Permanent Leave With Green Card

[Raydon]

Hello Mr Arora,

I am a Hungarian citizen. I have lived in the US for 10 years and received my permanent green card in 2004.  As life turned, I moved back to Hungary to take a CEO position at a company.  I got a fix term, 5 year employment contract.  On my lawyer's advice I have asked for a leave(I do not remember the exact name of the document).  It is a green colored "travel document", which was good for 2 years. Once it expired, I applied for an extension, which I received.  It expired this past September. In the meantime, the company I managed was bought up and I am not working there anymore.  Now I would like to go back to the US for the holidays and the question came up - what is my status?  Should I surrender my permanent residency to avoid complications at the border?(Hungary has a visa vaiver program with the US).  

[Hay]

Hi,

It appears that your rentry permit has expired, and it also appears as well that you are not maintaining your primary residence in the U.S. Thus, you have probably effectively abandoned your permanent resident status. To avoid problems with entering the U.S. under the visa waiver program, I recommend turning in your green card at the nearest U.S. Consulate in your home country: http://hungary.usembassy.gov/ Please contact the Consulate for procedure to turn in your green card.