Time Outside the US

[Scott & Lai 12]

Question for those who have filed their N-400:

Part 7: Time outside the United States, Question A, asks how many total days you spent outside the U.S. during the past 5 years. Since Lai arrived in September of 2004, one of those 5 years was spent in Hong Kong. Should I:

A: Assume the people at USCIS are capapble of figuring out that the five years on the form doesn't apply to Lai, considering she only needs to have been here three years for citizenship due to marriage.

B: Assume the people at USCIS are idiots B) and include the year spent in Hong Kong.

??

[NickD 202]

Question for those who have filed their N-400:

Part 7: Time outside the United States, Question A, asks how many total days you spent outside the U.S. during the past 5 years. Since Lai arrived in September of 2004, one of those 5 years was spent in Hong Kong. Should I:

A: Assume the people at USCIS are capapble of figuring out that the five years on the form doesn't apply to Lai, considering she only needs to have been here three years for citizenship due to marriage.

B: Assume the people at USCIS are idiots B) and include the year spent in Hong Kong.

??

I answered that question exactly the way it was asked, but wife's interviewer said it should have been answered as the number of days she was out of the country as a permanent resident. Wife simply responded, then why didn't they ask that question that way? Her interview scratched out the 400 days we put in and wrote in exactly the days she was out of the country as a LPR. Ddin't respond to her question, and went on to the next part.

According to her interviewer, she should have added the number of days under the listed trips outside and wrote that sum in that box, but the question doesn't ask that. Still feel it's improper to change the question on the form, some have crossed out the five and made it a three, question should read, how many days were you out of the country since becoming a lawful permanent resident? If that is the answer they want.

[warlord 73]

Yes it's since being a Permenant Resident. If she was out a year while she was a PR then there are serious issues, if it was before her PR (but say 4 years ago) she's fine...

[lucyrich 20]

Yep, you'll be ok either assuming the USCIS folks are competent or assuming they're idiots, as long as you don't lie or mislead.

A few years ago, a couple of attorneys recommended that you scratch out the "five" and write "three", and then answer the question based on three years. That's what we did, and had no problems.

If you take it literally and answer for five years, it won't be a problem, except they'll have to use the dates of travel you give and calculate a new answer based on three years. When you're applying based on 3 years married to a US Citizen, the legal requirement concerns three years, so one way or another, the officer will have to determine how many days you've been out of the US within the past three years.