Maybe. The primary rule surrounding Green Cards is that you lose it if you give up your US residence. So in theory, if you, for example, show up with a moving van on the border to Canada or Mexico, there is a chance that a BCBP officer who notices this can question you and possibly revoke your Green Card right away.
The more common criterion, though, is time based. There are three important time limits to know about.
- If you are absent for less than six months, you will rarely have a problem. It is BCBP's job to prove that you abandoned your residency. Absent that, you are considered to never really have left.
- If you are absent for more than six months but less than a year, the burden of proof reverses. It becomes your job to prove that you are still a permanent resident. This is based on the concept that after six months, you have to be readmitted and have to prove that you are still admissible. As a side note, after an absence of more than six months, the various criteria for admissibility apply again, too. For instance, if you in the meantime had become inadmissible, say through an HIV infection, you might have a problem.
- If you are absent for more than a year, your Green Card will be considered almost automatically abandoned. Once that happened, there is usually no recourse. However, if through some miracle the immigration officer didn't ask you how long you have been out of the USA when you return, then you may be in luck and able to keep your Green Card after all. You should in this case not leave the USA for a very long time, and make it your bona fide residence again.
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