Travel abroad - 180 days - LPR dates

[MIAInfo 0]

Hi!

I really hope you can help me!

I have asked two lawyers and called USCIS and they have left me even more confused.

I have made a single trip on 2014 for about 170 days. The lawyer told me I cannot exceed the 180 days per year, being the 'year' from my green card date (i.e. Jan 27) to the following Jan 27 of next and so on. While other lawyer told me that it was calendar year jan to dec.

When I called USCIS they said they have not heard about the 180 days per year, and they only seem to have issues when you are abroad over 1 year.

My concern is that I may need to travel again for about 90 days next year but I do not know when I can start that trip, either after January 1, or after my residency date Jan 27 or it does not matter... Im really confused!

I have very clearly in my mind that I have to meet the continuous residency and presence in the US before naturalization, and in fact, I have reached those requirements. Also, when I have travelled abroad for the 170 days and I travelled for 4 months on a single trip on 2013, I have kept everything my house lease, car lease, insurance, bank accounts, utilities, income taxes, etc. As I do not plan to leave abroad, it was just circumstantial.

I look forward to your responses.

Thanks!

[Ian H. 207]

Hello,

Sorry about your confusion. You can't spend more than 6 months out of the country for naturalization purposes in any one trip. It can only affect your LPR status after a year if you didn't get a reentry permit.

Therefore, if your plan is to naturalize, you can have no more than 30 months out of the country in total for the last 5 years if applying based on that or 18 months if applying on the 3 year basis.

Therefore, let's say you will apply after 3 years based on marriage to USC, which I assume is your case, you cannot have spent more than 18 months outside of the US in total and a single trip cannot have been more than 6 months(180 days).

So if you have to travel again for 90 days on another trip, it won't affect your naturalization residency unless it will go over the 18 month limit. And it won't affect your LPR status if it doesn't add up to a year.

I'm not sure if the calendar resets when each time you reenter the US or from the resident date like you mention.

[MIAInfo 0]

Thanks for the reply!

My case is based on the 5 years and I have already completed the 30 months even before this trip, so I guess that limit will not be affected by my future trip.

Yet I am still not clear as what the lawyers meant by 180 days per year, especially, since they are discrepancies as to how the year is counted.

Anyhow, I really appreciate your response and I will keep the 30 months in mind and will for sure not exceed any trip over the 180 days.

[Ian H. 207]

Ok if you are doing it based on the 5 year requirement and you already meet the 30 months you should be fine ast to the physical presence requirement. Remember that this time starts when you became an LPR, not before.

As for the trips USCIS is only concerned with single trips of 6 months or more for naturalization and one year or more for LPR status.

I don't want to speculate but I think the timing is based on when you returned to the US. The reason I say this is because my mother used to spend 6 months out of every year in the DR to be with my dad while she was an LPR. Now, she didn't have any issues when she naturalized.

So for example, let's say that you spent 6 months outside of the US, came back for a month, and then left for another 6 months, THAT would be a problem. However, if you spent those 170 days, stay here for at least 6 months, and then leave for those 3 months, you shouldn't have an issue. Everyone I know does this once a year.

Again this is just speculation on my part, but it may be how they see it. If you have spoken to 2 attorneys and USCIS and they can't give you a straight answer it's probably because there isn't one. The important thing here is that you maintain your ties to the US and that you don't spend more than 6 months in any one trip. I'm sorry that this is so confusing.

[MIAInfo 0]

Thanks so much for your input! I have known people who spend half the year here and half abroad, as your mother's case. The timing and how they count is confusing, and as you said it is not even clear for them.

I got here on July 27 and was hoping to start off my trip around Dec 30, which is only 5 months.. I do not think it will be a major issue on that, hopefully. But still I am very careful and thats why I wanted to be as clear as possible.

Thanks again!