Did anyone have a trip outside of the US longer than 6 months because of COVID and still passed the naturalization interview?

[Sfcj1 0]

Did anyone have a trip outside of the US longer than 6 months because of COVID and still passed the naturalization interview?

I applied for naturalization in March 2020 and left the US after.

I was abroad last year to see my father and grandmother (she has been ill) who i did not meet for 8 years, 
for about 7.5 months
 from march 2020- November 2020 and could not return because of the lockdown in the country I was in and extremely expensive tickets to return once they were available ( 3-5kusd).

 I did not have my name on my house and car agreements ( I lived with my brother) but I constantly sent money to my brother for these payments. 
I was also still enrolled in my American university and was taking lessons online while abroad, and graduated last August 2020 virtually. 

I maintained my ATT Phone line, school loan and other bills the whole time i was away. 

My mom (American citizen) and brother ( waiting for his naturalization interview) also remained in the U.S and never left.
i filed all my taxes and never owed any. 

I also spoke with multiple USCIS agents on the phone about my long time outside of the US and they assured me that as long as it wasn’t a year or longer, that i was fine. 

With all this evidence of me never planning to abandon my US life, what do you think my chances are of passing the interview?

Thank you so much for any replies, I’ve been stressed out from this and appreciate the feedback!

[African Zealot 1,456]

 We don’t do probabilities. You’ve already applied, you’ve asked USCIS agents who have given you their opinion. Whatever you will hear here is meaningless, the reviewing officer will apply their own judgment and discretion in reaching the decision.

 

That said I would say your chances are better than 50%. 😁

 

Good luck!

[codycody 31]

12 hours ago, Sfcj1 said:

Did anyone have a trip outside of the US longer than 6 months because of COVID and still passed the naturalization interview?

I applied for naturalization in March 2020 and left the US after.

I was abroad last year to see my father and grandmother (she has been ill) who i did not meet for 8 years, 
for about 7.5 months
 from march 2020- November 2020 and could not return because of the lockdown in the country I was in and extremely expensive tickets to return once they were available ( 3-5kusd).

 I did not have my name on my house and car agreements ( I lived with my brother) but I constantly sent money to my brother for these payments. 
I was also still enrolled in my American university and was taking lessons online while abroad, and graduated last August 2020 virtually. 

I maintained my ATT Phone line, school loan and other bills the whole time i was away. 

My mom (American citizen) and brother ( waiting for his naturalization interview) also remained in the U.S and never left.
i filed all my taxes and never owed any. 

I also spoke with multiple USCIS agents on the phone about my long time outside of the US and they assured me that as long as it wasn’t a year or longer, that i was fine. 

With all this evidence of me never planning to abandon my US life, what do you think my chances are of passing the interview?

Thank you so much for any replies, I’ve been stressed out from this and appreciate the feedback!

I know a couple cases spent over 6 months while applying for N-400, the cases are closed to you since she spent 9 months in Philippine during lockdown. When she came back to US for interview, she passed test everything is OK but IO told her he could not make decision now. 2 days later she got a online deny notification. There is another case passed even spent 8 months abroad, he told and show IO all documents needs as phone, water, insurance bill...He also owned a house in US...then he passed. You never know since you already applied n-400. It's up to the IO who interviewed you and up to how to plan to show them the documents to prove you tie with US.

[Bb1120023 9]

I was out of the country for 6 months and 10 days. My interview is tomorrow, 6/1/2021.

[HNZ91 70]

3 hours ago, Bb1120023 said:

I was out of the country for 6 months and 10 days. My interview is tomorrow, 6/1/2021.

Wish you best of luck

[Sfcj1 0]

3 hours ago, Bb1120023 said:

I was out of the country for 6 months and 10 days. My interview is tomorrow, 6/1/2021.

I wish you all the best. Please let me know the details and outcome of your interview. I will sincerely appreciate it!

[Bb1120023 9]

On 5/31/2021 at 2:34 PM, Bb1120023 said:

I was out of the country for 6 months and 10 days. My interview is tomorrow, 6/1/2021.

I had my interview today in the NYC field office. The officer asked once why I was out of the country for over 6 months. I stated that my flights were cancelled few times due to covid-19. Then, I showed proof of flight cancellation. That was it. The officer didn’t made it big deal.

 

I passed. 

Edited June 1, 2021 by Bb1120023

[Sfcj1 0]

19 minutes ago, Bb1120023 said:

I had my interview today in the NYC field office. The officer asked once why I was out of the country for over 6 months. I stated that my flights were cancelled few times due to covid-19. Then, I showed proof of flight cancellation. That was it. The officer didn’t made it big deal.

 

I passed. 

Congratulations on passing! Very happy for you! I do not have any proof of flight cancellations as i did not have a return ticket booked when i left ( I originally planned on staying in my country for 1-2 months and felt I could book a ticket back when I thought best. Unfortunately the country went into total lockdown after my arrival) 

I hope the officer i interview with will understand that. I believe it will be at the officer’s discretion on how he handles the case. I just wish I get an easy-going IO like you did!

[HNZ91 70]

1 hour ago, Bb1120023 said:

I had my interview today in the NYC field office. The officer asked once why I was out of the country for over 6 months. I stated that my flights were cancelled few times due to covid-19. Then, I showed proof of flight cancellation. That was it. The officer didn’t made it big deal.

 

I passed. 

Congrats