The Cat and the Fox is a Russian folk tale that people love to listen to, read and...
The need to restore the US Green Card may usually arise in the following cases:
1. If you had a US Green Card, but you traveled outside the country and were absent from the US for a fairly long period of time (usually more than 1 year without special permission or more than 2 years);
2. If your Green Card expires, or if your Green Card is lost, damaged or destroyed;
3. If your Green Card is expiring or has expired, but you have a history of violations of the law, and for this reason you find it difficult to decide to file an I-90 application for a new green card due to fears of losing your US permanent resident status and the threat of subsequent deportation.
The first situation: when you need to restore your US green card after a long absence from the country.
In fact, such circumstances do not mean the restoration of the green card itself (even if you have a green card with an unexpired 10-year validity period, and you were simply absent from the United States for a long time), but the restoration of your status as a permanent resident of the United States.
Due to the deterioration of the economic situation in the countries of the former USSR, this problem has become extremely relevant in lately. In most cases, the desire to restore a green card occurs among those who received permanent residence in the United States through a relatively simple procedure, namely through Family Immigration or the green card lottery (Diversity Visa), and therefore previously did not value their status very much.
Many of those who went back to their home countries did not fully study the rights and responsibilities of a US permanent resident (Green Card Holder) and still believe that the reason for leaving home in search of work or the need to care for relatives will be valid upon their return to the United States after a long absence. The other part has no intention of explaining their long absence from the United States until an emergency arises and is trying to return to America, hoping that “maybe they will let them through.” In fact, such a situation is quite difficult to resolve, and even if you were allowed to enter the United States at the border, this does not mean that all problems are over.
What misguided attempts are often made by US green card holders to enter the US after a long absence?
1) An attempt to enter the United States using a green card that has not yet expired. Sometimes, after a lengthy explanation of the situation, the immigration officer may allow you to enter the United States, but this does not mean that deportation proceedings will not begin against you in the near future. The fact that your permanent resident status is no longer valid will be determined during your next immigration check.
2) Attempting to file a petition for a new green card on Form I-90, claiming that the previous document has been lost or has expired. Unfortunately, this step only complicates the situation in the future. Even if you indicated an American address in the petition, received an invitation for biometrics and are trying to enter the United States by showing the immigration officer the invitation form, the real state of affairs will still become clear later. In this case, your actions will be considered as an attempt to hide the fact of your long absence from the United States and to fraudulently obtain a new green card, which will complicate all further steps towards solving your immigration problems.
What steps will you have to go through to restore your US green card and freely return to America for permanent residence if you have been absent from the US for more than 1 year without special permission or for more than 2 years?
In this case, the procedure for restoring the status of a permanent resident of the United States will take place in 2 stages: first, you will need to obtain the status of a US resident returning to the country after a long absence (Returning Resident Status), and then obtain an SB-1 immigrant visa for a US resident (Returning Resident SB -1 immigrant visa). More information on how to restore a US green card after a long absence can be found on our website in the “” section.
The second situation: when you need to restore your US Green Card, that is, get a new one if its validity period expires, it was lost or damaged.
This situation is quite standard and involves filing an application on Form I-90 to grant you a new green card. You can apply for a new US Green Card starting 6 months before its expiration date. Let us dwell on some points, the knowledge of which will help to avoid the difficulties often encountered when filing a petition I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card.
What should you consider when applying for reinstatement of your US green card on Form I-90?
1) The procedure for restoring a US green card takes quite a long time. Typically, it takes 6 to 9 months to receive a new Green Card from the date of filing the appropriate petition. If your green card is about to expire or cannot be used for any reason, and you are planning to travel outside the United States, you should take the necessary steps to ensure that your plans to return to the United States are not jeopardized.
2) When completing the Form I-90 petition, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, you will need information relating to the very beginning of your status as a permanent resident of the United States. If you did not store documents from your past immigration cases, then this will be quite problematic.
3) If you have a conditional US green card and there are 90 days or less left before its expiration date, then in this case you will not be able to renew your lost green card by filing an I-90 application, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card. In this case, you will need to submit documents to remove the conditionality from your US permanent resident status, and only after your application for removal of the conditionality is approved, you will receive a new Green Card valid for 10 years.
4) The process of renewing a US Green Card when you are outside of America is quite complicated. And here, in order not to create problems with re-entry into the United States and confirmation of your status as a permanent resident of the United States, you need to be extremely careful and try to avoid losing or expiring the US green card. The most common situations in which it becomes necessary to restore a US Green Card outside this country:
-if you are outside the United States and your green card expires within 6 months. In this situation, it is important not to be absent from the United States for more than 1 year, to return to the United States before the green card expires, and upon return to apply for a new green card as quickly as possible;
-if you are outside the United States and your US green card is lost or stolen, damaged, or you have not yet received a new one, but you have a “Processed for I-551” stamp in your passport, then you need to contact the nearest US consulate or representative office USCIS. In most cases, you have a chance to receive a so-called transport company for travel to the United States and to an immigration officer upon entry into the United States. After entering the country, you must immediately submit documents to restore your green card;
-If your green card expired while you were outside the United States, and you did not apply for renewal before you left the United States, then the process of obtaining a Transportation Letter can be quite complicated. It all depends on the specific nuances of your situation.
The third situation: when you may experience difficulties with how to restore your US Green Card or get a new one to replace the expired one, due to cases of violation of the law on your part.
Such cases are quite atypical and each of them has its own characteristics, so it is difficult to give the most common examples here. In such a situation, if you have had problems with the law while you were a permanent resident of the US, and for this reason you are afraid to file an I-90 application due to the possibility of revoking your US permanent resident status and subsequent deportation, you need to seek help to an immigration lawyer.
We hope this article drew your attention to important features US Green Card topics. If you still have questions about how to restore your US green card, then most likely you should seek advice from a specialist in US immigration law.
Updated: 2019-7-27
Oleg Lazhechnikov
71To travel to Europe with your car, you need to take out a Green Card insurance policy or, according to our Green Card, which will work abroad. The Green Card insurance policy is, in fact, an analogue of our OSAGO (not to be confused with CASCO). That is, it saves the culprit of the accident from paying for the repair of those cars that were damaged due to his fault. In this scheme, no one pays anything to the culprit of the accident.
I collected as much information as possible on green cards in one place, from purchase to accident.
The cost of the Green Card is set by the Russian Union of Auto Insurers (RUA) and it is the same for all insurance companies. RSA publishes tariffs on its website and they are freely available. They carefully monitor that the price is the same for everyone. So don’t look for any promotional codes or discounts - they don’t exist and can’t exist.
For example, a Green Card for 15 days in July-August 2019 costs 2,450 rubles (depending on the euro exchange rate).
The price changes every 30 days on the 15th. In 2018 and 2019, the price fluctuated around 2,450 rubles for 15 days, but rose to 2,830 rubles. .
Where to buy
Buy a green card online in Moscow and St. Petersburg
So you will need the original Green Card, then with electronic policy You can't go abroad. But you can buy it online with delivery to your home or office in Moscow and St. Petersburg, after all, the 21st century is already here. This is much more convenient than going to the office yourself. You will save a lot of time. The price is exactly the same.
I have already purchased insurance a couple of times from accredited Alpha Insurance through, and once from Liberty in the office. Yes, Liberty is a mediator, but when everything is official, what difference does it make? But I don’t want to go to the office anymore, there’s no point when they just bring me home.
If the trip is canceled or postponed to other dates, then the money can be returned only before the start of the policy. returns 100% back without problems. Accordingly, when rescheduling a trip, you need to return the policy and then buy it again.
Purchase in the office in the regions
There are only 8 officially accredited insurance companies that can issue a Green Card. These are the companies that have joined the Green Card system. Some companies have refused this because the Green Card has a large liability limit. The rest act on behalf of one of these 10 or sell fakes.
- OJSC AlfaStrakhovanie (most often everyone buys here)
- JSC IC "Twenty-first century"
- SPJSC "RESO-Garantiya"
- PJSC IC "Rosgosstrakh"
- LLC SK Soglasie
- JSC "ERGO"
- JSC "VSK"
- JSC SG "Spasskiye Vorota"
It makes no difference which company you take out the policy with. Since this is MTPL and not CASCO, in the event of any problems, it is not you who will deal with your insurance, but the injured party in the accident (and since this is Europe, then, most likely, his lawyer). Therefore, you don't care how well or poorly your insurance company performs.
Buy insurance at the border
You can buy a Green Card at one of the points at the entrance to the border on the Russian side, spending time on this. I don’t know why it is needed, but people do it. Maybe the trip was very spontaneous, that the courier with the policy could not be waited, and the insurance offices were already closed. Of course, you need an active one to go so spontaneously.
Points near the border are usually either mini-offices of specific insurance companies, or small points at gas stations, in cafes, or minibuses parked along the road. In this case, there is a chance to buy a fake than when buying online or in the office. There is also a chance to purchase a policy, which they will then “forget” to add to the database. That is, I seem to have bought insurance, but during an inspection or during an accident it turned out that it was not valid.
Since 04/01/2014, the Russian Green Card Bureau has banned handwritten registration of policies; all policies must be issued on a computer and immediately entered into the database.
Why do you need Green Card insurance?
If you don’t want problems and hassle, immediately buy a Green Card in Russia before your trip. Or study all the nuances and prices so as not to get caught up in the story.
- Insurance is always asked at the border when entering Schengen. If it is not there, you will not be allowed into the country and may even be fined. If you are traveling through Belarus to Poland, then the Belarusian border guards will not let you leave Belarus and you will have to go back to Russia to buy a green card.
- To cross Belarus you also need insurance, either their local or Russian green card. Based on the previous point, you will still have to buy a Green Card.
- If you do not have a green card at the border with some countries, you will be forced to buy border local insurance at a specified price. And its price is not always low; a pre-purchased Green Card would be cheaper. For example, in Finland such insurance will cost ~100-130 euros.
- You will also be asked for a green card upon returning from Europe. If it has already ended, there will be a fine. At the Polish border they charge 3,700 zlotys (~850 euros) with payment on the spot. If there is no money, then a parking lot in the nearest city. The cost of a tow truck (150 euros) and for each day of parking will be added to the fine. Then you will have to buy Polish border insurance, another 20 euros. Therefore, it is better to get a Green Card for all days of your stay in the EU, and not just for the first 15 days, as some do to save money. You can “save” so much that it doesn’t seem like much.
- Very bad advice: “I was driving back, they didn’t ask for insurance.” Yes, there are cases when they didn’t ask for insurance, but you risk getting 1000 euros.
- Sometimes in Europe they stop you to check your documents. Especially if you have broken something. And in this case they can ask and check the insurance. Of course, the probability is small, but if there is no insurance, the consequences will be unpleasant.
- In the event of an accident, of course, a Green Card is essential, otherwise you may have to pay for the damage out of your own pocket.
Do not forget that to obtain a Schengen visa, you will need travel medical insurance. I have a separate detailed one, read it. There, and about choosing medical insurance, and about how to save, and about all the nuances.
What you need to know when buying a Green Card
Documents and validity periods
Green card insurance is issued for a car and the policy indicates the policyholder, not the driver. That is, anyone can drive a car and does not need to be included in the policy. It's very convenient!
In general, purchasing a green card is an extremely simple procedure. For this you will need:
- Passport or foreign passport
- Vehicle registration certificate (or PTS).
The policy can be issued for a minimum of 15 days, a maximum of a year, but in monthly increments - for 1 month, for 2 months, and so on. If you are going to spend 16 days in Europe, you will have to buy a green card for a month.
The insurance is valid on exact calendar dates, starting from the date indicated on the policy. That is, if you took out a policy from January 1 for 15 days, then it will be valid for exactly 15 days from January 1 to January 15, regardless of when you moved in, when you left, or whether you entered at all.
Which countries are included in the Green Card?
The Green Card system includes 46 countries: Russia, all of Europe, Israel, Tunisia, Morocco and Iran. For Russia there are two categories of green cards:
- All countries of the Green Card system
- Cheaper category, valid in the territory of “Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Moldova”
How to avoid getting scammed
There are several main types of green card scams.
- An agent can sell an outright fake, that is, just a well-made copy printed on a printer. The green card has degrees of security, like a banknote, but it is difficult to verify it without special equipment. Just like a banknote, actually.
- An agent can sell a buyer a policy for a year, and in the copy of the policy that he gives to the insurance company, indicate that the policy is for 15 days. You need to carefully check what is written on the part of the policy that remains with the insurance company.
- The agent may forget to give his part of the policy to the insurance company and register it in the database or do it late.
What to check when purchasing
When purchasing a Green Card, you must check 2 things:
- Firstly, the insurance company from which the policy is issued must be a company from an accredited list.
- And secondly, check the policy for errors, whether the registration number of the car is correct. The question often arises whether there will be problems if the transliteration of the name in the policy (as in a passport) differs from the transliteration of the name in the license. There shouldn't be any problems with this.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to apply for a Green Card less than 30 days in advance
This is only necessary if the consulate requires a green card when applying for a Schengen visa. Doesn't happen often. The easiest way is to buy at longer period than necessary, apply for a visa, and then return it with a refund of the full amount before the start of the policy. Then buy again for the desired dates.
To travel abroad from Russia, you will still have to buy a Russian green card, at least for 15 days. After all, Belarusian border guards will not let you into Poland without a Green Card. And then it will be possible to buy “border insurance”. By the way, the Russian green card is also valid in Belarus, so there will be no need to buy separate insurance for Belarus.
Is it possible to extend the Green Card?
What to do if your insurance has expired and your business forces you to stay in Europe? In fact, solving this issue is not a trivial task. Basically there are only 2 options:
- Buy border insurance
- Ask your friends in Russia to go to the insurance office and then send it to you via DHL.
I don’t consider the option of letting everything take its course. Traveling with a printed copy rather than the original is not a good idea. Alternatively, negotiate on social networks or on a forum with someone who will fly to your region. But IMHO it is much more difficult than sending via DHL or other transport companies.
What to do in case of an accident
A green card is an analogue of our compulsory motor liability insurance; the injured party receives money from the insurance company responsible for the accident. And as in any similar situation, the insurance company is looking for opportunities not to pay or to reduce insurance payments. What should you do to increase the likelihood of receiving money from the insurance company?
- Together with the other participants in the accident, you must fill out an Accident statement - the European form for reporting an accident. It can be either the second participant in the accident, if he is European, or one of the eyewitnesses. Or you can find it at a gas station or in a roadside cafe. or is there this form in Russian and English and filling rules.
Travel abroad to modern world- a common thing. People use both the services of carrier companies and their own vehicles.
If the trip is a short distance, then it is profitable and comfortable to do it by car.
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During this period, motor vehicles also require insurance, because the occurrence of an insured event cannot be excluded.
Each country has its own requirements, its own policies, which apply only to a certain territory.
Therefore, there is a “Green Card” - an insurance policy valid in European countries and the Russian Federation.
In this article we will talk about the subjects of insurance, the terms of the contract, the validity period of the Green Card, the responsibilities of the parties, the possibilities of terminating the agreement between the insurance company and the policyholder, and re-registration.
We will also analyze a sample agreement for issuing an international Green Card auto policy.
Between whom can it be concluded?
Since the beginning of 2009, our country has joined the international vehicle insurance system “Green Card”.
Thanks to this, Russian citizens can receive financial compensation if they become participants in an insured event on the territory of a participating country.
Nowadays, you can apply for a “Green Card” at almost every insurance company, just like the ones that are familiar to everyone and.
It can be purchased either separately or as an additional option in the list of services and conditions for the listed policies. In the latter version, it expands the coverage area of classic insurance.
An agreement is concluded between the beneficiary (usually the owner or driver of the car), as well as a company that has a license for this type of activity.
That is, the insurer and the policyholder in the terms of the contract are the same subjects as in conventional insurance.
Essential and additional conditions
An agreement is a document that regulates all the terms of the relationship, rights and obligations of the parties to the transaction.
The purpose of its conclusion is to regulate such partnerships. As a rule, it contains several sections with essential and additional conditions.
All conditions of the “Green Card” are considered in the “Insurance Rules”. To complete the document, the policyholder is required to provide only his own passport and technical documentation for the car.
If you choose a “green card” as an additional option to your MTPL, then additional documents won't be needed.
This is enough to verify the identity of the policyholder, as well as obtain information about the vehicle.
You can also provide copies certified by a notary. Responsibility for the accuracy of the information lies with the citizen in whose name the policy is issued.
Let's consider a number of mandatory conditions:
- To conclude an agreement, the beneficiary is required to fill out an application for receiving such services;
- The representative of the insurance company undertakes to previously familiarize his client with the insurance rules. The certificate then makes a note that the driver has received the required information;
- the policyholder has the right to apply to change certain aspects of Green Card insurance - the name, address of the policyholder, vehicle and/or body number plates;
- if an insurance certificate is lost, the insurer issues a free duplicate, but only after receiving the relevant application;
- the parties have the right to terminate the agreement early (we will talk about this later);
- The minimum insurance period is 15 days.
Additional conditions are provided directly by the insurance company itself; they may relate to the included services, the number of beneficiaries and other issues.
Deadlines
The contract, as an official document, must necessarily contain a clause regulating the duration of the international Green Card policy.
The policyholder should pay attention to the section on the procedure for concluding and the duration of the agreement. The standard period is: 3, 6, 9 or 12 months.
The buyer counts on the duration of his stay abroad, based on this, he chooses the duration of the contract.
Nowadays, insurance companies are increasingly making concessions to attract a client base, so they allow policyholders to choose the terms of insurance validity at their discretion.
This is quite beneficial for policyholders, because they will not overpay, and their vehicles will be protected for exactly as long as needed. The minimum period is 15 calendar days.
Responsibility of the parties
Like any other agreement, this document contains a mandatory clause regulating the rights and obligations of the parties.
It is intended to regulate the relationship between the parties to the transaction, to guarantee their implementation, and in cases of violation of duties it provides for penalties.
The policyholder undertakes to make timely payments for the cost of the policy, provide up-to-date information about insured events, assist in their investigation, and provide data on changes in the technical condition of the vehicle.
If the client violates these rules and obligations, the insurer may refuse to compensate him partially or completely after the occurrence of the insured event.
In turn, the insurance company also has its responsibilities to clients: consider applications in a timely manner, respond to them, objectively assess the insured event and make payments.
If this is not carried out, the policyholder may even sue for the insurer’s dishonest performance of its duties and terminate the contract.
And such actions negatively affect the company’s image and scare away potential clients.
Considering that the Green Card is an international policy, responsibility rests with the parties regardless of the location of the policyholder and his vehicle.
Sample Green Card Agreement
The Green Card agreement has a set of standard details, although insurers have the right to add their own clauses, set conditions, etc.
As a rule, this document is provided in the form of a printed form with all the components, fields for confirmation with signatures and seals.
The Green Card policy agreement contains the following elements:
- Title of the document.
- Name of the authorized body issuing the insurance policy.
- Duration of insurance (exact indication of the beginning and end date).
- International code of the country where the policy is issued.
- Vehicle license plates.
- Vehicle type.
- Territory of relevance of the Green Card.
- Information about the policyholder (name, address, contacts).
- Insurance company details.
- Certification field.
- Supplement with the terms and conditions of international motorist liability insurance.
The agreement, namely its key provisions, is drawn up in two languages - Russian and English, because this is required by international laws.
When does it take effect
The Green Card insurance contract does not contain a validity period that begins later than 30 days from the date of issuance of the certificate.
The period is counted from 00 hours 00 minutes local time, and the policy expires at 23 hours 59 minutes local time. These data are indicated in the insurance certificate in the appropriate columns.
Reasons for termination
Is it possible to terminate the Green Card agreement? The Green Card contract can be terminated legally, but only for objective reasons provided for in the Green Card Insurance Rules.
At the same time, each of the parties to the transaction can exercise this right. But upon termination, the company’s client can only get back a certain part cash from the contract price.
The insurer deducts 30% of the amount for expenses incurred in conducting the business after the days of the certificate's validity.
You can legally demand termination of a contract in the following cases:
- if there is no need for insurance (the possibility of an insured event no longer exists, the trip has been postponed or cancelled);
- if the insurance company has lost its license to carry out its activities or does not have the right to issue a Green Card policy;
- If vehicle decided to sell;
- if one of the parties does not fulfill its own responsibilities.
Early termination of the contract does not relieve the insurer from the obligation to carry out insurance payments for cases that occurred before the date of the agreement.
Some insurance companies threaten clients that they will not receive compensation if the contract is terminated. Payment is made within 14 days from the moment the motorist submits the relevant application.
The date of termination of the contract is considered the moment of receipt of a written request to terminate the policy from their client, and the remaining period for returning the cost of insurance is calculated from the next day.
Is it possible to re-register if the travel dates have changed?
In cases where the motorist’s plans have radically changed, the train is postponed or canceled altogether, and before this a Green Card policy has already been purchased, it is necessary to change the terms of the previously concluded contract.
The issue of changes in conditions worries many policyholders. In fact, such adjustments cannot be made to the document, especially regarding the validity of the insurance.
But there are other mechanisms for regulating this situation.
The “Green Card” is an international analogue of compulsory motor liability insurance, but unlike the classic motor vehicle license, there is a single database containing up-to-date information about the contracts available at that time.Now insurance companies They work with the server in on-line filling mode, so the information immediately goes into the database. For shortening and extending the terms, the insurer may be subject to sanctions.
And international documents in this area do not provide for changes in deadlines. But until the information in the database is updated, the insurer can “correct errors,” for which no penalty is provided.
Please note that there is little time to make changes, so the timing of the trip and the validity of the Green Card should be thought out as accurately and carefully as possible.
There is a second option for changing the validity period of the policy, but it will allow the beneficiary to lose 30% of the value of the concluded contract.
Before the insurance period expires, you should:
- terminate the concluded policy so that the insurance company returns 70% of its value (30% is the RVD). In this case, you need to contact the branch where the transaction was concluded.
- buy a new Green Card policy with the conditions necessary for the motorist.
The second option is legal. But policyholders are reluctant to use it, because they lose quite a large part of their money.
Motorists should remember that green card insurance is essentially an international compulsory motor liability insurance, and not a comprehensive insurance policy.
2. Lost confirmation number
Completing the "Applicant Confirmation" page
If you have lost your Confirmation Number, you can click Forgot Confirmation Number(Lost Confirmation Number) on the Enter Entrant Information page. The Verify Entrant page will be displayed.
To verify the Applicant, do the following:
1. In the Diversity Visa Lottery Program Year field, select one: 2013 or 2014.
2. In the Name field, enter the primary applicant's name exactly as you entered it on your Diversity Visa Lottery form. You must check the box under any name field that was left blank.
3. In Date of Birth, select the day and month from the drop-down menu, and then enter a four-digit year of birth (for example, 1962).
4. In the Address field email(Email Address) enter the same email address that you used when filling out the Visa Lottery form.
5. Enter the characters you see in the text field.
If you have trouble reading characters, do one of the following:
4. Click Submit(Send).
In English: Appendix A - Assistance Page.
In Russian: Part 1 - Introducing ESC
