N-400 Eligibility Question

[Black Velvet 4]

My girlfriend (age 36) came to the US five years ago. Her husband is a Jamaican citizen living in Jamaica. Her father a US citizen filed for her. Unfortunately, her Dad passed away this year. She works and has filed taxes since living here. According to the Naturalization Eligibility Worksheet, she does not qualify for naturalization. I know that she is eligible for naturalization, but I can't find the information in writing. All the websites indicate eligibility based on marriage or for applicants under age 18.

In addition to a completed N-400 application, photocopy of green card (front & back), 2 passport photos and $680 fee, what documents does she need? Please advise.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

My girlfriend (age 36) came to the US five years ago. Her husband is a Jamaican citizen living in Jamaica. Her father a US citizen filed for her. Unfortunately, her Dad passed away this year. She works and has filed taxes since living here. According to the Naturalization Eligibility Worksheet, she does not qualify for naturalization. I know that she is eligible for naturalization, but I can't find the information in writing. All the websites indicate eligibility based on marriage or for applicants under age 18.

In addition to a completed N-400 application, photocopy of green card (front & back), 2 passport photos and $680 fee, what documents does she need? Please advise.

Why do you say that the Naturalization Eligibility Worksheet says she does not qualify for naturalization? Which worksheet are you using - the one in the Guide to Naturalization posted on USCIS?

As long as she has been a green card holder for 5 years; satisfies the physical presence and continuous residence requirements (no trip outside of the US for 1 year or longer in the last 5 years; and has not been outside of the US for 30 months or more in the last 5 years); is of good moral character, reads and writes English, and can take the Civics exam, she is eligible to apply.

She is not applying based on her marriage to a US citizen since she is not married to a US citizen. She is applying based upon her permanent residence status that she received 5 years ago when sponsored by her father. She just ignores the conditions for Application through Marriage and applies for Application through 5 years as a Permanent Resident. It is an either/or situation.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/attachments.pdf

[Black Velvet 4]

Kathryn,

Thanks for the information.

[rika60607 215]

..."continuous residence requirements (no trip outside of the US for 1 year or longer in the last 5 years;"

Minor correction: To maintain continuous residence for naturalization purposes, it is no trips outside of US for longer than 6 months, right?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Correct . . . but since the residency clock only stops at the 6-month mark, whereas it resets itself back to zero at the 1-year mark, any absence of less than 1 year has no "real" adverse effect on the residency as long as the applicant hasn't been out of the country for more than half the time of their residency. That's a simplified statement, of course, as the "dead" time, the time between the 6-month mark and the return, would need to be added to the residency at the end. Thus, somebody who, for example, has been gone for 10 months, had a "dead" time of 4 months.