Citizenship Questions

[tchauhan 3]

Hello All,

Hope all is well.

 

I have questions about my eligibility for US citizenship. Need your guidance/comments on if I am eligible for it???

Landing details:

·         Immigrated (landed) to the USA based on family category (F3) the first time date: 29^th Nov 2010

 

Details of dates I was OUTSIDE of the USA since I immigrated:

·         29-Mar-11 till 29-Feb-12 (337 days)  

·         18-Jun-12 till 8-Apr-14 (659 days. applied and got approved for TRAVEL DOCUMENT i-131)

·         29-Nov-14 till 22-Apr-15 (144 days)

·         20-Aug-15 till 4-Feb-16 (168 days)

·         30-Sep-16 till 8-Feb-18 (496 days. Applied and got approved for TRAVEL DOCUMENT i-131)

·         17-Jan-19 till 9-Feb-19 (26 days)

·         12-Sept-19 till 14-Oct-19 (32 days)

 

Total # of days OUTSIDE of USA since I immigrated = 1862 days (61.21 months)

Total # of days OUTSIDE of USA since past 5 years (since Jan 1st 2016) = 589 days (19.31 months)

 

Presently, I am in USA and intend to stay and have no vacations/work outside of USA planned.

 

Questions:

·         Please help me understand and guide me if I am eligible for USA citizenship?

·         Am I eligible to apply for Naturalization form N-400?

·         If I am not eligible, when will I be eligible to apply (assuming I stay in USA continuously and do not leave out of country for more than a month)?

 

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Have you been married to a US citizen for at least 3 years? 

[tchauhan 3]

2 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Have you been married to a US citizen for at least 3 years? 

No, I am lawful permanent residence (category F33) since 2010

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

11 minutes ago, tchauhan said:

No, I am lawful permanent residence (category F33) since 2010

Then, you need to naturalize under the 5-year rule, so the answer is no. Because you broke continuous residence (absence longer than 365 days) your naturalization clock start date resets to the date you re-entered the US in Feb 2018. (The re-entry permit protects your green card but it does not preserve continuous residence.) You can apply 4 years and 6 months after that return date, assuming no future absences are longer than 6 months. See the section under “absence of 1 year or more” here:  https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3

 

[tchauhan 3]

14 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Then, you need to naturalize under the 5-year rule, so the answer is no. Because you broke continuous residence (absence longer than 365 days) your naturalization clock start date resets to the date you re-entered the US in Feb 2018. (The re-entry permit protects your green card but it does not preserve continuous residence.) You can apply 4 years and 6 months after that return date, assuming no future absences are longer than 6 months. See the section under “absence of 1 year or more” here:  https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3

 

Thanks alot for the quick reply... Your information help a lot.

Thank you once again!

[Demise 1,289]

On 1/6/2021 at 7:19 PM, tchauhan said:

Hello All,

Hope all is well.

 

I have questions about my eligibility for US citizenship. Need your guidance/comments on if I am eligible for it???

Landing details:

·         Immigrated (landed) to the USA based on family category (F3) the first time date: 29^th Nov 2010

 

Details of dates I was OUTSIDE of the USA since I immigrated:

·         29-Mar-11 till 29-Feb-12 (337 days)  

·         18-Jun-12 till 8-Apr-14 (659 days. applied and got approved for TRAVEL DOCUMENT i-131)

·         29-Nov-14 till 22-Apr-15 (144 days)

·         20-Aug-15 till 4-Feb-16 (168 days)

·         30-Sep-16 till 8-Feb-18 (496 days. Applied and got approved for TRAVEL DOCUMENT i-131)

·         17-Jan-19 till 9-Feb-19 (26 days)

·         12-Sept-19 till 14-Oct-19 (32 days)

 

Total # of days OUTSIDE of USA since I immigrated = 1862 days (61.21 months)

Total # of days OUTSIDE of USA since past 5 years (since Jan 1st 2016) = 589 days (19.31 months)

 

Presently, I am in USA and intend to stay and have no vacations/work outside of USA planned.

 

Questions:

·         Please help me understand and guide me if I am eligible for USA citizenship?

·         Am I eligible to apply for Naturalization form N-400?

·         If I am not eligible, when will I be eligible to apply (assuming I stay in USA continuously and do not leave out of country for more than a month)?

 

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Absences over 1 year completely reset the clock. So basically for purposes of naturalization it's as if you haven't become an LPR until Feb 8, 2018.

Since you are not married to a US Citizen then you are not eligible to naturalize until Feb 8, 2023, you can file N-400 up to 90 day early.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Demise

[Ontarkie 14,226]

~~Moved to US Citizenship General Discussion, from Bringing Family of PR.~~

[tchauhan 3]

On 1/8/2021 at 5:12 AM, Demise said:

Absences over 1 year completely reset the clock. So basically for purposes of naturalization it's as if you haven't become an LPR until Feb 8, 2018.

Since you are not married to a US Citizen then you are not eligible to naturalize until Feb 8, 2023, you can file N-400 up to 90 day early.

Thanks for the information.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

On 1/8/2021 at 3:12 AM, Demise said:

Absences over 1 year completely reset the clock. So basically for purposes of naturalization it's as if you haven't become an LPR until Feb 8, 2018.

Since you are not married to a US Citizen then you are not eligible to naturalize until Feb 8, 2023, you can file N-400 up to 90 day early.

Please see the official USCIS link I posted for OP to read. After a one year absence the four month and one day rule applies, though they recommend four years and 6 months because there’s still a rebuttable break to deal with otherwise. He/she doesn’t need to wait quite as long as you suggest.