N-400 Confusion

[lopakalolo 1]

On Form N-400 “Who should use this form?” You must be ONE of the following. It Goes on to spell out the (4) requirements. Number (2) is where we meet the requirements to submit the N-400 form. (1), (3) and (4) do not apply.

No. (1) States that you must be a Lawful Permanent Resident for at least five years and be at least 18 years old. “This does not apply to us”; I only list it as a reference to my question(s). This could apply to Part 7 as you will see below.

(2) States the same as requirement (1) and in addition you have to be married to and living with the same U.S. citizen for the last three years and your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last three years. “This applies to us.”

I have underlined the 5 year requirement in (1) as well as the 3 year requirement in (2) because this leads up to my question on “Part 7”.

Part 7 - Time outside the United States. It has three specifics listed shown below.

They state the following:

(A) Write the total number of days you spent outside of the United States during the last five years. Count the days of every trip that lasted 24 hours or longer.

(B) Write the number of trips you have taken outside the United States during the last five years. Count every trip that lasted 24 hours or longer.

© Provide the requested information for every trip that you have taken outside the United States since you became a Lawful Permanent Resident. Begin with your most recent trip.

Question: It is my understanding that if you meet requirement (2) then you can file (send in) your documents (3) months before the three year date from your becoming a permanent resident. In the case of my wife she received her permanent resident card dated 18 October 2008 which made her eligible to apply for citizenship on 18 October, 2011, meeting the 3 year requirement.

Here is where my confusion comes in regarding Part 7. If my wife is eligible for citizenship after 3 years and the requirements for permanent residency is to live in the United States for those 3 years, Why do they care about the other two years (they are asking to go back for five years) when she wasn’t a permanent resident nor was she required to live in the U.S. for those two years prior to her gaining the permanent resident card?

Therefore, it would make more sense to me that if you meet the 3 year requirement of permanent residency as in number (2), than you should only have to account for trips outside the U.S. for the 3 years after being issued the permanent resident card and residing in the U.S. and not the 5 year time frame that I am assuming they are asking for.

Simply put:

Permanent resident card received October 2008. Required permanent U.S. residency clock starts.

Eligible to apply for citizenship October 2011. Still residing in the U.S. as required.

It should say - How many trips did you make outside the U.S. during the 3 year time frame from October 2008 to October 2011, not 5 years (per the mumbo jumbo of Part 7.)

Makes sense to me, Am I just not getting it?

P.S. We are now into our fifth year since the eligibility started but to be honest I needed a break from what it took to get to the green card level. For us is it wasn't a journey, was more like an stressful trek. Now we are in the last phase and would like to get it all over with so we can relax and start living a calm, quiet and happy life.

I’d appreciate any feedback to clarify this.

Thank you in advance.

[Tahoma 2,292]

At Chinook's naturalization interview, the USCIS immigration officer asked about her time outside of the U.S. since she became a lawful permanent resident.

Your wife needs to account for her time outside of the U.S. for the last five years because that's when she became a lawful permanent resident. It's because the USCIS has some kind of rule regarding the amount of time a lawful permanent resident spends in the U.S. needing to be more than the amount of time they have spent outside of the U.S. in order for them to be eligible for citizenship. I'm not sure of the exact rule.

By the way, for those with spousal visas and fiancé(e) visas, the N-400 can be filed up to 90 days before the green card's three-year anniversary, not three months. There can be a difference.