If you hold a green card and need to spend more than six months outside the United States, a reentry permit is the document that protects your status while you are gone. Without one, an extended trip can trigger questions about whether you abandoned your residency — and in some cases, it can end it.
Here is how the reentry permit works, how to apply, and what it does and does not protect you from.
What a Reentry Permit Does
A reentry permit removes the abandonment presumption that attaches when a green card holder is outside the United States for six months or more. With a valid reentry permit, you can stay abroad for up to two years without that presumption applying. You still need to demonstrate ties to the United States, but the permit itself answers the first question CBP would otherwise ask.
What it does not do: it does not guarantee reentry. CBP officers retain discretion at the port of entry. If they have reason to believe you have genuinely abandoned your U.S. residency — regardless of whether you hold a reentry permit — they can still refer you to secondary inspection or issue a Notice to Appear. The permit is strong evidence in your favor, not a guarantee.
Who Needs One
Any permanent resident planning to be outside the United States for more than six continuous months should consider filing for a reentry permit before leaving. Six months is the point where CBP starts asking questions. One year is where the presumption of abandonment becomes much harder to rebut — with or without a permit.
Common situations: caring for a seriously ill parent abroad for an extended period, a work assignment your employer sends you on, educational programs lasting a year or more, or managing property or a business in another country while keeping your life in the United States.
If your trip is under six months, you do not need one. If you are unsure how long you will be gone, apply before you leave. You cannot apply from outside the United States.
How to Apply: Form I-131
The reentry permit application is Form I-131, Application for Travel Document. You file it with USCIS before you depart, along with the required filing fee and a copy of your green card. Check USCIS.gov for the current fee — fees were updated in 2024 and change periodically.
After filing, USCIS schedules a biometrics appointment at an Application Support Center near you. Biometrics must be completed inside the United States. This is one of the reasons the application has to be filed before you leave — once you are abroad, you cannot complete this step.
USCIS mails the reentry permit to the address you provide. You can request it be sent to a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad if you expect to have already left by the time it is ready, but the biometrics must still be done domestically first.
Processing Times and What to Do If You Need to Leave Early
Processing times for Form I-131 have historically ranged from a few months to over a year depending on caseload. Check the USCIS website for current processing times at the service center handling your case before you assume a timeline.
If your trip cannot wait and your application is still pending, you have one option: visit a USCIS field office and request an Advance Parole or ADIT stamp in your passport. The ADIT stamp (also called an I-551 stamp) temporarily serves as evidence of your permanent resident status and allows you to travel while your I-131 is pending. Call the USCIS Contact Center to schedule an InfoPass appointment at your local field office to get one.
Do not leave without either the reentry permit in hand or the ADIT stamp. Leaving with a pending I-131 and no stamp creates an unresolved status question at the port of entry when you return.
How Long the Permit Is Valid
A reentry permit is valid for two years from the date USCIS issues it — not from the date you file or the date you leave. Once it expires, it cannot be extended or renewed. If you need to remain abroad beyond the two-year period, you must return to the United States and file a new I-131 from inside the country.
This creates a practical deadline. If you receive your reentry permit and then stay abroad for two years and one month, you are in the same position as someone who left without one — subject to the abandonment presumption and dependent on evidence of your ties to the United States.
Maintaining Your Ties While Abroad
The reentry permit addresses the presumption, but the underlying requirement is that the United States remains your permanent home. CBP can still ask about this when you return, and an immigration judge can examine it if your case reaches removal proceedings.
Keep documentation while you are abroad: U.S. tax returns filed as a resident, a lease or mortgage on a U.S. property, U.S. bank account statements showing regular activity, a U.S. employer or business, U.S. health insurance, and a U.S. driver’s license. The more of these you maintain, the stronger your position is when you return.
Do not file U.S. taxes as a non-resident while abroad. That filing choice can be used against you as evidence that you considered yourself a non-resident — which is exactly the opposite of what you need to show.
If You Miss the Window: The Returning Resident Visa
If you have been outside the United States for more than one year without a reentry permit — or for more than two years with one — you cannot simply return on your green card. You need to apply for a returning resident visa (SB-1) at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.
An SB-1 requires you to show that your extended absence was beyond your control and that you intended all along to return to the United States as a permanent resident. The standard is high and approval is not guaranteed. It is a harder and slower path than filing the I-131 before you leave.
Conditional Green Card Holders
If you have a two-year conditional green card, a reentry permit is still available to you. However, it does not extend your conditional status or affect your obligation to file Form I-751 to remove the conditions before your card expires. The two requirements are independent. If your reentry permit extends your time abroad past the I-751 filing window, you need to address the I-751 deadline separately — including filing from abroad if necessary.
Adan G. Vega & Associates advises green card holders on travel, status maintenance, and reentry permit applications in Houston. Our attorneys are Board-Certified and bilingual in English and Spanish. Call (713) 527-9606 to schedule a consultation, or see our Houston green card lawyer page for more on maintaining your permanent resident status.
Reviewed by Adan Vega, Board-Certified Immigration Attorney, Founding Partner · Updated
About the author
Board-Certified Immigration Attorney, Founding Partner · Texas Board-Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law — Texas Board of Legal Specialization (1985); Admitted, U.S. Supreme Court (2004); Admitted, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1980); J.D., The University of Texas at Austin School of Law (1979); B.A., Rice University (1976); Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) (1982); Texas Super Lawyers — Thomson Reuters (2004); Special Service Award — Migration and Refugee Services, United States Catholic Conference
Adan G. Vega is a Board-Certified Immigration Attorney and the founding partner of Vega & Associates, PLLC in Houston, Texas. He has practiced immigration and nationality law exclusively for more than 45 years, making him one of the longest-serving immigration attorneys in Houston. He earned a B.A. from Rice University in 1976 and a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1979. In 1985 the Texas Board of Legal Specialization awarded him a Certificate of Special Competence in Immigration and Nationality Law, authorizing the title Board Certified Specialist. He is admitted to practice before the Texas state courts, the EOIR Immigration Courts, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, and has presented oral argument in the Fifth Circuit on three occasions, including one published opinion.
On August 23, 1988, Vega testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and International Law, on the effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. He has served as immigration legal counsel to foreign governments in the United States, including the governments of Mexico and El Salvador, and to multinational companies on employment-based immigration.
A member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association since 1982, he co-chaired the AILA Texas Chapter Conference in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2004, and has lectured on immigration law at AILA conferences and at the University of Texas. He authored the Guide of United States History and Government in 1989. The Migration and Refugee Services of the United States Catholic Conference presented him with a special service award for outstanding commitment and dedicated service to newcomers.
Vega was a founder and initial director of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 1984, served as President of Consejo Hispano from 1987 to 1988, and has served as special immigration legal counsel, board director, vice president and president of the Cámara de Empresarios Latinos de Houston. He has provided pro bono immigration services to Texas's indigent community throughout his career. He has been recognized as a Top Texas Lawyer by Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters) since 2004. He represents individuals, families and businesses before USCIS, the Immigration Courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and is bilingual in English and Spanish.
