How to fix clerical errors on a green card

Q. My student’s green card has his wrong birthdate. How can he correct it? I am a school counselor at a middle school in New York City. One of my students immigrated four years ago from Guinea. When he immigrated, there was a clerical error on his paperwork that his mother did not notice. His green card lists his birthdate as four years older than his actual age.

Name withheld, Bronx

A. Thanks so much for writing. I’m pleased that you are making the time and effort to help your student. Your students are very lucky to have a teacher like you.

Your student can get a new green card with the correct date of birth by filing USCIS form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card). If the error was a USCIS error, USCIS will not charge him for the new card. If the error was in the completion of his application, he’ll need to pay a filing fee, and if he is age 14 or older, a biometric (fingerprinting and photo) fee. Learn more at uscis.gov/i-90.

Q. My son won the green card lottery. Will my being in the United States without lawful status affect his getting a Diversity Visa green card? Also, he has a child who was not yet 21 when he entered the lottery, but she is over 21 now. Can she immigrate with her father?

A.G., Brooklyn

A. Your status will have no impact on your son’s application.

As for your granddaughter, she may be able to immigrate with her father. Normally, for a child of a Diversity Visa winner to immigrate with their parent, the child must be under 21 and unmarried. However, under a law called the Child Status Protection Act, your granddaughter can deduct the number of days from the start of the DV green card lottery program registration period to the date your son was selected as a winner from her age when a DV visa becomes available for her father. Her age will be fixed on that date.

If she is “under 21″ using that calculation, your granddaughter can immigrate with her father if she is still unmarried. Learn more about the CSPA at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website: bit.ly/3UM6McU.bit.ly

Allan Wernick is an attorney and senior legal adviser to City University of New York’s Citizenship Now! project. Email questions and comments @allanwernick.com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick