# Detect tampered and deepfake Green Card (Permanent Resident Card) > A green card, formally the Permanent Resident Card on Form I-551, is the credential USCIS issues to lawful permanent residents of the United States, and employers rely on it to complete I-9 onboarding while banks and agencies treat it as status proof. Its value lives in two date fields and an A-number, so fraud means pushing an expiry forward, stretching a two-year conditional card to read like a ten-year one, or borrowing another holder's identity outright. **Canonical URL:** https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/green_card **API document class:** `green_card` --- ## What a genuine green card contains Current cards print the holder's photograph, name, A-number, country of birth, and the pair of dates that anchor verification: RESIDENT SINCE for when permanent residence began, and CARD EXPIRES, normally a decade later. Conditional residents, typically through marriage or investment routes, receive two-year cards, so a two-year span between the fields is legitimate rather than suspicious. USCIS has redesigned the card repeatedly, so several editions circulate with their own palettes, portrait treatments, and security printing, and an unfamiliar edition is not evidence of fraud by itself. The A-number should match the same holder's visa foil, I-94, or EAD wherever those appear in a file, which makes cross-document comparison one of the strongest available checks. ## How green card forgeries are made ### Date-field forensics CARD EXPIRES is the target, pushed forward on an expired card or stretched on a conditional one. Digit substitution, baseline shift, or a font pass that departs from the surrounding print localises the edit to the touched field. ### Residence-to-expiry span The span between RESIDENT SINCE and CARD EXPIRES is normally ten years, or two for conditional residents. A span that fits neither, with no edition change to explain it, contradicts how USCIS actually grants cards. ### A-number consistency The Alien Registration Number must agree with the holder's other immigration documents in the same file. A mismatched A-number across a green card, EAD, or I-94 signals a composite identity rather than a print defect. ### Edition conformance Each USCIS edition has known field placement, typography, and security features, so a card that borrows the header of one edition and the fonts of another was assembled rather than issued. ### Category coherence The printed category code should fit the holder's admission story. A category tied to employment on a marriage-based conditional card is the kind of internal contradiction that deserves escalation. ## What TamperCheck checks on a green card TamperCheck runs 200+ forensic checks across three layers and returns a risk score from 0 to 100 with plain-English findings tied to specific regions of the document. These three carry the most weight on this document class. ### Portrait substitution and face-swap analysis The document is isolated from whatever it was photographed on, then the portrait region is assessed against the card surface around it. A pasted or generated face rarely matches the substrate it was placed onto. ### Security print, foil, and hologram analysis A genuine security overlay or guilloche background behaves differently from a printed picture of one. A reproduction loses the structure that made the feature a security feature in the first place, and that loss is measurable even when the copy looks convincing on screen. ### Signature forgery analysis Signature regions are assessed for ink consistency and for how the stroke sits on the page, which distinguishes a genuine pen stroke from a pasted image of one. ### And many more checks The three above are the layers that carry the most weight on a green card. Every upload runs the full suite of 200+ checks regardless of document class, spanning file structure and metadata, pixel-level forensics, font and text rendering, optical and print characteristics, provenance signals, AI-generation signatures, and many more checks. ## Who verifies a green card, and why US employers completing I-9 checks and financial institutions. In each case the document is being used to unlock money, access, or a legal status, which is exactly what makes it worth forging. ## How to verify a green card in 4 steps 1. **Photograph both sides.** Capture front and back flat and uncropped under even light, so the date fields, category line, and security printing all survive close analysis. 2. **Read the date fields.** Note RESIDENT SINCE and CARD EXPIRES and weigh the span between them against the card type: ten years for standard grants, two for conditional residents. 3. **Cross-check the A-number.** Match the A-number against every other immigration document in the file, including an EAD or I-94. Agreement across documents is strong evidence of a coherent identity. 4. **Run a forensic check on the file.** Date edits on a card this densely printed are invisible to the naked eye. TamperCheck runs 200+ forensic checks over the date fields, the portrait, and the security print, returning a risk score from 0 to 100 with findings tied to specific regions of the image. ## Frequently asked questions ### Why does a green card expire in only two years? Conditional residents, usually through recent marriage or investment routes, receive two-year cards that must be converted by filing to remove the conditions. A two-year span between RESIDENT SINCE and CARD EXPIRES is therefore legitimate, while a two-year span on a standard family or employment card deserves questions. ### Is an expired green card still proof of status? Permanent resident status does not lapse with the card, but an expired card fails I-9 documentation rules until renewed, and some receipt notices extend the card's validity by their own terms. Expired status and an expired card are different problems, and the documents in the file say which one applies. ### Can a green card be checked with USCIS directly? Employers enrolled in E-Verify confirm work authorisation that way, and USCIS offers specific status-confirmation avenues, but most verifiers hold only the card itself. TamperCheck works the document: forensic analysis of the fields, print, and internal consistency, returned as a risk score from 0 to 100 rather than a registry lookup. ### How does TamperCheck verify a green card? TamperCheck measures the residence-to-expiry span, weighs the A-number against other documents in the file, and inspects the date fields for localised edits. The card is processed ephemerally and not stored, and the result arrives within seconds as a risk score from 0 to 100 with region-level findings. ## Related document types - TamperCheck Forensic Report: https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/forensic_analysis_report - Unknown: https://tampercheck.ai/documents-support/unknown --- Try TamperCheck now: https://tampercheck.ai/dashboard · Docs: https://tampercheck.ai/docs · Pricing: https://tampercheck.ai/pricing