A green card is the one document everybody photographs badly. It’s small, it’s glossy, and whoever asks for a copy usually wants both sides on the same sheet. Send two phone photos in separate attachments and somebody will write back asking where the back is.

This page puts the front and the back of your Permanent Resident Card on one Letter or A4 sheet at the card’s real size, 85.6 × 54 mm, and gives you a PDF, JPG or PNG. It all happens inside your browser, so the photos never leave your device.If you just want it done: drop the front in, drop the back in, check the preview, press Merge & Download Green Card. The defaults are Letter paper, cards stacked, PDF.

Before you use a copy for Form I-9

A lot of sites suggest a merged copy is what you hand over for Form I-9. It isn’t. For the I-9, your employer is supposed to look at your actual card, in person. They can keep a photocopy afterwards if they want to, but that’s up to them, and the USCIS employer handbook (M-274) says that if they copy documents they have to do it for every employee, “regardless of national origin or citizenship status”. The original goes back to you.

There is one exception. Since August 2023, employers who are enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing can use an alternative procedure. You send copies first, then show the same documents on a live video call, and the whole thing has to be finished within three business days of your first day of work (Federal Register notice, July 2023). The notice also says employers can still examine documents in person, and that you can ask for that. So if your employer asks for a scan, that’s probably the route they’re on. Ask which file format they want before you send anything.

Rules like these get updated, and this page isn’t legal advice. If your work authorization is complicated, ask HR or an immigration attorney.

When a two-sided copy is what they want

Outside the I-9, “send us a copy of your green card, both sides” comes up constantly. What the receiver does with it varies, so the file you send should too.

Who’s asking	What they usually do with it	What to send
A landlord or leasing office	Keeps it in your application file	PDF
A bank or credit union	Keeps it with your account records	PDF, or a printout
A school or university	Attaches it to an enrollment or aid file	PDF, or JPG if the portal has a size limit
An online form with an upload box	Takes one file only	JPG

Those are common patterns, not rules. Ask the receiver what they’ll accept.

How to Merge Green Card Front and Back

1. Put the front photo in the FRONT box. Click it, drag the file over, or paste with Ctrl+V.
2. Do the same for the back.
3. Look at the preview and zoom in. If you have to squint at the card number or the expiry date here, so will the person reading it.
4. Press Merge & Download Green Card.

The button stays grey until both sides are in, so a single photo won’t download. If the sides ended up in the wrong boxes, press Swap Front & Back and skip the re-upload. For a second card, a spouse’s or a child’s, press Reset & Start New first.

Letter, A4 and the other settings

The tool opens on Letter (8.5 × 11 in), because most people reading this are in the US. If you’re printing somewhere that uses A4, switch the paper size. Both fit two cards without trouble.

What surprises people is the scale. At the default 100% the two cards fit next to each other on a Letter or A4 page held upright, still at real size. Make them bigger and that stops being true.

Scale	Stacked	Side by side
100% (85.6 × 54 mm)	Real size	Real size
125% (107 × 67.5 mm)	Real size	Shrinks a bit (about 86% on Letter, 83% on A4)
150% (128 × 81 mm)	Real size	Shrinks a lot (about 72% on Letter, 70% on A4)

So if you want bigger cards for easier reading, keep them stacked.

A few more things you can change:

• Fit Card Dimensions Only cuts the page down to the two cards plus a small margin. That’s the one to use for a compact upload.
• Gap between the cards goes from none to 20 mm. The default is 10 mm.
• The thin grey line around each card is on by default, for people who want to trim the printout. Untick “Show thin cutting guidelines” if you want a clean file.
• Watermark puts your own text across each card in light red. Keep it short and keep it off the numbers.

The PDF needs the small jsPDF helper script, which the page fetches from a public library host the first time you use it. That needs an internet connection. JPG and PNG don’t.

Taking a photo that survives the merge

The merged page can only be as sharp as the photos you start with, and a green card is a nasty thing to photograph: shiny plastic, security features that catch the light, small print.

Put the card on a plain surface that isn’t the same color as the card. Light it from the side or from a window, and tilt it a little if a bright patch shows up over the photo. Hold the phone straight above it, not at an angle. Take the front and the back from the same distance, so the text ends up at a similar size on both. And skip the filters. “Enhance” and auto-contrast tools sometimes blur the fine print.

Treat the copy like the card

A copy of your green card has your name, photo and card number on it, and once it’s sent you can’t take it back. A few habits that cost nothing:

Put the purpose and the date in the watermark, something like For apartment application only, 14 Oct 20xx. That way it’s harder to reuse for something you never agreed to. Send it only to an address or portal you’ve confirmed belongs to the landlord, bank, school or employer. Be wary of anyone who messages you out of the blue and asks for a copy to “speed up your case”. And delete the file from shared computers, including the Downloads folder.

One more thing, since it comes up. Adult permanent residents are generally required to carry their card, and a copy doesn’t meet that requirement (Nolo explains the rule). The merged copy is for paperwork. The card stays with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my employer make a copy of my green card?
They can choose to, as long as they do it for every employee. That’s what the USCIS handbook for employers says. The copy doesn’t replace seeing your card, and your original should be handed back to you.

Is a scan or photo enough for Form I-9?
Normally the employer has to look at the physical card. The exception is the alternative procedure for E-Verify employers in good standing, where you send copies and then show the same documents on a live video call. Ask your employer which one applies to you.

Do I need to copy both sides?
That’s the receiver’s call, so ask. If they don’t say, include both sides. It costs nothing, and it saves a second round of emails.

Is it free, and are my photos uploaded?
It’s free and there’s no account. The merge runs in your browser and the photos stay on your device. Only the PDF helper script is fetched from the internet.

Letter or A4, which should I pick?
Letter if you’re printing in the US, A4 almost everywhere else. If the copy is only going to be uploaded and never printed, either one works.

Will it print at the real size of the card?
At 100% scale, yes. Print the PDF at “Actual size” or 100%. Don’t choose “Fit to page”, because that resizes the cards.

Can I merge an EAD card or a driver’s license the same way?
Yes. The preset list also includes the EAD work permit card, US state driver license, Social Security card and passport book. Pick the one that matches what you’re merging.