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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INS OFFICES OVERWHELMED BY GREEN CARD RENEWAL APPLICATIONS
Perhaps no one realized the surge in applications for green card renewals that would occur when new cards with a ten-year expiration date were issued in 1990.  Whether expected or not, many INS offices are finding themselves hard pressed to deal with large numbers of green card renewal applications on top of all the other applications they process.  This year, 200,000 green cards held by Southern California residents will expire, 36,000 in Orange Country, California alone.  Making this situation worse is the fact that there are only two INS offices in Southern California that will renew green cards.  On some days there are as many as 500 people in line before the offices open. 
As a result, many people are lining up in front of the offices when they get off work in the evening, and wait all night in line for the INS to open.  Some INS officials say the problem is in part the result of people applying for renewals six months before the cards expire.  They say people should wait to apply until two or three months before the expiration date.  It is, however, easy to understand why people want to apply for renewal as early as possible.  It is taking the INS about one year to issue a new card, and while one’s status as a permanent resident does not end when the green card expires, many employers are not comfortable with anything less than the green card itself (even though it would be illegal for an employer to require the card when temporary proof of permanent residency is available) 
The INS is planning to transfer employees to deal with the numbers of green card renewal applications, which will hopefully improve the situation.