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When I surrender my green card do I need to make an appointment? Can I apply for Social Security at the same time? I would like to return to the US to visit my son in 2026 for a few weeks, so can I also apply for a visitor visa and get everything done at the same time to avoid making two wrips from Cumbria.
My departure to the UK is unfortunately delayed until January, however I want to thank everyone for the invaluable advice and empathy during a very stressful time, don’t know how I could do it without your help Xx


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Everything re your green card and SS is done remotely, online, or by phone or mail. My MIL had some SS paperwork to sort out a few weeks ago, re her recently deceased husband, and Mrs P took her to the local SS office. It turns out that they really don't do much face-to-face business these days and were reluctant to even set up an appointment.

Unless you've been gone well over a year, maybe two, your green card is likely still going to be accepted, so personally I'd visit the US using that, then when you get back to the UK mail in your green card and I407 to surrender it.

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You should get your SS sorted out (being paid in the UK) before you go..... go to your local SS office.

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I should have asked if I need to make an appointment in January with the consulate in London to surrender my green card since it expires in May 2026…deal with moving Soc. sec to the uk and apply for a Visa since it says on the uscis website that an interview is required for a visa.
I have to get a bank account in the UK for Soc.Sec deposits (does anyone us e Wise for this?) Thanks.

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I thought the FBU deals with SS…..

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The FBU deals with SS for people resident in the UK. They sorted out both mine and my wife’s applications, although the final process is done by the US office in Maryland. (At least in our experience)

i haven’t used Wise as the receiving bank for my SS, I use my UK bank, but it may work as you can have a GBP nominated account with UK sort code and account number.

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Since you want to go to the US in 2026 I recommend you retain your GC until after that trip (assuming it is still valid for entry.) When you return to the UK you can then send it to USCIS with your I-407 to formally abandon LPR status. You do this by mail, no need to attend anything in person. One reason for waiting till after your trip is that it takes time for your abandonment to be processed in US immigration systems and as long as they have you recorded as LPR you would not be eligible for a visitor visa. Per the USCIS website, their current processing time for I-407 is that 80% are completed within two months so you would need to leave at least this amount of time between submitting the I-407 and applying for your visa. Less stressful to just use your GC for the trip if you can.

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You said you'll be visiting the US for 'a few weeks', so could you not just use ESTA, are you sure you need a visa?

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Both would be rejected if she still has an active green card, which appears to be the case (green cards remain active a lot longer than people often think).

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I meant after it's been surrendered.

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Might just be a misunderstanding of the process/terminology given that she has been living in the US and not had to think about things like this for a while. ESTA would be the way to go for a (I think she said) 6 week visit, though she would still need to wait long enough after submitting the I-407 to make sure all USCIS systems have been updated and reflect that she's are no longer a LPR. My anecdotal undestanding from having looked at this topic on other fora and blogs is that just receiving notification from USCIS that they have accepted your I-407 doesn't mean that all their systems have been updated to reflect the change. I looked into this last year when I was trying to decide whether to give up my GC before or after a trip back to the US.

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Thanks for your reply, I have also wondered about sending my GC before I leave…at least I could send it registered mail to be sure it gets there. What did you do? I guess surrendering it at the Consulate is out of the question? What is an ESTA? Also, if I wait a couple of months before applying for my soc. Sec to be moved to the UK, how long does it take? I assume the total amount includes the medicare deduction.

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You need to send the GC with your I-407, which gets mailed to a specific USCIS address. Per their website it is possible to submit at a Consulate "in very rare circumstances":
https://www.uscis.gov/i-407

I waited till after my trip then sent my I-407 and GC via either DHL or Fedex (I don't remember which) so I had confirmation of delivery/date of delivery. It took about another 2 weeks before I received a confirmation of receipt email from USCIS and another week or so after that to receive the official notification letter. So from my sending everything to actually receiving a notice back from USCIS took around a month in total. The date that mattered most to me (because of my Exit Tax circumstances) was the date they received it because that was my official expatriation date and I had tax documents I had to give to my brokerage within 30 days of that date, so it was important to me to have the delivery confirmation from the courier company rather than just wait to hear back from USCIS.

However just submitting your GC doesn't mean that the information has been processed and updated in all USCIS/US immigration systems. And until it is updated in those systems you will show up as being LPR and therefore not eligible for ESTA or Visa.

ESTA is the online travel authorisation system available for folks from countries with a US visa waiver programme. You can find more info here:
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/esta

If approved, it means you can travel to the US and stay for up to 90 days per trip. In general, the whole process is easier, quicker and cheaper than applying for a tourist visa (which can be valid for up to 10 years, and requires a consulate interview.)

It does sound like you need to do more research on both these areas before making any decisions about your GC. Others on here have more info on SS, and you can also search the forum to see threads explaining what others have done.

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Thanks for your reply..you said your received a letter from USCIS to confirm, had you left the US by then? Having sent in your GC, I thought one had to leave immediately.

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PS did they send a letter to your home address in the US or UK….or was it an email.

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Just to add to the visa vs ESTA subject, do remember that neither give you any kind of guarantee of being allowed in to the US. You will essentially be knocking on the door and asking them to let you in when you arrive, you can be refused entry. It's rare for somebody from a 'safe' country like the UK, but does need to be factored in if your son lives in the US and you may want to visit him from time to time.

If you wanted the right to enter the US anytime you needed/wanted to, then you'd need US citizenship - but I assume you're not eligible for that?

The suggestion of holding on to your GC for the time being until you've spent some time in the UK is a good one, there's also a re-entry permit if you wanted to keep your options open for a couple of years just in case.

Good luck.

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You typically need to send in your I-407 and return your GC after you have already left the US as the form asks for the date of your last departure from the US. My letter was mailed to my UK address (you need to provide them with a non-US mailing address on the form) and I also received an email (I provided my email address on the I-407, and I also had an online USCIS account number which was attached to my email address.) The email confirming receipt was about two weeks after date received (which I knew because of info from courier company) and I got the formal notice of action letter in the mail a couple of weeks after the email.

So for clarity, in my case the sequence of events was:
- I left US and set up home in the UK (still had my GC)
- I returned to the US a few months later on a 6 week visit (entered the US using my GC)
- I returned to the UK after my trip, completed I-407 and sent to USCIS along with my GC

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Thanks a million.

i could become a USC but never wanted to….never really felt like ‘home’. I feel I have contributed though, supporting my family as an artist and educator.

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Fair enough, but it would give you guaranteed entry in the future, which you wouldn't have once you give up your green card. Might be worth considering?

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Agreed. Personally, so long as a route was open to me, I would not want to be in a position of needing "government permission" (a visa, or even "preclearance") to visit my own family. And this concern has been brought into sharp relief by the operating procedures of the current regime in DC. :(

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This is good advice if you think you will be making regular visits back to the US, and/or might in the future want to stay longer than the ESTA permits. Since your GC expires in a few months you need to move quickly if think you might want to go down the path of citizenship. As a starter you would need to get your GC renewed, then get a re-entry permit (must apply from within the US) to enable you to stay outside the US for up to 2 years without jeapordizing your LPR status. Doing that would at least buy you some time to try things out in the UK while keeping open the door of returning to the US to live if things don't work out. Sorry to give you something else to ponder......

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But if you go down the "I'll hang on to my green card, with a view to possibly applying for citizenship" path, be aware that [1] you can technically only apply for citizenship while living in the US (in reality this isn't actually the case, but you'd need to be careful if you try to apply from outside the US, and would need a US address), and [2] potentially more problematically, when you apply for citizenship you need to have spent most of the most recent five years actually in the US (calculated by days present), so despite holding a green card you can lose the ability to apply for citizenship. And it may not be a simple matter of regaining eligibility if the oldest end of your "most recent five years" was two years of living in the US. If you return to the US to regain eligibility, every day in the US is only going to result in you replacing a day in the US that drops off the oldest end after five years. So even living in the US for two years would not add a single day to your calculated "time in the US".

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Thank you for this info. The more time I spend on this forum the more I realise how little I knew before I made the move and how much less stress I would have had if I'd taken more time to ask questions beforehand. Every day's a school day. :)

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What medical deduction. If you are not living in the US, you won't need to apply for Medicare so there won't be any deduction.

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The plastic card expires, not her status. She is still a permanent resident of the US even if the plastic card expiry date is surpassed.