Employers and Days Outside US for past five years

[jsnearline 2]

I'm preparing my wife's citizenship application. The form seems designed for people who are applying after having been permanent residents for five years. In our case, my wife became eligible to apply after 3 years because she's married to me.

I'm not sure how to answer the following questions.

6. B. Where have you worked during the past five years?

Do we include her employers from before she first arrived in the US?

7. A. How many total days did you spend outside the United States during the past five years?

Do my wife's days outside the US before she first got here on the K1 visa count as part of the answer to this question?

[I Miss Her 0]

I'm preparing my wife's citizenship application. The form seems designed for people who are applying after having been permanent residents for five years. In our case, my wife became eligible to apply after 3 years because she's married to me.

I'm not sure how to answer the following questions.

6. B. Where have you worked during the past five years?

Do we include her employers from before she first arrived in the US?

7. A. How many total days did you spend outside the United States during the past five years?

Do my wife's days outside the US before she first got here on the K1 visa count as part of the answer to this question?

6. B. Yes, all employment history inside and outside US during last 5-years.

7. A. Count every day you spent outside US during last 5-years as it is evident from your passport.

[Dakine 26]

I'm preparing my wife's citizenship application. The form seems designed for people who are applying after having been permanent residents for five years. In our case, my wife became eligible to apply after 3 years because she's married to me.

I'm not sure how to answer the following questions.

6. B. Where have you worked during the past five years?

Do we include her employers from before she first arrived in the US?

7. A. How many total days did you spend outside the United States during the past five years?

Do my wife's days outside the US before she first got here on the K1 visa count as part of the answer to this question?

Like you said the form is designed for 5 year LPRs.

6A comes into play also.

Where you lived for the last 5 years.

I'm think I'm going to put the 2 years records where she lived and worked in the Philippines and leave a space and then put the info since arrival on those questions.

Not sure about days outside the US. I know they just want the number of days she left and returned since she arrived here in the last 3 years.

May be confusing if I put the 720 days she was out of the US before coming here.

How about crossing out the 5 years and put 3 years?? LOL! Yeah that may really open a can of worms.

[jsnearline 2]

Good catch on 6A.

I have no problem including my wife's address and employment from the Philippines in my answers to 6A and 6B. 7A is the one that has me stumped. I don't want to answer it incorrectly and have the application denied.

Is there anyone who has already applied for naturalization based on marriage to a US Citizen who can share how they answered these questions?

[Sheryll 0]

Good catch on 6A.

I have no problem including my wife's address and employment from the Philippines in my answers to 6A and 6B. 7A is the one that has me stumped. I don't want to answer it incorrectly and have the application denied.

Is there anyone who has already applied for naturalization based on marriage to a US Citizen who can share how they answered these questions?

I counted all my days outside the US for the last 5 years, even though I am using the 3-year marriage requirement. This includes more than a year of days from before I came over on the K-1.

The most important one in my view is 7C, trips outside the US since becoming a permanent resident.

[wworld808 1]

Hi about your question:

7. A. How many total days did you spend outside the United States during the past five years?

You only count the days she spent outside the US since the time she came here in the US not before she come here. Let say she came here April 1, 2006 via K-1 Visa, then from that date count the days she was outside US up to the time you going to submit your application.

[thea 1]

The intent of the form is to collect information about you since you became a permanent resident in order to determine if you meet the requirements for filing the N-400. Therefore only count the days outside the country since you became a permanent resident.

[jsnearline 2]

Thanks for the responses. What did you put down for 6A and 6B? Just the addresses and employers since arriving in the US?

[wworld808 1]

6A & B. Where have you lived during the last 5 years.......

Ans.: from 2004 to the current year should be included that means your previous address/employment should be included before moving to US

[lucyrich 20]

Actually, the requirement in the law that prompted those questions is the physical presence requirement. And, for a person applying based on three years being married to and living with a USC spouse, the physical presence requirement concerns the three years before filing the application, not the preceeding five years, and not the time since becoming a permanent resident.

How do you reconcile the fact that the law asks about the previous three years while the form very clearly asks about the previous five years?

On our application, we crossed out the word "five" and wrote "three", and answered the question for three years. A few immigration attorneys here and on other boards had suggested doing that, and it worked for us. The interviewer liked that approach. I know it seems crazy, and I wouldn't normally advise re-wording the questions on your own initiative. But it will work in this case.

Others have reported taking the questions literally at face value, and answering the questions for the past five years. That works, too, and it certainly won't result in a denial. But at the interview, the officer will have to look through reported travel dates and do the math to figure out the proper answer concerning the past three years. But hey, it's not your fault that you answered exactly the question they asked. If the interviewer complains about it (they normally won't), you can very politely suggest that they work with their supervisors to get the form changed so that it directly asks the question they need to get the answer to.

As long as you don't lie or mislead, and you make it clear what you're answering, you'll do OK. Don't write an answer for the previous three years unless you're making it clear that your answer only concerns the previous three years.