Visiting back home

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Does anyone recall what amount of time spent out of the US impedes your path path to citizenship? My daughter is thinking of visiting back home in Canada for 2-3 months possibly - she has her 10 yr GC, and would technically eligible for citizenship in 2 yrs - she's already had 3 consecutive yrs residence here.

Also - how much time out of the country before you need to apply to get back in (I think there's some sort of re-entry permit for GC's away for long periods?)

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Is she under 18 years or over 18 years? If she is under 18 years then she would become a citizen when you do as a derivative citizenship. She just needs to be a green card holder at the time rather than meeting the requirements for citizenship on her own.

If she is over 18 years when you apply for citizenship then she cannot get her citizenship through you but would have to wait until she meets the 5 year eligibility requirement.

2 - 3 months will not be a problem. Trips of more than 6 months in length interrupt the residency requirement and starts the clock over again.

She also needs to be physically present in the US at least 30 months over the 5 years immediately prior to her filing for citizenship.

Trips expecting to be more than 1 year in length need to have a Re-entry Permit applied for and received before she leaves the US. She can be out of the US for up to 2 years with a Re-entry Permit, although USCIS can still determine that she has given up her residency under certain circumstances. As well, absences of this length mean that she would have to start the 5 year qualification time period all over again.

Here is an excellent guide for the requirements: http://www.uscis.gov...attachments.pdf

Edited October 26, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Thanks girl - sadly she cannot piggy back with mine (we knew it would be 5 yrs)- she turned 18 last Jan so she's actually almost 19 now.

Good to know about trips less then 6 months - so when she's returning - presumably flying - how does she prove she's back in the US? Short of her return ticket - I'd hate for immigration to think she has been gone longer then she was when it comes to applying for citizenship.

It's a possibility that she'll want to attend college back home- but then we'd at least ensure she visited regularly...with the understadning that it will screw up the residency for citizenship a bit. She's got til 2020 when her 10 yr GC expires so she'll have time to decide.

Is she under 18 years or over 18 years? If she is under 18 years then she would become a citizen when you do as a derivative citizenship. She just needs to be a green card holder at the time rather than meeting the requirements for citizenship on her own.

If she is over 18 years when you apply for citizenship then she cannot get her citizenship through you but would have to wait until she meets the 5 year eligibility requirement.

2 - 3 months will not be a problem. Trips of more than 6 months in length interrupt the residency requirement and starts the clock over again.

She also needs to be physically present in the US at least 30 months over the 5 years immediately prior to her filing for citizenship.

Trips expecting to be more than 1 year in length need to have a Re-entry Permit applied for and received before she leaves the US. She can be out of the US for up to 2 years with a Re-entry Permit, although USCIS can still determine that she has given up her residency under certain circumstances. As well, absences of this length mean that she would have to start the 5 year qualification time period all over again.

Here is an excellent guide for the requirements: http://www.uscis.gov...attachments.pdf

Edited October 26, 2010 by Udella&Wiz

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Since Canadians need their passports to enter the US she will probably have her passport stamped upon re-entry. Mine was the last time I flew back to the US from Canada while I was still a Permanent Resident. If not, then make sure she keeps her boarding pass and flight itinerary as back up information. It wouldn't hurt to just start a list right now of dates she is out of the US as one of the citizenship questions requires you to list all of your trips out of the US during the 5 years prior to applying. Instead of trying to scramble and remember those dates if you just keep a list filed in a safe place and update it as required then she will have all of that information at hand when she needs it. She is unlikely to be asked to 'prove' her absences, especially as Canadians often just hop back and forth across the border with no official notation made in their passports, unless she is close to the disqualifying limit.

As a student, while she is temporarily residing in Canada for university, her permanent address would still be with you, and if she files for a Re-entry Permit, plus makes sure to return back on a regular basis, it shouldn't be a problem proving she had no intention of giving up her permanent residency and her absences were temporary only as necessitated by her studies. As long as she hasn't taken up permanent residence outside of the US she should be fine.

Even if she hasn't decided by 2020 or because of absences from the country doesn't qualify for citizenship by 2020, she can still renew her green card for another 10 years and apply when she does decide or is eligible.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Kathryn41

[shawna7 4]

My daughter did some schooling in Toronto last year and I asked at an infopass about her situation..they told me she would be fine because she was coming back and forth alot and he said she didn't need the re-entry permit because she was not working in Canada and her ***home** was still technically in the USA. she was only gone for a little under 6 months but she came back and forth every 6 weeks.. I was a little uncomfortable with what he told me because as we all know if the CBP officer she encountered at the border decides differently then houston..we have a problem!

I do know being enrolled in school does change things(for your daughters benefit)