Form I-90: Renew or Replace a Green Card as a Guatemalan-Born Permanent Resident (2026)

This page is general information, not legal advice. It reports what USCIS publishes about Form I-90 and what the State Department and RENAP publish about Guatemalan civil documents. For your own case, talk to a licensed US immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative.

Quick summary: Form I-90 renews or replaces a green card. File the renewal when your card expires within six months or has already expired. The fee is $465 on paper or $415 online per the USCIS fee schedule dated 10/07/26, with $0 cases for undeliverable cards and DHS errors. A fee waiver request is paper only. USCIS will not mail the new card to Guatemala, only to a US address. USCIS’s Replace Your Green Card page describes a notice that, together with your card, is evidence of status for 36 months from the card’s expiration date; confirm which notice that is before relying on it. If you are changing your name after a marriage in Guatemala, the State Department’s guidance points to RENAP for the marriage certificate, and USCIS needs a certified English translation. Checked October 15, 2026.

For Guatemalan-born permanent residents, the I-90 itself is the same form everyone files. USCIS’s instructions contain no rule specific to people born in Guatemala. The Guatemala angle shows up in three places: trips home with a card about to expire, name changes that depend on RENAP paperwork, and the ID you submit when your card is lost. This page covers the filing. If your real question is how long you can stay in Guatemala, see our guide to the re-entry permit.

Who files Form I-90, and who should not

The I-90 instructions say the form is used by lawful permanent residents and permanent residents in commuter status to renew or replace an existing Permanent Resident Card.

Conditional permanent residents are different. The instructions say they may also use the I-90 to apply for replacement of an existing card. However, they may not use it to replace a card that is expired or will expire within 90 days, for any reason. If that is you, the I-90 is not your route for that card. Talk to a licensed immigration attorney about your options.

One more distinction matters: the card is not the status. The USCIS Policy Manual says permanent resident status ends if it is rescinded by USCIS, terminated in removal proceedings, or abandoned. An expired card is not on that list. If you have moved back to Guatemala for good, renewing the card is not the question. Read about giving up a green card with Form I-407 instead.

Fees in 2026

From the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26:

The two age-14 rows: the fee schedule lists these fees but does not state the timing rules for filing after a 14th birthday. Read the I-90 instructions for that filing reason before you rely on the $0 row.

Biometrics: USCIS’s FAQ on its fee rule says the rule folds biometric services costs into the main benefit fee and “eliminates a separate biometric services fee in most cases”. The exceptions USCIS names there are Temporary Protected Status and filings accepted on behalf of the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Fee waivers are paper only. The Policy Manual says “applicants may not file online if they are requesting a fee waiver”.

Check the fee before you pay. On Sept. 30, 2026, USCIS announced inflation adjustments to certain H.R.-1 immigration-related fees, effective Oct. 16, 2026. Requests postmarked on or after that date without the proper fee will be rejected. The announcement does not tell us whether the I-90 fee changed. The table above is the I-90 row as published in the 10/07/26 schedule. Confirm it at uscis.gov/g-1055 on the day you file.

Which reason are you filing under?

Here are three of the reasons listed in the I-90 instructions, and the evidence the instructions ask for:

If the card has wrong data because DHS made the error, the fee is $0 (see the fee table). Check the I-90 instructions for the evidence that reason requires.

Filing online or by mail

USCIS gives two options: online or by mail (paper). To file online you must create a USCIS online account. Online is $50 cheaper under the current schedule. As noted above, though, a fee-waiver request must go on paper.

Whichever way you file, sign the form. The I-90 page says: “We will reject any unsigned form”. The form edition shown on the USCIS I-90 page is dated 01/20/25. That page was last reviewed 10/07/2026.

Paper filing addresses, as published on uscis.gov/i-90:

Biometrics, and if you are in Guatemala when the notice arrives

USCIS may require an interview or biometrics (fingerprints, photograph and/or signature) to verify identity and run background checks. If an appointment is needed, USCIS sends a notice with the date, time and location.

The instructions add that if you are overseas, the notice will tell you to contact a US Embassy, US Consulate or USCIS office outside the United States to schedule the appointment.

Do not let the appointment slide. The Policy Manual says that if you fail to appear, “his or her Form I-90 is considered abandoned and may be denied”. That applies unless USCIS receives a properly filed change of address or rescheduling request before the appointment date.

Evidence of status: the 36-month notice and the ADIT stamp

We could not find a published processing time to give you. What USCIS does publish, on its Replace Your Green Card page, is this: “This notice, together with your Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card (also known as the Green Card), provides evidence of your lawful permanent resident status for 36 months from the expiration date on your Permanent Resident Card”. The same page says: “You remain authorized to work and travel”. It also says the notice, presented with your expired card, is evidence of your status and work authorization, so keep the two together.

The notice is your I-90 receipt notice. The same page says: “If you are applying to renew your Green Card, your Form I-90 receipt notice can be used with your expired Green Card as evidence of your lawful permanent resident status”. That applies to renewals; check that the receipt USCIS sends you carries this wording.

If you have no card at all (for example, it was stolen), the Policy Manual says you may need a temporary I-551 stamp, also called an ADIT stamp. You may also request one if your I-90 is still pending and both your card and the extension notice have expired. You get one by calling the USCIS Contact Center to schedule a field office appointment. USCIS decides whether to issue it and how long it is valid.

Here is the detail that matters for Guatemalans: “An officer may only place an ADIT stamp on Arrival/Departure Record (Form I-94) or in an unexpired passport”. An expired Guatemalan passport cannot carry the stamp. The other document the Policy Manual names is Form I-94. If you need to renew your passport, see our guide to getting a Guatemalan passport from the US.

Traveling to Guatemala with an expiring card

The I-90 instructions say: “USCIS will not mail a Permanent Resident Card to a foreign mailing address”. Cards go only to a valid US mailing address. USCIS recommends that if you are going to travel abroad and your card is about to expire, you apply for and receive the new card before leaving the United States.

In practice, plan around two rules at once. First, the renewal reason is for a card that expires in the next six months or has already expired, and filing under it earlier may get the application denied. Second, the new card only goes to a US address. So before a trip to Guatemala, check whether your card is inside that six-month window. If it is, file from the United States rather than from your family’s house in Guatemala. For long stays outside the US, see the re-entry permit guide.

The Guatemala angle: RENAP documents for a name change

What you submit depends on the reason you select on the form (see the table above). For the renewal reason, the instructions ask for a copy of your expired or expiring card. If your name changed after a marriage in Guatemala, this is where Guatemalan civil documents come in.

What USCIS asks for. The I-90 instructions ask for legal documents that reflect the name change, such as a registered copy of your marriage certificate or a divorce decree. They say a marriage certificate or court documents used as evidence must have been registered with the proper civil authority. The instructions do not name a Guatemalan authority.

Where to get a marriage certificate. The State Department’s guidance on Guatemalan civil documents, written for US visa cases, says to “request marriage certificates from RENAP (National Registry of Persons) and not his or her municipality”. That guidance is for visas, not the I-90 specifically. See RENAP marriage certificates.

RENAP’s portal and services abroad. RENAP says any citizen can access its portal by creating a user at eportal.renap.gob.gt or by downloading the RENAP SE app on an Android device. RENAP says the portal handles 19 services, including birth, death, marriage and divorce certifications. In its release on getting the DPI abroad, RENAP also lists the issuing of birth certifications among the services available to Guatemalans outside the country. To locate a consulate, see find your consulate.

Translation. Under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), any foreign-language document sent to USCIS must be “accompanied by a full English language translation which the translator has certified as complete and accurate”. It also needs the translator’s certification of competence. Our RENAP certificate translation template for USCIS is built for this.

Apostille. We found no blanket apostille requirement in the I-90 instructions. Guatemala’s foreign ministry (MINEX) does offer apostilles, but having the service available does not make it a USCIS requirement.

What we could not confirm

• Processing time: no published estimate we could cite. The 36-month evidence period is not a completion estimate.
• Which notice gives the 36 months: the Form I-90 receipt notice, when you file to renew (USCIS Replace Your Green Card page, checked October 15, 2026).
• Whether the October 16, 2026 fee adjustment touches the I-90: not established. Check G-1055 before filing.
• Timing rules for filing after a 14th birthday: not captured here. Check the I-90 instructions.
• A Guatemala-specific USCIS rule: none found in the form page, instructions or the cited Policy Manual chapter.

Sources

• USCIS, Form I-90 page (form edition 01/20/25) and filing addresses: uscis.gov/i-90, last reviewed 10/07/2026
• USCIS, Form I-90 instructions
• USCIS, Fee schedule Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and fee alert: uscis.gov/g-1055
• USCIS, Frequently asked questions on the USCIS fee rule
• USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 11, Part B, Chapter 2
• USCIS, Replace Your Green Card page
• 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3), eCFR
• US Department of State, Guatemala reciprocity and civil documents page
• RENAP news releases on online certificates and on getting the DPI abroad

All checked October 15, 2026.