Immigration lawyers in New Jersey, and throughout the United States, will welcome the redesign of the Permanent Resident Card, also known as the Green Card, into a smarter and more secure form. Early this month, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it would redesign the Green Card to prevent counterfeiting. The new card design will minimize the possibilities of card tampering, and will be easier to authenticate. This will reduce errors, and lead to greater convenience for card holders. The USCIF has already begun issuing cards in the smart new format.
As New Jersey immigration lawyers, we have been especially pleased to note that the new cards come with several high-tech features. These include Embedded Radio Frequency Identity (RFID) technology, holographic images, personalized embedded holograms, laser engraved fingerprints and a more authentic background design. Other features include optical media storage of all files, including biometric identification data.
The new cards come with the lawful permanent resident's alien number ("A" number) featured prominently on the front of the card. Special ink has been used to create color shifts in individual designs. The card design incorporates painstakingly fine images, and complex architecture that will be nearly impossible to duplicate. Sophisticated technologies make it impossible for any alteration of the photographs in any manner. Photographs of the cardholder also come with greater attention to detail, to facilitate easier and more accurate identification of the cardholder. Tactile clues and ultraviolet ionization technologies have been used for a higher degree of accuracy. Also, in keeping with its iconic name, the green card is now officially green in color.
With the kind of technology we have at our disposal, it makes little sense that we continue to use obsolete and older ways of identifying persons and recording data. The new green cards are like mini computers in themselves holding vast amounts of highly precise data, and ensuring faster, more accurate and fraud-proof identification.
