Giving Up Your Green Card: Form I-407 and the Exit Tax

Giving up a green card voluntarily surprises people, but we see it more often than you would think. After years of working toward permanent residence, some people decide it no longer fits their life. The decision is legal and financial at the same time, and it is final once accepted. This is what it means, how it works, what it costs, and what you must settle before you sign anything.

Watch NYC immigration attorney Remzi G. Kulen explain the I-407 process, the two ways a green card is given up, and the tax questions you must answer first:

What giving up a green card means

You are voluntarily terminating your lawful permanent resident status. You no longer have the right to live and work in the United States permanently. The filing is Form I-407, Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status. Once it is accepted, by USCIS or by a CBP officer at the border, your status ends immediately. You can still visit the United States in the future, but as a nonimmigrant, on ESTA if your country is in the Visa Waiver Program, or on a visitor visa. If you ever want permanent residence again, you start from the beginning.

The two ways it happens

At the port of entry

A Customs and Border Protection officer who believes you are not maintaining your residence, that you are using the green card like a tourist visa to spend a few weeks or months in the United States and then return to your home country, may ask you to sign an I-407 on the spot. You do not have to sign under pressure. Signing is voluntary, and the form itself says U.S. law does not require you to complete, sign, or submit it. Asking to speak to an immigration lawyer first is perfectly acceptable. If you refuse, the officer may refer you to an immigration judge, and you will explain in court why you are keeping your residence. In that hearing, the government has to prove by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that you abandoned your status. That sounds frightening and it does not happen often, but understand the choice: the moment you sign, the card is gone.

By filing with USCIS

You complete the I-407 and mail it to USCIS with your green card and any re-entry permit or refugee travel document you still have. Send only documents USCIS issued, not a driver's license or Social Security card. The USCIS instructions say the form is for permanent residents who are outside the United States or at a port of entry, so you file it after you have left. As of September 2026, there is no filing fee, and the USCIS Form I-407 page lists a mailing address in Lee's Summit, Missouri. You can also hand it to a CBP officer at a U.S. port of entry, and in very rare cases, a USCIS international field office or a U.S. embassy or consulate may let you submit the form in person if you need immediate proof that you have given up your status. Most people are not scheduled for biometrics, though in rare cases you may be asked to attend.

Why people do it

• Moving back to the home country permanently
• Becoming a resident or citizen of a country that does not allow dual citizenship
• Ending U.S. tax obligations, since the United States taxes green card holders the way it taxes citizens
• Simplifying legal status after a very long time outside the United States

Whatever the reason, the decision must be made carefully, because it cannot be undone.

What happens once the I-407 is accepted

• Your permanent resident status ends immediately.
• You will need a visa or ESTA to enter the United States, and neither is guaranteed. Most people assume a tourist visa will come easily after surrendering a green card. Usually it does, but U.S. law presumes every visitor visa applicant intends to immigrate until they show otherwise, and a visitor must have a residence abroad they do not intend to abandon. You still have to show ties to the home country, and after a long gap the consulate may ask whether you intend to live in the United States again.
• Any pending applications based on your green card end with it, for example a petition for a spouse or a minor child. An approved petition you filed as a permanent resident for a relative who has not yet immigrated is automatically revoked under federal regulations when your status legally ends.
• Generally, minor children in your custody are also treated as having abandoned their permanent resident status when you abandon yours, according to the USCIS instructions for the form.
• Getting a green card again means starting the entire process over.

Taxes come before the form

The United States generally taxes green card holders the way it taxes citizens, on worldwide income, wherever they live. Leaving the United States does not end that on its own. Under IRS rules, you remain a U.S. tax resident until you abandon your status in writing, which is what the I-407 does, or until your status is terminated administratively or by a court. If you leave without filing it, you still have to file U.S. tax returns. For tax purposes, the IRS treats your status as abandoned on the date you file the I-407 with your green card attached. If you mail it, the IRS says to send it by certified mail, return receipt requested (or the foreign equivalent), and to keep a copy and proof that it was mailed and received. Filing does not erase what you owe for earlier years, and you still file a return for the year your status ends.

To be clear, owing no tax is not a requirement of Form I-407, and the form does not ask about your taxes. The tax consequences are separate, and they are the reason to put your tax affairs in order first. Before you file:

• Pay any tax you owe to the United States.
• Make sure you filed properly during the years you held the green card, and plan the return for the final year, the year your status ends.
• Talk to a CPA or other tax professional, particularly one who knows international taxation.

The exit tax

This is the part that catches people. The figures in this section are the IRS amounts for 2026, current as of September 2026. If you were a green card holder in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years, ending with the year your status ends, the tax law treats you as a long-term resident, and giving up the card is an expatriation for tax purposes. You report it on Form 8854, filed with your income tax return for that year. You are a covered expatriate if any one of these applies:

• Your net worth is $2 million or more on the date you expatriate.
• Your average annual net income tax liability for the 5 tax years before that date is above an inflation-adjusted threshold, which is $211,000 for 2026.
• You cannot certify on Form 8854 that you complied with all federal tax obligations for those 5 years.

Covered expatriates face the mark-to-market exit tax. The United States treats most of your property as if you sold it at fair market value on the day before you expatriate, and taxes the unrealized gain above an exclusion amount, which is $910,000 for 2026. Retirement accounts, deferred compensation and certain trust interests follow separate rules. That can be a significant amount. Anyone close to or past 8 tax years as a green card holder should speak with a tax professional before deciding anything, because timing relative to that threshold matters. The IRS explains the rules on its expatriation tax page.

If you are not sure yet

Surrendering is the right decision for some people and the wrong one for others who will want the card for themselves or their family in the near future. If you live abroad but want to keep the green card a while longer, a re-entry permit is the tool for that, and we cover it in a separate video. Whichever way you lean, the procedure is formal, the termination is immediate, and the tax questions have to be answered first.

Thinking about surrendering your green card? Contact Kulen Law Firm and bring in a CPA before you sign an I-407, at the border or anywhere else.

This article is general information and not legal or tax advice. Every case is different. Speak with an experienced immigration attorney and a certified public accountant before taking any action.