Can I Surrender My Green Card Before the 8-Year Mark to Avoid Exit Tax?

If you surrender your green card before holding it in 8 of the last 15 tax years, you are not classified as a Long-Term Resident (LTR), and the U.S. exit tax under Section 877A does not apply. You file Form I-407 with USCIS to officially abandon your status and Form 8854 with the IRS, but the covered-expatriate analysis is not triggered (IRS: Expatriation Tax).

How the 8-year count works:

The partial-year trap:

• Year of issuance counts: if you received your green card on December 30, 2019, the entire 2019 tax year counts as year 1
• Year of surrender counts: if you file I-407 on January 2, 2026, the entire 2026 tax year counts
• The count is tax years, not calendar days: you do not need 8 full 365-day periods

Treaty tie-breaker strategy:

• If you elected to be treated as a nonresident alien under a tax treaty (using Form 8833) in certain years, those years may not count toward the 8-year total
• This is a complex area with IRS scrutiny; the election must have been properly filed and disclosed
• Treaty tie-breaker years can reduce your count below 8, but the IRS may challenge aggressive positions

What happens if you surrender before 8 years:

• No exit tax on worldwide assets
• No covered-expatriate status regardless of net worth or income
• Still file Form 8854 to document the surrender, but Part III (exit tax) does not apply
• Still file a final-year tax return as a resident alien through the I-407 date, then as a nonresident for the remainder

For more on the I-407 process, see our Form I-407 guide.