Process and timing

Reentry permit

Also called Re-entry permit, Form I-327, Permit to Reenter the United States.

A reentry permit is the travel document, applied for on Form I-131 and issued as Form I-327, that lets a permanent or conditional permanent resident spend up to two years outside the United States and apply for admission on return without a returning resident visa.

What it decides

The application must be filed while the applicant is inside the United States and in permanent or conditional resident status, and the biometrics appointment must also be kept before leaving, though departure after that does not affect the application and the permit can be sent to a consulate to collect. For an EB-5 investor the length is the trap: a permit issued to a conditional resident expires two years from issuance or on the date the Form I-829 must be filed, whichever comes first, so it usually runs well short of two years. It cannot be extended or renewed, and a second permit means a fresh application filed inside the country. Validity drops to one year, with narrow exceptions, for an applicant outside the United States more than four years in the aggregate since becoming a resident or in the last five, whichever is less. The permit answers duration only: it stops abandonment being found on the length of the absence alone, not on weak ties, and it does not stop an absence of a year or more breaking continuous residence for naturalization.

Governed by 8 CFR 223.2(b)(1), (c)(2) and (d); 8 CFR 223.3(a)(1), (c) and (d)(1); 8 U.S.C. 1203(b) for the two year limit and non renewal; 8 U.S.C. 1427(b) for the naturalization break, which also makes an absence of more than six months but less than a year a rebuttable break; 8 CFR 211.1(a)(3) for Form I-327. The biometrics and consular delivery points come from the Form I-131 instructions, edition 01/20/25. The fee is $630 on paper, with no online option for this category, per Form G-1055, edition 05/29/26, the USCIS Form I-131 page and 8 CFR 106.2(a)(7)(iii).

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into reentry permit rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

Form I-131Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records, carries two unrelated EB-5 requests: advance parole, which lets an adjustment applicant leave the United States without abandoning Form I-485, and a reentry permit, which protects a resident's status during a long absence abroad.
Abandonment of residenceAbandonment of residence is the loss of lawful permanent resident status that follows from conduct showing the holder no longer intends to make the United States a permanent home, most often moving abroad for good, staying out on what is no longer a temporary visit, or claiming nonresident status on a US tax return.
Conditional permanent residenceConditional permanent residence is the status an EB-5 investor and their spouse and children hold for the first two years: full lawful permanent residence, evidenced by a Green Card valid for two years, whose conditional basis must be removed on Form I-829 or the status ends.
SB-1 returning resident visaAn SB-1 is the returning resident special immigrant visa a consulate issues under 22 CFR 42.22 to a permanent resident who has stayed outside the United States too long to be readmitted on a green card or a reentry permit but who never abandoned the intention to return.
Form N-470Form N-470, Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes, is the filing a permanent resident uses to stop an absence abroad of a year or more, taken for qualifying employment, from breaking the continuous residence that naturalization requires.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary