How to Fill Out Form I-407: Filing, Signing, and Tax Impact

To fill out Form I-407, download the current edition from the USCIS website, complete Parts 1 through 3 with your identifying information and the documents you are surrendering, sign it voluntarily, and mail it with your green card to USCIS in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, or hand it to a CBP officer at a U.S. port of entry. Part 4 is left blank for the government official who processes your submission.¹

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull together the following before opening the form:

Your Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551). If you hold more than one card, include every card in your possession.
Any Reentry Permit or Refugee Travel Document you currently hold. Surrender these along with the green card.
Your Alien Registration Number (A-Number), the nine-digit number that appears on your green card and USCIS correspondence.
Your USCIS Online Account Number, if you have one. It’s optional but helps USCIS locate your records.

Lost the card? You can still file. Item 12 has a checkbox where you explain why the physical card is not enclosed, and Item 13 is a certification statement that goes with it.

Check the USCIS fee schedule page before mailing. The I-407 form page directs filers there to confirm the current filing fee.¹

Part 1: Information About You

Enter your A-Number in Item 1 and your USCIS Online Account Number in Item 2 if you have one. Item 3 asks for your name exactly as it appears on your green card, even if that spelling is wrong or outdated. If you never received a physical card, write “N/A.” Item 4 is for your current legal name, which may differ if you changed it through marriage, divorce, or a court order.²

Fill in your date of birth (Item 5), country of birth (Item 7), and country of citizenship or nationality (Item 8), using the country’s current official name. Item 8 also asks the date you last left the United States, if you know it. In Item 9, give a mailing address outside the United States. This is where USCIS will send the processed receipt, so use an address where you can reliably receive mail. Item 10 is for an email address.

Part 1 Continued: Documents and Where You Are Filing

Items 11 through 18 cover the documents you are surrendering and how you are submitting them. Check the boxes for each item you are enclosing: green card, reentry permit, refugee travel document, or others. If you are not returning your green card, select the reason in Item 12 and complete the certification in Item 13. Then select the box that matches your submission method: by mail or at a specific location.²

Parts 2 and 3: Signing the Form

Neither USCIS nor the Department of State will accept the form without a signature and date. If the person giving up status is 14 years old or younger, a parent, custodial parent, or court-appointed legal guardian must sign and consent. For an incapacitated adult, a court-appointed legal guardian signs.¹

The decision must be voluntary. USCIS will not accept a Form I-407 signed under pressure from a government official or anyone else. If you are at a port of entry and an officer suggests you sign, you have the right to refuse and consult an attorney before doing anything.

Where to Send the Form

Mail the completed form and all surrendered documents to:

USCIS
Attn: I-407
7 Product Way
Lee’s Summit, MO 64002¹

Use a trackable mailing method. You are sending original immigration documents that cannot be replaced once surrendered, and international mail from abroad can take several weeks. Plan for that if you’re working against a deadline like a visa interview.

You can also hand the form directly to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at any U.S. port of entry. In rare cases, a USCIS international field office or a U.S. embassy or consulate will accept the form in person if you need immediate proof of abandonment. The most common reason for that exception is an upcoming interview for an A visa (diplomatic) or G visa (international organization). Outside that narrow situation, mail the form to Lee’s Summit.¹

If you plan to surrender the card at a port of entry and enter the country the same day, expect to file a separate Form I-193 (Application for Waiver of Passport and/or Visa) and pay a $695 fee, because you will no longer hold a valid immigrant or nonimmigrant visa at the moment of entry.³

What Happens After USCIS Receives the Form

USCIS processes the form and mails a stamped copy back to the address you gave in Item 9. That returned copy is your proof that you are no longer a lawful permanent resident. Keep it indefinitely. The effective date of your status termination is generally the date you signed the form, not the date USCIS processed it.¹

USCIS does not publish a fixed processing time for Form I-407. Speed varies with the volume at the Lee’s Summit facility. If you need the processed copy quickly, in-person filing at a consulate or port of entry may be worth considering.

One boundary worth knowing: abandoning your own status does not affect family members who hold their own green cards. Each person’s permanent resident status is independent. A spouse or adult child who obtained a green card through you keeps their own status unless they file their own Form I-407.

Before You Sign: Check the Tax and Benefit Consequences

The form itself is short. The consequences are not. Two areas deserve attention before you put pen to paper.

If you held permanent resident status for at least 8 of the last 15 tax years, the IRS classifies you as a “long-term resident,” and abandonment triggers the same expatriation rules that apply to citizens who renounce. Long-term residents must file Form 8854 (Initial and Annual Expatriation Statement) with the tax return for the year that includes the abandonment date. If you would not otherwise file a return, you still send Form 8854 by the date the return would have been due.⁴ Depending on your net worth, prior tax liability, and compliance history, you may be a “covered expatriate” subject to a mark-to-market exit tax.⁵ A tax professional who handles expatriation is worth the fee here.

Abandonment does not erase Social Security credits you already earned. If you accumulated 40 credits — roughly 10 years of covered employment — you remain eligible for retirement benefits at age 62. What changes is how the SSA pays you as a non-citizen living abroad, and the rules turn on your country of citizenship and residence.⁶ As a non-citizen living abroad, 85% of your Social Security benefit is generally subject to a flat 30% U.S. withholding tax, which a totalization agreement may reduce.⁷ Confirm what your monthly payment will actually look like before you sign the form, not after.

One more practical note about coming back. Once the green card is gone, you need a visa or travel authorization to visit. Citizens of Visa Waiver Program countries can apply for ESTA, but process the I-407 abandonment first; the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, for example, advises former green card holders to allow sufficient processing time before registering for ESTA.⁸ If your country isn’t in the program, apply for a B-1/B-2 visitor visa and bring your processed copy of Form I-407 to the interview.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-407, Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-407, Instructions for Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status
3
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Can I Still Enter the United States if I Give Up My Lawful Permanent Resident Status
4
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8854 (2025)
5
Internal Revenue Service. Expatriation Tax
6
Social Security Administration. Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States
7
Social Security Administration. International Programs – U.S. International Social Security Agreements
8
U.S. Consulate General Hong Kong and Macau. U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (Green Card Holders)