N400 and days spent outside US

[gcseeker2002 0]

Is there any idea on how many days outside the country would trigger a background check process ? I had 9 trips with total of 165 days out of country before I applied, and my application is now pending 9 months. My spouse had 8 trips with total of 125 days and got her citizenship long back. 

[jkstark 97]

I don't think that days spent out of the country have anything to do with background checks - everybody has to go through them regardless.  The amount of time you have been in the country, the commonality of your name, and other similar factors will have an impact on how long it takes, but the actual amount of time is anybody's guess...

[gcseeker2002 0]

I asked this because that is the only difference between mine and my spouse's application , and my name is lot more uncommon than my spouse's.

[bsp 32]

The only way it would be relevant is if you spent any of that time was spent in "high risk" countries which may trigger additional checks.  165 days across 3 to 5 years is not out of the ordinary for a foreign citizen presumably with family back home (and well within the guidelines).

[watashi 24]

Based on the OIG report on USCIS N400 processing problems, it's quite possible that your case is stuck in BC for reasons that have nothing to do with you specifically, and are because their systems mismanaged the task . 

 

I have a separate thread on the topic with a link to the OIG report: