Can I have my green card sent to Jamaica?

Dear Mrs Huntington
My green card will expire in November. I know I can apply for renewal only six months before expiration. My question is whether I need to provide an US address or use my Jamaican address for the card to be mailed to. I travel between Jamaica and US, as my children are citizens there.
W.D.

Dear W.D.
A green card holder is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and is required to live in America. There are some people who for various reasons are unable to live permanently in America, although they are green card holders. There is an avenue – ReEntry Permit – for those persons to apply – with evidence – for permission to remain outside the United States without losing their residency. If granted, a ReEntry Permit is allowed for up to two years to allow the permanent resident to handle personal matters in their home country before taking up residence or resuming their permanent residence in America. In some cases, the ReEntry Permit can be renewed if the reason(s) causing the person to be unable to live in America still persists.
A green card holder travelling back and forth between Jamaica and the United States is not a problem, if you are domiciled in America. There are persons who, for example, live in the US and have business or family in Jamaica that requires frequent visits to Jamaica. However, if you live in Jamaica as a green card holder and are only visiting America – you are not fulfilling your residency requirements. Some persons believe that travelling to the US every six months fulfills the residency requirements, it does not. At any trip to the US border, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer can determine that your trips do not constitute residency and encourage you to surrender your green card at the border.  The CBP officer cannot strip you of your residency, but, if you refuse to surrender your residency, you can be paroled into the US and placed in removal proceedings for a judge to decide if you are indeed fulfilling your residency requirements.
Certainly, giving a Jamaican address in a green card renewal indicates that you are not domiciled in America.  If you do not intend to live in the United States, you should consider surrendering your residency and applying for a visitor’s visa that would allow you to visit the United States. If you surrender your residency, it does not preclude you from being filed for again for a green card in the future.
Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal & international law in Florida.  She is a mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.co