The rights and responsibilities of a U.S. green card holder are what turn a piece of plastic into a life in the country: you can live and work anywhere in the United States indefinitely, sponsor certain family members, and eventually apply for citizenship, but you also owe federal taxes on your worldwide income, must keep your address current with immigration authorities, and can lose the status through long absences abroad or certain criminal convictions. Formally, you are a lawful permanent resident (LPR), someone federal law describes as having been “lawfully accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States.”1Legal Information Institute. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions The card itself is usually valid for 10 years; the status behind it lasts as long as you keep meeting your obligations.
What You Can Do as a Permanent Resident
You can take any job with any employer in any state without a separate work permit. Federal, state, and local laws protect you the same way they protect citizens, including anti-discrimination protections and access to the courts.
You can also sponsor certain relatives for their own green cards, though the list is narrower than what citizens can sponsor. Permanent residents may petition for a spouse, unmarried children under 21, and unmarried sons or daughters of any age.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Family of Green Card Holders (Permanent Residents) Parents, married children, and siblings are off the table until you naturalize. Family preference petitions are capped annually and run through the State Department’s Visa Bulletin, so wait times are measured in years.
On education, permanent residents can apply for federal student financial aid, and most states treat them the same as citizens for in-state tuition. Federal means-tested benefits like Medicaid and SNAP generally require a five-year wait after you get the card, and Congress tightened those restrictions further in 2025.
What You’re Required to Do
The IRS treats green card holders the same as citizens for tax purposes. You must file a federal income tax return and report worldwide income, not just money earned inside the United States.3Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad The obligation follows you even if you spend part of the year overseas.4Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Citizens and Residents Abroad – Filing Requirements Filing as a “nonresident” to trim your tax bill is one of the fastest ways to create an immigration problem, because it can be read as an admission that you’ve abandoned your residence.
If you’re male and between 18 and 25, you must register with the Selective Service System.5Selective Service System. Selective Service System Skipping it is a federal felony and can block naturalization, federal employment, and state-funded student aid.6USAGov. Register for Selective Service The FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act mandated automatic Selective Service registration through federal data sources, with rollout by December 2026. Until that’s fully in place, registering on your own remains the safest course.
When you move, you have 10 days to tell USCIS your new address, either through a USCIS online account or by mailing a paper Form AR-11.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11 Aliens Change of Address Card It sounds like a formality. It isn’t. Ignoring it is a federal misdemeanor and can complicate later immigration applications.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address
Traveling Without Losing Your Status
The word “permanent” in permanent resident does real work. Extended time abroad can lead the government to conclude you’ve abandoned the status. The general rule is that an absence of more than one continuous year creates a presumption of abandonment. Even shorter trips of six or eight months can raise questions if you lack strong ties in the U.S. like a home, a job, or immediate family here.
If you know you’ll need to be outside the country for more than a year, apply for a re-entry permit before you leave. That’s Form I-131, and you must be physically present in the United States when you file it.9USAGov. Travel Documents for Foreign Citizens Returning to the US USCIS will schedule a biometrics appointment inside the U.S., and leaving before that appointment can get the permit denied. Once approved, a re-entry permit is valid for two years and protects against the abandonment presumption, though it doesn’t guarantee re-entry if other issues come up.
A re-entry permit protects your green card. It does not protect your eligibility for citizenship, which runs on its own set of absence rules. If you’re planning long travel and thinking about naturalizing, those two timelines have to be coordinated.
Keeping the Card Itself Current
A standard green card is valid for 10 years. When it’s near expiration, or if it’s been lost, stolen, or damaged, you file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card.10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) An expired card does not mean you’ve lost your status; your permanent residence continues. But without a current card, you’ll run into problems with employment verification, travel, and proving your right to be here.
Once USCIS accepts your Form I-90, the receipt notice automatically extends your card’s validity by 36 months from the expiration date printed on the card.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Extends Green Card Validity Extension to 36 Months for Green Card Renewals That receipt notice, together with your expired card, serves as proof of status and work authorization while the new card is produced.12U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Replace Your Green Card
If Your Card Is Conditional
Not every green card arrives with a full 10-year validity. If you got yours through a marriage that was less than two years old at the time of approval, or through the EB-5 investor program, you’re a conditional permanent resident. Your card is good for only two years, and you can’t simply renew it.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Conditional Permanent Residence
To keep your status, you must file a petition to remove the conditions during the 90-day window before your card expires. For marriage-based cards that’s Form I-751, filed jointly with your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. When to File Your Petition to Remove Conditions For EB-5 investors it’s Form I-829. File too early and USCIS will reject the petition; file too late and you’ll need to show good cause for the delay.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters Divorced, widowed, or abused spouses can file the I-751 alone with a waiver of the joint filing requirement. If you don’t file at all, your status terminates automatically and you become removable. It’s one of the most common and most avoidable immigration mistakes.
Convictions That Can End Your Status
A green card does not protect you from deportation the way citizenship does. Certain criminal convictions make a permanent resident deportable, and the consequences can be permanent.
The most severe category is an aggravated felony. Someone convicted of an aggravated felony after admission is deportable and permanently barred from nearly all forms of relief, including asylum and future re-entry.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens It also creates a permanent bar to the good moral character required for naturalization.17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part F Chapter 4 – Permanent Bars to Good Moral Character “Aggravated felony” in immigration law is broader than most people expect; it covers theft with a one-year sentence, certain fraud crimes, and drug trafficking, among others.
Crimes involving moral turpitude, a category that generally covers fraud, theft, and crimes involving intent to harm, can also trigger deportation, especially if the conviction comes within five years of admission and carries a possible sentence of one year or more, or if you’re convicted of two such crimes at any point after admission. Controlled substance convictions, other than a single offense of possessing 30 grams or less of marijuana for personal use, and firearms offenses also make a permanent resident deportable.
If you’re facing any criminal charge, talk to an immigration attorney before accepting a plea deal. A minor-sounding resolution in criminal court can carry immigration consequences the criminal defense lawyer isn’t thinking about.
Moving On to Citizenship
Most green card holders become eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship after five years as a permanent resident.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1427 – Requirements of Naturalization If you’re married to and living with a U.S. citizen spouse, the wait drops to three years.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1430 – Married Persons and Employees of Certain Nonprofit Organizations Either way, you must be physically present in the U.S. for at least half of the required period (30 months out of five years, or 18 months out of three), and you need to have lived in the state or USCIS district where you file for at least three months beforehand.20eCFR. 8 CFR Part 316 – General Requirements for Naturalization You can file Form N-400 up to 90 days before you actually meet the residence requirement.21U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part D Chapter 6 – Jurisdiction, Place of Residence, and Early Filing
Travel during the qualifying period can create problems. Any single trip of more than six months but less than a year triggers a presumption that your continuous residence has been broken.22U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part D Chapter 3 – Continuous Residence You can rebut it with evidence of a U.S. job, family here, and a maintained home, but the burden is on you. An absence of a year or more flatly breaks continuous residence for naturalization purposes, even if you had a re-entry permit that preserved your green card. That trap catches people because the green-card rules and the citizenship rules aren’t the same.
Every applicant must show basic English reading, writing, and speaking, plus knowledge of U.S. history and government, tested during the naturalization interview.23Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1423 – Requirements as to Understanding the English Language, History, Principles and Form of Government of the United States Applicants 65 or older with at least 20 years of permanent residence get a shorter test and may use an interpreter for the civics portion. Pass both parts, clear the good moral character review, take the oath of allegiance, and the green-card chapter closes.