bigmattE

Now that I have returned home to the UK to live for good, I am wondering what exactly happens to my green card. The whole legal process to get it cost us about $5k and 2 years later I just wanted to come home for good, which we did.
Will they know I left the country? Will it just become totally void after the ten years is up? Would I ever be denied entry to America say if we went to New York for a holiday 20 years down the line?

Mummy in the foothills

I went back to UK for just short of a year and reentered on my Green card and was told at immigration that I was cutting it a bit fine. I've heard they are even more strict now, if you are giving it up then after a year it's assumed you have given it up. They know you left when you went through the airport it's all computerized so they can keep track. If you can back 20 years from now you'd need the VWP to travel like any other Brit. But I'd carry proof of ties to UK so they know you aren't trying to move back here.

Bob

There is an official way of handing it back in....or you can just keep it as a decoration....or sell it to some dodgy bloke at the back of that dodgy pub before you leave

Englishmum

My spouse gave up his Green Card (which he'd had for about 1 year) when he transferred to his company's office in Singapore. He made an appointment at the US Embassy in Singapore to return it and had to complete Form I-407 'Abandonment of Residence' and had an interview (ie. a two-minute chat and apparently most of that time was fixing the consular official's broken pen ) as to satisfy them that he really did want to give it up...

My spouse has since been to the US quite a few times for business and leisure (he is English, not Singaporean) and has had no problems whatsoever entering at POE's (port of entry) in Newark, NJ and Los Angeles.

I can't remember where I've read it (presumably somewhere on a US govt. website and maybe someone reading this may wish to post a link) but if one has had a green card for 8 years or more or is a US citizen then one has to send in tax returns to the IRS indefinitely...and pay taxes if necessary to Uncle Sam... but if you only had your GC for a couple of years then no worries AFAIK.

You may not want to go to the bother of making a formal appointment to give up your green card (spouse did it for tax purposes) I understand that unless you made arrangements before you left the US to extend your stay overseas your permanent residency in the US will be regarded as abandoned after 1 year of absence from US soil.

Bluegrass Lass

From what I've read here on the USA forum, abandonment of a green card is not black and white. If you do a search on the USA forum using 'abandonment' you'll come across quite a few posts. Look for ones from user 'SFolinsky' (he's an AILA attorney) for some insight.