short term instruments to prove one’s permanent resident status in the United States. They are not intended to serve as permanent documents, rather, they offer a temporary form of identification while awaiting the production of a permanent resident card.
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Citations
- Temporary I-551 Stamps and MRIVs
- https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/temporary-i-551-stamps-and-mrivs
- https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-related-news/temporary-status-documentation-for-lawful-permanent-residents-lpr
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