If a derivative beneficiary wishes to abandon their conditional permanent residence, they may file Form I-407, Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status, at a U.S. embassy/consulate office abroad to withdraw from the pending I-829 petition. A derivative abandoning status should not have any adverse consequences on the principal EB-5 investor’s pending I-829 petition or the status of other derivatives.
Form I-407: A Summary
The I-407 petition should be filed by an individual who wishes to voluntarily yield their permanent resident status.
Form I-407 helps the officials and consulate officers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) maintain records of individuals and their citizenship or permanent residence status. The petitioner will effectively lose all the rights and benefits of lawful permanent resident status but they will also no longer be required to pay taxes to the U.S. government. The I-407 petition is also unique in that it does not have a filing fee. Petitioners are required to mail their completed and signed form through a reliable postal service to the USCIS Eastern Forms Center.
The majority of the I-407 petition requires the petitioner to provide personal details and biographical information, including their full legal name as it appears on their permanent resident card, their Alien Registration Number (also known as an A-number, which can be found on the top right corner of the Permanent Resident Card), date of birth, country of birth and country of nationality or citizenship, email address, the date of their last departure from the United States, their mailing address outside and inside the United States (if applicable) and, of course, the reason for abandonment, amongst others.
An EB-5 derivative who wishes to abandon status should be mindful that while abandoning status does not incur any penalties, it could potentially make it more challenging for the derivative to re-apply for a green card in the future, or even disqualify them from obtaining one.
EB-5 derivatives who only wish to leave the U.S. temporarily (for up to two years) may explore the option of applying for a reentry permit.
