need help with question

[Octa 0]

Hi. I have a question regarding Part 7. It should be an easy question to answer but we are having trouble with this one.

My husband came here almost 4 years ago . This questions asks: HOW MANY TOTAL DAYS DID YOU SPEND OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS? When we answer this question do we include that full year that he was in Romania? We think it should be included it since he was outside the US. But this was not a trip, he was living there.

Thanks...

[lucyrich 20]

If you're applying based on three years married to and living with a US Citizen, what's really important to them according to the law (INA 319 and 316) is only the time outside the US in the past three years. However, the question on the form very clearly asks about the last five years.

There are two basic ways to resolve this. You can take the question literally and answer for the past five years, including time spent outside the US before getting a visa or green card. Or you can draw a line through the word "five" and write "three", and answer appropriately for three years.

Either of these approaches will work. I've heard of a number of people having success each way. Nobody gets denied or delayed for either approach. If you take the question literally and answer for five years, then expect that, at the interview, the examiner will try and do the math based on the dates you've given to figure out the answer for the past three years.

Don't answer for three years unless you're making it clear that you are answering for three years. Don't lie or mislead, of course.

[jsnearline 2]

We took the question literally and answered for the past five years. We also included a letter stating the number of days outside the US prior to initial arrival on the K1 and the number of days outside the US since the first arrival here. It will be interesting to see how it goes at the interview.