Can a resident alien keep green card and move back to Can?

Can a USA resident alien (Canadian with a green card for 30 years and kids in the USA) leave the US and move to Canada for work, and still retain their green card? Or if they move back to their country of origin for work, do they automatically give up their green card?

You can keep the GC for about 2 years, but anymore than that, or if questionned by a CBP the next time you enter, they will begin recission process.

Most long-term GCs just get US citizenship before leaving, rather than go thru the hoops needed to try to keep GC (usually unsuccessfully).

I believe if one leaves the USA for 6 months (or it may be a yr) on GC status, one has to fill out a form(forget which 1 it is) and notify authorities you will be out of country for an extended amount of time

Yes, the extended time is 2 years, as i said. Our poster's GC is not long for this world, no point keeping it. Change to USC.

Not everyone wants to become a USA citizen. I believe its called a, I-130 re-entry permit, Some have said if ur spending over a year who should get it, some say 6 months.

The I-30 Reentry permit allows a GC to leave Us for more than six months, but less than 2 years. It still requires significant ties in US be mainatined all the while (somewhat akin to those that make you a tax resident of either country).

Now, with the CIS lesson out of the way,....
Cdn GC holders are subject -- each time they cross the border -- to to the question: Where do you live. If you say, or they can deduce -- by Cdn plates, DL, etc, that you are living in canada, they will begin GC removal process.

So, to the posters qusetion, one does not "automatically" lose the GC, but neither can one "retain" the GC except for a short period.

Does on "have to" become US citizen? No. But if one wants to keep GC bt not live in US, then if they qualify, they shoud get citizenship -- they've earned it.

Hey - so I'm new to this website but I thought I'd share my story here.

I was granted a green card in late 2008, right before I turned 21 (mom and dad are divorced, dad lives in the states, remarried).

I "activated" the green card back in 08, when I went down to Florida to visit him. My trip was literally that. I came back to Canada 2 weeks later (or was it 3?), and that was the end of it.

NOW... Three years later, I attempted to use my green card for another vacation. The US customs guy at Toronto airport sent me to this room, and they told me I lost my green card because I never lived in America.

Well first he asked me for my drivers licence. And he saw that its from Ontario and renewed after the issuance of my green card. Then he went on to read me this "book of laws of grounds for losing my green card"- or something like that which I quite frankly didn't care to hear at 5:00AM.

So anyways - I thought that stupid green card will automatically get me citizenship since I'm the child of a citizen but I guess not.

They still let me go on my trip to FL this year, but made me sign some papers saying I'm a visitor and not a permanent resident.

So the answer to your question - no you may not move back to Canada and still keep a green card. But to their defense, the American immigration guys were nice and polite.

As a "child" of a US citizen, your parent should have registered you in the US. You are entitled to US citizenship.
Best of luck

That only applies to children BORN of a US parent, and if the parent later becoems US citizen the child get s Green card, that need s to be transformed into citizenship.

So it is not clear cut that they are a citizen.

I do admit - at the port of entry at Pearson I had a pretty "bratty" attitude. They took away my green card and I didn't really argue with them. I told em they can go ahead and have it.

And truthfully - I just finished university here, bought a house, and have no intentions of leaving Canada, so really, I was fine with them taking it.

As far as being a citizen - when I came back home, I hired an attorney (well my dad did) so we can find out what happened.

My dad was not born in the USA, he was born in Canada and immigrated there. When he became a citizen, the attorney said it was too late to grant me automatic citizenship since I was over 16, but I could have a green card. And now if I ever want a green card again, I have to reapply, but the process takes longer. 7-10 years I think he said..

Since that time though - I also went to Buffalo on a shopping trip, and nobody questioned me about anything.