Renewal of reentry permit while outside of the US

[yutarooo]

Last year, I sent my application for a reentry permit from Japan as I found an article of USCIS or CBP that said that green card holders did not need to go back to the US for reentry permit renewal. (I didn’t save the screenshot of the article.) Las week I received a letter from USCIS that said that my application was rejected because I was not in the US when I sent the application. I tried to find the article again but I couldn’t.
Does anyone have the same understanding as me for reentry permit renewal procedures as of 2023?

[newacct]

You definitely need to be in the US when the Re-entry Permit application is filed and to do the biometrics (if there is one). You do not need to wait in the US until it is approved (and in fact you can have it sent to a consulate abroad). So what you could have done is briefly travel back to the US to file the application and do the biometrics, and then leave, but you cannot file it from abroad. Refugee Travel Documents can, in some cases, be filed from abroad, but not Re-entry Permits. See 8 CFR 223.2(b)(1):

(1) Reentry permit. An applicant for a reentry permit must file such application while in the United States and in status as a lawful permanent resident or conditional permanent resident.

[Malic]

I’ve been through the reentry permit process before, and yeah, you have to be physically in the U.S. when you file—it’s a strict requirement. I remember double-checking this because I almost made the same mistake when I was traveling. It’s frustrating because the rules aren’t always super clear, and I’ve seen a lot of conflicting info online too. I’d recommend sticking to what’s on the USCIS site since that’s the most reliable source.