Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) or green card holders are urged and cautioned here to keep their trips abroad relatively short. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could determine that an LPR has abandoned their residence if the LPR’s intent was not to return to the United States within a relatively short period of time.
Generally, Lawful Permanent Residents can use their green cards to return to the United States after a temporary absence not exceeding one year. The most important factor in concluding whether an LPR abandoned his or her U.S. residence is to look at the LPR's actual intent to return to the United States after a short trip, along with the other factors such as property, business, and family ties inside the U.S. and in the foreign country.
An LPR returning to the U.S. once a year for a few days doesn't "automatically revalidate" a green card in a situation in which the lawful permanent resident has actually been residing abroad. If you spend most of your time outside of the U.S. you run the risk of having your Permanent Residence status terminated and green card cancelled by an Immigration Officer. This can of course be avoided by giving up your green card voluntarily. Despite the disavantages, because there are disadvantages, giving up your green card has the advantage of allowing you to apply again in the future if you so desire.
Smith & Stephenson LLP resolves immigration concerns for individuals and businesses. We are a full-service Immigration Law Firm and represent clients in all areas of immigration law, including family based immigration and employment-based immigration. If you have immigration questions, we have answers. You can call our Law Offices 24/7 at (212) 400-7147. Our Immigration Law Firm is located in New York, New York. Our firm serves primarily clients from the Tri-state area, however, we offer telephone consultations and we can help clients all over the United States and throughout the world.
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