Guide to U.S. Immigration

12. Maintaining Permanent Residence

An alien must maintain his permanent residence in the U.S. in order to keep his permanent residence. If the alien leaves the U.S. for more than a year then he will lose his permanent residence. A special document called a Permit to Reenter can be obtained from the Citizenship & Immigration Services Office and with that document an alien can leave the U.S., and reside in a foreign country for up to 2 years before returning and still maintain permanent resident status in the U.S.

There is no specific term of months per year that an alien must stay in the US in order to keep his green card, however, a repeated pattern or lengthy stays abroad may jeopardize an alien's permanent residence. Many aliens feel that if they come to the US once per year for a short period of time they can maintain their permanent residence. This is not true. If the Citizenship & Immigration Services Office discovers that the alien comes to the US only once per year, it is possible that it will initiate proceedings to revoke the alien's green card.