As a permanent resident, you have a "do or die" date in your life.
If you have the green card "in" at least 8 of the last 15 years, you have the privilege of paying the exit tax when you give up the visa status. (Well, you pay extra tax only if you are "rich" for certain definitions of "rich". You will certainly have a giant mountain of tax forms to fill in.)
If you terminate your green card before that magic moment of holding the permanent resident visa "in" 8 of the last 15 years, then you can exit the United States cleanly and easily, with minimal paperwork and no risk of extra tax.
That's why I tell people who want to come to the USA to avoid getting the permanent resident visa and get a different visa status instead.
Disclaimer. I am a lawyer. I am an international tax lawyer. My office does a LOT of expatriation cases where we log people out of the U.S. tax system and the U.S. nationality system.
If you have the green card "in" at least 8 of the last 15 years, you have the privilege of paying the exit tax when you give up the visa status. (Well, you pay extra tax only if you are "rich" for certain definitions of "rich". You will certainly have a giant mountain of tax forms to fill in.)
If you terminate your green card before that magic moment of holding the permanent resident visa "in" 8 of the last 15 years, then you can exit the United States cleanly and easily, with minimal paperwork and no risk of extra tax.
That's why I tell people who want to come to the USA to avoid getting the permanent resident visa and get a different visa status instead.
Disclaimer. I am a lawyer. I am an international tax lawyer. My office does a LOT of expatriation cases where we log people out of the U.S. tax system and the U.S. nationality system.