Very Complicated Situation (for me)

[OREOL 0]

Hi everyone, I would like to share my situation over here and hope somebody can help me out

I am originated from Hong Kong and I hold a Hong Kong passport. I immigrated to the US on 2006 and

I just moved to Toronto for school. While I was living in US, I landed in California and moved to

Boston last year and currently I am a resident of Massachusetts and my driver license was already

switched to a Massachusetts one instead of the California one. The Mass ID(Driver license) will

expire in 2015. I have no relatives in Massachusetts but I have friends over there, so I am thinking

maybe I can use their address for naturalization process. As I have a car, I considered to import

it to Canada and obtain insurance and driver license over there. However, if I wanna switch my

driving license to a Canadian one, I need to surrender the Massachusetts one, which I think the

point is I also surrendering my residency of Massachusetts. Once I surrender my Massachusetts

residency, I think I will have trouble to process my naturalization. Right now I am a US Green

Card holder and I have a student permit which last for 2 years for studying in Canada. I don't

know if I should remain everything same for my car( driving license/license plate) as a US one

or switch to Canadian because I need to file naturalization through mail recently. Moreover,

as far as I am a Green Card holder, I still wanna keep the Green card if I am not able

to get naturalized recently, should I just enter the US border every half year in order to keep it?

And immediately return back to Canada once I re-entered US? Thanks so much!!

[Lansbury 19]

You are living outside the US, so you will not be able to gain citizenship until you return and complete the required period of residency. Likewise moving to Canada to study could well mean you are no longer considered a LPR. Just coming back once every 6 months is a myth and in itself will not keep your status. However a CBP officer cannot deny you entry into the US, or revoke your status, but could require you to go before an immigration judge for a determination. A quick one time consultation with a lawyer experience in abandonment cases might well prove useful.

[OREOL 0]

Thanks so much for your reply, what if I have already fulfilled the period of residency in the US? Can I

still process the naturalization?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

However a CBP officer cannot deny you entry into the US, or revoke your status, but could require you to go before an immigration judge for a determination.

Sure they can.

If a non-citizen asks to be admitted to the U.S. and CBP establishes that the person has abandoned their residency, they can refuse to admit him to the U.S.

If somebody is inside the U.S., it will take a judge's signature to revoke a LPR's status, but if somebody is not inside the U.S anymore, but outside, the rules of the game are different.

CBP can ask him to sign a form to formally surrender his Green Card, then "parole" him into the U.S. That's a pretty cool move, actually, because somebody who has been paroled in the U.S. has not been admitted and thus has no way to get a judge involved and no way to adjust status once again.

Doesn't happen very often, but it happens.

O.P.,

you are currently residing in Canada. You will need to wait until you move back to the U.S. before you'll be able to file for naturalization. Keep in mind that you will have to list every absence from the U.S. within the past 5 years. Even an I.O. with the brain of a flower will realize that you currently live in Canada. Don't ignite a fire if you are not prepared for the explosion that it can cause.

Edited September 7, 2011 by Just Bob