How do you get a re-entry permit in the United States in 2026?

LPRs can usually return after short trips with a valid Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551). Longer absences raise two separate problems: CBP may question whether you abandoned residence, and after one year abroad many people need a returning resident (SB-1) visa from a US embassy if they lack a reentry permit. A reentry permit, while valid, stops USCIS from treating the duration of the absence alone as abandonment. Officers can still examine other facts (job abroad, home sale, tax filings) at the airport.

Conditional residents use the same Form I-131 product, but permit validity cannot outrun the date they must remove conditions. Refugees and asylees use a different I-131 product (refugee travel document). Pending adjustment applicants who need to travel often request advance parole on Form I-131 instead of a reentry permit; that is a different checkbox and risk profile.

Federal rules require you to file Form I-131 for a reentry permit while you are physically in the United States and still in LPR or conditional LPR status. You cannot start the reentry-permit file from overseas. USCIS then schedules biometrics; plan that appointment before you depart. After biometrics, many applicants travel while the case is pending and ask USCIS to send the finished permit to a US embassy, consulate, or DHS office abroad for pickup when that option appears on the form.

Carry your Permanent Resident Card, passport, and (once issued) the reentry permit booklet when you return. Keep USCIS address updates accurate and use a Login.gov-linked online account if you file electronically where available. Card renewals or replacements use Form I-90 (get residence card workflow); that is separate from the travel permit.

A reentry permit does not pause every naturalization rule. Absences of one year or more can still break continuous residence for citizenship unless you qualify for Form N-470 preservation. Tax, Selective Service, and state domicile issues also sit outside the booklet.

Nonimmigrants looking for more visitor time should use Extend stay or change status tools, not Form I-131 reentry permits. Arrival records for nonimmigrants remain on the I-94 site; LPRs generally do not rely on a visitor I-94 for permanent residence proof.