What Is a Green Card Holder? Rights, Duties, and Limits

A green card holder is a lawful permanent resident of the United States, someone the federal government has authorized to live and work anywhere in the country on a permanent basis.¹ The status sits between a temporary visa and full citizenship: broad legal protections, indefinite stay, but no vote in federal elections and no immunity from deportation.

The Card Itself

The document is formally called Form I-551, the Permanent Resident Card. It’s proof of status for employers, government agencies, and anyone else who needs to verify the holder’s right to live and work in the country.² A standard card is valid for ten years and is renewed by filing Form I-90 before it expires. An expired card doesn’t mean lost status, but it makes proving status harder in day-to-day life.

Some holders receive a conditional card valid for only two years. This applies to people who got residency through a marriage less than two years old at approval, and to certain immigrant investors.³ To keep status, conditional residents must file a petition to remove the conditions during the 90-day window before their second anniversary as a resident.⁴ Missing that deadline can automatically terminate permanent resident status.

How Someone Becomes a Green Card Holder

Federal law recognizes several pathways to permanent residency.

Family-sponsored: U.S. citizens can sponsor spouses, children of any age, parents, and siblings. Current green card holders can sponsor spouses and unmarried children. Immediate relatives of citizens (spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents) are not subject to annual caps and usually wait less; other family categories have annual limits and can involve waits of several years.⁵⁶
Employment-based: Workers qualify through professional skills, advanced degrees, exceptional ability, or an employer’s job offer, under preference categories set by statute.
Humanitarian: Refugees and asylees can apply to adjust to permanent residency after one year of physical presence in the United States.⁷
Diversity Visa Program: Each year, up to 50,000 immigrant visas go to applicants from countries with historically low immigration to the United States, selected by lottery.⁸

What Green Card Holders Can Do

Permanent residents can live anywhere in the United States and work at any legal job they’re qualified for. A small number of positions are limited to U.S. citizens for national security reasons, but the general labor market is open.¹ Federal law forbids employers from discriminating against green card holders based on citizenship or immigration status in hiring, firing, or recruitment.⁹ Wage, safety, and workplace protections apply the same way they do for citizens.

Federal, state, and local laws protect green card holders on the same terms as citizens. That includes the courts, contract rights, and property ownership.

Firearms

Federal law prohibits firearm possession by people in the country illegally and by holders of temporary nonimmigrant visas. Green card holders are not in that prohibited group and may legally purchase and possess firearms, subject to the same rules that apply to citizens, such as bars on people with felony convictions or domestic violence misdemeanors.¹⁰

Federal Student Aid

Green card holders qualify for federal grants, loans, and work-study. The Form I-551 documents eligibility on the FAFSA, and an expired card doesn’t disqualify the applicant — schools verify status through a federal system.¹¹

Public Benefits

Many federal benefits are available, but not all of them immediately. Most new permanent residents must wait five years after receiving their green card before qualifying for means-tested benefits like Medicaid and CHIP. The clock starts on the date the person receives qualifying immigration status.¹² For Social Security retirement benefits, green card holders qualify under the same rules as citizens after earning 40 work credits, roughly ten years of covered work.¹³

What Green Card Holders Must Do

Permanent residency comes with ongoing legal obligations. Missing them can lead to fines, criminal penalties, or trouble with future immigration applications.

File U.S. Taxes on Worldwide Income

Green card holders are treated as U.S. residents for tax purposes and must file federal income tax returns reporting their worldwide income, the same as citizens.¹⁴ State returns generally apply too, depending on residence.

Foreign accounts trigger extra reporting. Anyone whose foreign accounts hold a combined value above $10,000 at any point during the year must file an FBAR with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.¹⁵ A separate IRS requirement under FATCA starts at higher thresholds: unmarried filers report foreign financial assets on Form 8938 if the total exceeds $50,000 on the last day of the year or $75,000 at any point in the year, with higher thresholds for married couples filing jointly.¹⁶

Register for Selective Service (Men 18–25)

Male green card holders between 18 and 25 must register with the Selective Service System.¹⁷ Failing to register creates real problems later: USCIS denies naturalization if the applicant knowingly and willfully failed to register during the required period. Applicants between 26 and 31 can explain whether the failure was unintentional. Once past 31, the failure falls outside the statutory review period and no longer blocks naturalization.¹⁸

Report Address Changes Within 10 Days

After a move, a green card holder must notify the Department of Homeland Security within 10 days by filing Form AR-11. Failure to report is a federal misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $200, up to 30 days in jail, or both. The person can also be placed in removal proceedings whether or not they’re convicted.¹⁹

What Green Card Holders Cannot Do

Permanent residency is not citizenship. Two limits matter most.

First, voting. Federal law makes it a crime for any noncitizen to vote for President, Vice President, or members of Congress, punishable by up to a year in prison, a fine, or both.²⁰ Green card holders generally cannot vote in state or local elections either, though a few municipalities authorize noncitizen voting in certain local races. Public offices that require U.S. citizenship as a qualification are also closed to green card holders.

Second, deportability. Unlike citizens, permanent residents can be placed in removal proceedings for certain crimes or immigration violations.²¹ The criminal grounds include:

Crimes of moral turpitude: a conviction within five years of admission for a crime carrying a potential sentence of one year or more, or two or more such convictions at any time after admission.
Aggravated felonies: convictions at any time for offenses defined as aggravated felonies under immigration law, a broad category that includes murder, drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, fraud over $10,000, and theft or burglary with a sentence of at least one year.²²
Drug offenses: any controlled substance conviction, except a single offense of possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana for personal use.
Firearms offenses: any conviction for illegally buying, selling, possessing, or using a firearm or destructive device.
Domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, and violations of protective orders.

An aggravated felony conviction generally bars most forms of relief from deportation, which makes removal nearly certain.

International Travel and Losing Status Abroad

Green card holders can travel internationally, but a long absence can be treated as abandoning permanent residence.

Under six months: trips shorter than 180 days generally don’t cause status problems, though they still count against physical presence for naturalization.
Six months to a year: an absence of more than 180 days but less than 365 creates a legal presumption that continuous residence for naturalization has been broken. The person can rebut it with evidence of maintained ties, such as continued employment, a home, and immediate family in the country.²³
More than a year: staying outside the United States for a year or longer without a re-entry permit can lead to a finding that the person has abandoned status. A re-entry permit, applied for on Form I-131 before departure, is generally valid for two years and shows intent to return, but it doesn’t guarantee re-entry or automatically preserve status; USCIS treats it as one factor.²⁴

Someone who stays abroad past the re-entry permit’s validity, or more than a year without one, generally needs a new immigrant visa to return. A returning resident (SB-1) visa is available for those who can show they intended to return and that circumstances beyond their control caused the extended absence.²⁵

Becoming a U.S. Citizen

The green card is the usual prerequisite for naturalization. Most permanent residents can apply after five continuous years of residency, or three years if married to and living with a U.S. citizen throughout that period.²⁶ Alongside the residency period, applicants must meet several other requirements:

Physical presence in the United States for at least 30 months of the five years, or 18 months of the three years on the spousal track.
Good moral character throughout the statutory period. Bars include convictions for crimes of moral turpitude, controlled substance violations, an aggregate prison sentence of 180 days or more, and giving false testimony under oath to obtain an immigration benefit.²⁷
Passing an English test (reading, writing, and speaking) and a civics test on U.S. history and government.
Residence for at least three months in the USCIS district or state where the application is filed.

Long-term older residents get accommodations. Applicants who are at least 50 with 20 years as a permanent resident, or at least 55 with 15 years, are exempt from the English requirement and can take the civics test in their native language. Those 65 or older with at least 20 years of residency get additional consideration on the civics portion.²⁸ The application itself is filed on Form N-400.²⁹

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Rights and Responsibilities of a Green Card Holder
2
Legal Information Institute. Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters
4
eCFR. 8 CFR Part 216 – Conditional Basis of Lawful Permanent Residence Status
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1159 – Adjustment of Status of Refugees
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card Through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program
9
eCFR. 28 CFR Part 44 – Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
11
Federal Student Aid. U.S. Citizenship and Eligible Noncitizens
12
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Immigrant Eligibility for Marketplace and Medicaid and CHIP Coverage
13
Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits
14
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Information and Responsibilities for New Immigrants to the United States
15
FinCEN. Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
16
Internal Revenue Service. Summary of FATCA Reporting for U.S. Taxpayers
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3802 – Registration
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part D Chapter 7 – Attachment to the Constitution
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1306 – Penalties
20
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 611 – Voting by Aliens
21
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
22
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
23
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part D Chapter 3 – Continuous Residence
24
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents
25
U.S. Department of State. Returning Resident Visas
26
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Continuous Residence and Physical Presence Requirements for Naturalization
27
eCFR. 8 CFR 316.10 – Good Moral Character
28
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Exceptions and Accommodations
29
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-400, Application for Naturalization