How Can a Green Card Be Revoked? Grounds, Process, and Defenses

A green card can be revoked when a lawful permanent resident is convicted of certain crimes, obtains the card through fraud, votes unlawfully, abandons U.S. residency through long absences, or fails to remove the conditions on a marriage-based card. In almost every case, the government has to prove its grounds in immigration court before permanent resident status actually ends, and the consequences reach past losing the card itself: a formal removal order can bar reentry for 10 years, 20 years, or life.

Criminal Convictions

Criminal activity is the most common path to losing a green card. Federal immigration law lists several independent grounds for deportability, and a single conviction under any of them is enough to start removal proceedings.¹ Immigration law also uses its own definitions, so a state misdemeanor can count as something much worse for immigration purposes, and a conviction that carried no jail time can still end permanent resident status.

Aggravated Felonies

A conviction for an “aggravated felony” at any time after admission makes a permanent resident deportable, with almost no defenses available. The label is broader than the name suggests. It covers murder, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, and drug trafficking, but also theft or burglary offenses where the sentence is at least one year, fraud where the victim’s loss exceeds $10,000, money laundering over $10,000, firearms trafficking, and federal tax evasion.² The one-year threshold looks at the potential sentence the offense carries, not the time actually served. A plea deal ending in probation can still qualify.

Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude

A crime involving moral turpitude, generally an act of fraud, dishonesty, or intent to harm, makes a permanent resident deportable if two things are true: the crime happened within five years of admission, and it carried a possible sentence of a year or more.¹ A single CIMT conviction outside that five-year window doesn’t automatically trigger deportation, but two or more at any time after admission can.

Drugs, Firearms, and Domestic Violence

Three additional categories each stand on their own as grounds for deportation:

Any conviction for a controlled substance offense after admission, whether manufacturing, distribution, or possession. The only statutory exception is a single offense involving personal possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana.¹
Any conviction for illegally purchasing, selling, possessing, or carrying a firearm or destructive device.
A conviction for domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or child neglect, or a violation of a protective order.

These grounds apply regardless of how long a person has held the green card. A drug possession charge 20 years after admission triggers the same deportability as one in the first year.

Fraud in Getting the Green Card

A green card obtained by fraud or by misrepresenting a material fact on an immigration application can be undone, even years later. If USCIS concludes the person was never actually eligible for the status they received, it can move to rescind the adjustment.³

The rescission process has a five-year cutoff: USCIS must serve a Notice of Intent to Rescind within five years of the adjustment date. After that window closes, the administrative rescission route is gone, but the government can still pursue removal in immigration court on fraud-based charges that carry no time limit.⁴

Marriage Fraud

Marriage-based cases get the closest scrutiny. A permanent resident is deportable if the marriage that produced the green card was annulled or ended within two years, unless they can show the marriage was genuine.¹ Investigators look at shared finances, cohabitation, joint children, and other evidence that the relationship was real. Fraud in work-based petitions, like inflated qualifications or a concealed criminal history, is also a deportable ground.

Unlawful Voting

Permanent residents are not citizens and cannot legally vote in federal elections or in most state and local elections. A permanent resident who votes in violation of any federal, state, or local law is deportable, even when the vote was cast by mistake or after an automatic voter registration at a DMV.⁵

A narrow exception exists for a person whose parents were both U.S. citizens, who lived in the United States before turning 16, and who reasonably believed they were a citizen at the time of voting. Outside that situation, the consequences are heavy. As of August 2025, USCIS committed to issuing a Notice to Appear for any noncitizen found to have voted unlawfully, and any pending naturalization application is generally denied once removal proceedings begin.⁶

Abandonment of U.S. Residency

Permanent resident status can be treated as abandoned when a green card holder’s actions show they no longer intend to live in the United States permanently.⁷ Extended trips abroad are the usual trigger. An absence of more than six months but less than a year invites extra questioning at the border. An absence of a year or more creates a strong presumption that the person has given up their status.⁸

Officers weigh the totality of a person’s ties: whether they keep a home, bank accounts, and a driver’s license in the United States; whether close family lives here; whether the person continues filing U.S. tax returns as a resident; and why the time abroad was necessary. Filing as a nonresident, or not filing at all, is treated as evidence of abandonment, because the IRS considers every green card holder a tax resident for as long as the status is in effect.⁹

A permanent resident planning a long trip can apply for a re-entry permit on Form I-131 before leaving. The permit is valid for up to two years, cannot be extended, and cannot be applied for from abroad.⁸ It lowers the risk of an abandonment finding but doesn’t eliminate it. A holder who has otherwise cut all U.S. ties can still face abandonment proceedings on return.

Missing the Deadline on a Conditional Green Card

A green card obtained through a marriage less than two years old at approval is issued conditionally, valid for two years instead of ten.¹⁰ To convert it to full permanent residence, the couple must jointly file Form I-751 during the 90 days before the card expires.¹¹

Missing that window has automatic consequences. Without a timely petition and no good cause for the delay, DHS terminates permanent resident status as of the card’s second anniversary and can start removal proceedings.¹² The burden then shifts to the conditional resident to prove compliance, the opposite of a normal removal case.

Joint filing isn’t always possible. A conditional resident can file Form I-751 alone by requesting a waiver in four situations: after a divorce or annulment, if they can show the marriage was entered in good faith; after the death of the sponsoring spouse; if the resident or their child was battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the sponsoring spouse; or if removal would cause extreme hardship. More than one waiver ground can be raised at the same time. Anyone in an abusive marriage or a divorce with an uncooperative spouse should know these options exist before assuming that a missed joint filing means automatic deportation.

Failing to Report an Address Change

Every noncitizen, permanent residents included, must notify USCIS of an address change within 10 days of moving.¹³ On its own, a forgotten update rarely triggers removal. The danger is what happens when USCIS sends something important to an old address: a hearing notice, a request for evidence on an I-751, or a rescission notice. A missed hearing can produce a default removal order without the person ever knowing the case was underway.

How the Government Actually Takes the Card Away

Almost every revocation runs through immigration court. Knowing the basic sequence helps a permanent resident protect their rights if paperwork arrives.

The Notice to Appear

Removal proceedings begin when DHS serves a Notice to Appear, Form I-862. This document lists the factual allegations and the legal charges behind the government’s case.¹⁴ Once the NTA is filed with an immigration court, the case is open.¹⁵

The Hearings

The case moves through at least two types of hearings. At the master calendar hearing, the judge confirms the charges, the respondent answers the allegations, and a schedule is set. If the person shows up without a lawyer, the judge normally gives time to find one. The individual merits hearing is where the case is decided. Government counsel presents evidence, and the permanent resident can present their own evidence, call witnesses, and cross-examine. For an admitted permanent resident, the government has to prove deportability by clear and convincing evidence, a demanding standard sitting between preponderance and the criminal beyond-a-reasonable-doubt bar.¹⁶

The Right to an Attorney

A permanent resident in removal proceedings has the right to be represented by counsel, but the statute is explicit that it is at no expense to the government.¹⁷ There is no public defender for immigration cases. People without representation are far less likely to identify and argue the defenses actually available to them.

Defenses That Can Save the Green Card

Being placed in removal proceedings is not the same as being deported. Immigration law provides several forms of relief.

Cancellation of Removal

Cancellation of removal is the main defense for long-term permanent residents. Three requirements: at least five years as a permanent resident, at least seven years of continuous residence in the United States after being admitted in any status, and no aggravated felony conviction.¹⁸ If the judge grants it, the removal order is erased and the green card stays. The aggravated felony bar is the largest obstacle, and one reason those charges carry such heavy immigration consequences.

Voluntary Departure

A person without a viable defense may still benefit from voluntary departure, which lets them leave at their own expense within a set period instead of receiving a formal removal order.¹⁹ The practical difference is large. A formal removal order can bar return for 10 or 20 years, while voluntary departure preserves more options for a lawful return later. To qualify after a hearing, the person generally must have been in the United States for at least a year before the NTA, show good moral character for at least five years, and post a bond of at least $500. Aggravated felony convictions disqualify.

Appeal

If the judge orders removal, the permanent resident can appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals using Form EOIR-26. The deadline is short: rules adopted in early 2026 cut the window from 30 calendar days to as few as 10 calendar days, depending on the case type. Missing it forfeits the appeal. The filing fee runs over $1,000, with fee waivers available for those who can’t afford it. If the BIA denies the appeal or declines review, a petition for review can be filed with the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. A removal order isn’t automatically stayed while the appeal is pending, so DHS can carry out the deportation unless the person obtains a court-ordered stay.

What Happens After Removal

A permanent resident who is formally removed faces long bars on coming back:

A 10-year bar on seeking admission after a first standard removal, measured from the date of departure or removal.²⁰
A 20-year bar after a second removal.
A permanent bar for anyone removed after an aggravated felony conviction, with no waiting period that lifts it.

These bars apply regardless of family ties. A permanent resident with U.S. citizen children, a long work history, and deep community roots faces the same timeline as anyone else once removal is final. The only workaround is advance consent from the Attorney General to reapply for admission, which is discretionary and hard to secure.²⁰ That’s why voluntary departure, when available, usually beats a formal order, and why fighting the case before the order becomes final matters so much.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1227 – Deportable Aliens
2
Legal Information Institute. 8 U.S. Code 1101(a)(43) – Definition of Aggravated Felony
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1256 – Rescission of Adjustment of Status
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Rescission Process
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1227 – Deportable Aliens
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Good Moral Character, Unlawful Voting, and False Claim to U.S. Citizenship in the Naturalization Context
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 2 – Lawful Permanent Resident Admission for Naturalization
8
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Legal Permanent Resident Frequently Asked Questions
9
Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Tax Residency – Green Card Test
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Conditional Permanent Residence
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Removing Conditions on Permanent Residence Based on Marriage
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1305 – Notices of Change of Address
14
Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Notice to Appear
15
Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS Form I-862 Notice to Appear
16
eCFR. 8 CFR 1240.8 – Burdens of Proof in Removal Proceedings
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1362 – Right to Counsel
18
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1229b – Cancellation of Removal
19
U.S. Department of Justice. Information on Voluntary Departure
20
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens