Start USPS recovery now; after 30 days from approval, use USCIS’s non-delivery inquiry and file an ordinary replacement I-765 only if the error-based reissue route does not resolve it.
“I updated my address with USCIS and successfully received my I-797 approval notice at my new address, but USPS tracking shows my actual EAD card was delivered to my old address. What is the resolution process for retrieving or replacing a misdelivered EAD card in this situation?”
Summary
Your card is not necessarily gone permanently: USPS can search for it, and USCIS says it may reissue a non-delivered card. If USCIS or USPS error caused the nonreceipt, the current replacement fee is $0.
Your route depends on whether the card can be recovered and, if not, whether USCIS treats the nonreceipt as USCIS/USPS error or as an ordinary lost card.
Ask the current resident or property manager at the old address to hold the unopened envelope for safe pickup. If it is not there, begin a ; USCIS says to follow that process as soon as tracking says delivered but the package was not received (USCIS delivery guidance; USPS Find Missing Mail).
After 30 days from approval, submit USCIS’s . USCIS may reissue a card that was not delivered, and the current fee schedule sets the replacement fee at $0 when USCIS or USPS error caused nonreceipt (Form I-765 webpage; Form G-1055).
If USCIS does not use the error-based route and treats your as lost, stolen, or destroyed, request a replacement with a new Form I-765 and the required fee, unless an available fee waiver is approved. The general fee is $520 by paper or $470 online, but reduced, exempt, and category-specific rules can override those figures (USCIS EAD page; Form G-1055).
Keep your USCIS address-change confirmation, the I-797 and its envelope, the USPS tracking record, and every USPS search email together to document the timeline.
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Watch out for
Next steps
These steps create the recovery record first and preserve the no-fee replacement route if USCIS or USPS caused the misdelivery.
Immediately
Try to retrieve the original envelope
Ask the current resident or property manager at the old address to hold the unopened USCIS envelope and arrange a safe pickup. Save the tracking result at https://tools.usps.com/tracking/; USCIS says to begin missing-mail steps as soon as the package appears missing.
Requirements
Starting 7 days after mailing
Submit a USPS Missing Mail Search
File at https://missingmail.usps.com/. USPS will email confirmation and periodic updates; if it finds the mail, it will send it to the address you enter in the search request.
Requirements
Once 30 days have passed from approval
Submit the USCIS non-delivery inquiry
Use https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/ndc. In the item-not-received explanation, state that the I-797 reached your new address, identify when USCIS accepted your address change, and state that tracking shows the EAD delivered to the old address. Keep the USPS search confirmation for any USCIS follow-up.
Requirements
After USCIS reviews non-delivery
Follow the correct replacement branch
If USCIS reissues directly, no new filing is needed. If it requires Form I-765 because USCIS or USPS error caused nonreceipt, Form G-1055 sets the replacement fee at $0. If USCIS instead treats the card as lost, stolen, or destroyed, file a new Form I-765 through https://www.uscis.gov/i-765; the general fee is $520 on paper or $470 online, subject to reduced-fee, exemption, and category-specific rules. USCIS states that the paper filing address depends on the filing reason and Question 27 category, so it cannot be selected from the facts provided here.
Requirements
Legal sources
This process comes from USCIS’s Form I-765, card-delivery and non-delivery guidance, the current Form G-1055 fee schedule, and USPS’s Missing Mail procedure.
USCIS Secure Document Delivery Guidance
USCIS directs you to start the USPS missing-mail process promptly when tracking says delivered but the card is absent.
Lost or Missing Mail: Documents or Cards
If your USPS tracking information shows your package was delivered but you have not received it, follow the steps recommended by USPS on the Find Missing Mail webpage. You should begin the steps as soon as you believe your mail is missing.
USPS Find Missing Mail
USPS permits a Missing Mail Search beginning seven days after mailing and sends recovered mail to the address supplied in the request.
How to Start Your Search
Missing Mail search requests can be submitted starting 7 days from mailing. If we find your package or mail, we will send it to the address you provided.
Form I-765 webpage
For an EAD, USCIS states the inquiry timing and the possible reissue and no-new-fee treatment for agency or postal error.
Card Delivery Tracking; Replacing Your Non-Delivered Document
Please allow a total of 30 days from approval before inquiring with USCIS. If you did not receive your card, we may reissue the card if the original document was not delivered to you after the first or subsequent delivery attempts. You generally do not have to pay a new fee if the reason you did not receive your document is due to our error or United States Postal Service (USPS) error.
USCIS Employment Authorization Document Guidance
This distinguishes the non-delivery inquiry from the ordinary lost, stolen, or destroyed EAD replacement process.
Replace an EAD
If your EAD is lost, stolen or destroyed, you may request a replacement EAD by filing a new Form I-765 and filing fee (if required), unless a fee waiver is requested and approved. If you did not receive an EAD that USCIS mailed, you can submit an inquiry on non-delivery of a card.
USCIS e-Request—Non-Delivery of Card
The USCIS e-Request page covers EAD non-delivery and identifies the information needed for the inquiry.
If you do not receive a card that was mailed to your address of record, you may submit an inquiry. What you'll need Receipt Number A-Number (if applicable) Date when filed Application or Petition filed Item not received Email Address
Form G-1055, Edition 09/09/26
The current fee schedule assigns a $0 fee to a replacement based on USCIS or USPS non-delivery error.
Form I-765 fee table
If you are filing for replacement EAD because the card we issued to you contains incorrect information due to our error, or we issued your previous card but you never received it due to United States Postal Service (USPS) error or our error. $0
Form G-1055, Edition 09/09/26
This supplies the general fallback replacement fees while warning that reduced-fee and exemption rows may apply.
Form I-765 fee table
General filing for initial, replacement, or renewal Employment Authorization Document (EAD), unless noted below. Fee determined based on how form is submitted. Review all options below to confirm if you are eligible for a reduced fee or fee exemption. Paper Filing: $520 Online Filing: $470
USCIS Address Change Guidance
A USPS forwarding request does not redirect USCIS mail or update the USCIS address.
Changing your address with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will not change your address with USCIS and USPS will not forward your mail from USCIS. Please update your information with both USCIS and USPS.
These are the official USCIS and USPS rules published on the cited dates; rules and fees can change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice; SettleKit is not a law firm.
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