Treat an MRIV in an unexpired foreign passport which meets the following criteria
the same as a valid Temporary Form I-551 stamp:
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•
The MRIV shows the statement, “UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING
PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR”,
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•
is endorsed with an admission stamp on the upper portion of the MRIV which overlaps
onto the adjoining page of the foreign passport, and
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•
not more than one year has passed between the date of the admission stamp and the
date of the SSN application.
Under limited circumstances, if a passport is unavailable, the Department of State
(DOS) will issue the MRIV on a Form DS-232, Unrecognized Passport or Waiver Cases or suitable travel document. Accept an MRIV, if either on a Form DS-232, or valid travel
document. To determine whether the foreign travel document is issued by the foreign
country, see GN 00307.000. The MRIV must meet the criteria described here.
See also:
RM 10205.600H, The Immigrant Completes an SS-5 and Applied for an SSN when Applying for a Visa.
Background and description of the MRIV with Temporary Form I-551 notation
Beginning June 28, 2004, certain U.S. Embassies and Consulates began issuing the MRIV
printed with the language, “UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING
PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR” in the body of the MRIV above the machine-readable
zone (two lines of code at the bottom of the card). This language is almost identical
to that contained in the Alien Documentation Identification and Telecommunication
System (ADIT) Stamp, commonly referred to as the “Temporary I-551 stamp” or “ADIT
Stamp.” The DOS officer at the Embassy or Consulate places the MRIV inside the immigrant’s
passport, attached to one of the interior pages. The officer will not place a Temporary
Form I-551 stamp in the foreign passport.
Registration number (Alien number or A#)
The MRIV shows the alien's registration number (ARN, A number or A#) as the “Registration
Number” in the upper right-hand corner of the MRIV. The DHS Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) officer does not write the alien registration number on the admission stamp.
Admission stamp
When an alien is admitted to the U.S. as a permanent resident, the CBP officer places
the admission stamp on the upper portion of the MRIV. Part of the admission stamp
usually overlaps onto the adjoining page of the foreign passport. However, since hand
stamping is a manual and inexact process, there may be instances where the CBP officer’s
hand stamp does not quite overlap the adjoining page. Thus, there may be some slight
variations on the exact placement of the hand stamp, particularly if stamped hurriedly
by the immigration officer. If an admission stamp is present, on or near the MRIV,
with a date that falls within the validity period of the visa, accept that it is a
valid admission stamp.
The MRIV with Temporary Form I-551 notation is valid for one year from the date of
endorsement by the admission stamp. For example, if the admission stamp shows a date
of entry into the U.S. as January 4, 2004, the expiration of the temporary Form I-551
status will be January 3, 2005.
MRIV Expiration Date
Do not use the expiration date on the MRIV itself to determine when the temporary
Form I-551 status expires. The expiration date on the MRIV only shows how long the
MRIV is valid, not how long the alien's temporary Form I-551 status is valid. An expired
MRIV may still be acceptable evidence of an alien’s temporary Form I-551 status, if
the MRIV with the Temporary Form I-551 notation meets the requirements in RM 10211.025C.2, in this section.