Apply for citizenship after living abroad for over 1 year

[scottfede 0]

Hi everyone!

My hubby and I got married in February 2017 and I have been a US permanent resident since November 2017. We lived in the US continuously from January 2017 to December 2020, so over 3 years and 10 months, but then because of the pandemic I lost my job and hubby's income wasn't enough to pay all our expenses so we were forced to move back to my home country (Italy) because we couldn't afford to pay rent and bills in the US anymore and we had no one who could help us or host us there. Our plan was to only stay out of the country for up to 6 months while working at our small online business to be able to make it into a full time income, but 20 days after we moved back to Italy I found out I was pregnant and things changed a lot. With the whole pandemic situation I really did not want to travel while pregnant, on top of the fact that i had a complicated pregnancy and was put on bed rest at 12 weeks, so going back to the US with no jobs and no insurance was out of the picture at that point. We decided to just stay here since I own an apartment in Rome and we don't have to pay for rent. We had our baby girl at the end of August and she is almost 5 months old now, we are doing good here, and as much as we really would like to go back to the US now that we have our business, we would have to start all over again and go back to pay rent which doesn't make sense for us.

 

So my question at this point is, since I did live for over 3 continuous years in the US, can I still apply for naturalization, or am I just going to lose my green card and the possibility to become a US citizen for as long as we are not able to go back to live in the US permanently? Am I going to have to restart the whole green card process from the beginning if we decide to move back when our daughter is older in a couple of years? We did register her at the US embassy, so she is both a US and Italian citizen and has two passports. We are still very tight to the US, we have family there, kept all our US bank accounts open, and we keep paying quarterly taxes to the IRS and filing for annual taxes since we have income from our business, which is registered in AZ. We would like to be able to go back to visit my husband's family for 3 to 4 months at the end of 2022 but I don't know if they are going to let me in the country at this point.

 

What do you suggest? How should I go about this? I can't afford to pay for a lawyer right now (having a baby is expensive so we need to keep expenses down as much as possible).

 

Thank you for your help!

[Dashinka 24,493]

This may be helpful.  As to your specific situation, you have a couple of options although it does not appear that filing for citizenship is one of them.  You can come back to the US and restart the residency clock.  There have been stories of an LPR being out more than a year without a re-entry permit and returning with little issue YMMV.  You can give up your GC (I407), then when ready to relocate back to the US, start the spousal visa process again approximately 18 months prior to you planned relocation.  You can also look into the SB-1, I am not too familiar with that process, but it may be an option. 

 

I am curious, you married in February 2017 and received your conditional GC in November 2017, did you complete the ROC process prior to you relocation back to Italy? 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3

Edited January 24, 2022 by Dashinka

[scottfede 0]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

I am curious, you married in February 2017 and received your conditional GC in November 2017, did you complete the ROC process prior to you relocation back to Italy? 

I did, I got my permanent green card in June 2020, that’s kinda why I don’t really understand this whole thing of having to give it up after all the money we spent to get it and to remove conditions, just because we had to leave the country. Based on expiration date my green card is technically valid until 2030.

 

I honestly didn’t even know about the abandonment rule until after we were already in Italy and found out we were pregnant. I had already met the requirements to apply for naturalization, if I knew that I would not be able to leave the country for  more than 6 months without losing my green card I would have applied for citizenship.

 

Considering we are not able to move back permanently now, I am guessing my only option is to give up the green card?

[Mike E 11,739]

3 minutes ago, scottfede said:

Considering we are not able to move back permanently now, I am guessing my only option is to give up the green card?

The other option is to come back to the USA when ready and see what happens.  As @Dashinka says YMMV.  Some if not most just get admitted as returning residents without drama.  
 

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-3671?language=en_US#:~:text=The CBP officer will collect,final determination on your case describes the possible drama and when you break it down it isn’t as bad as some might tell you.  

 

[Dashinka 24,493]

4 minutes ago, scottfede said:

I did, I got my permanent green card in June 2020, that’s kinda why I don’t really understand this whole thing of having to give it up after all the money we spent to get it and to remove conditions, just because we had to leave the country. Based on expiration date my green card is technically valid until 2030.

 

I honestly didn’t even know about the abandonment rule until after we were already in Italy and found out we were pregnant. I had already met the requirements to apply for naturalization, if I knew that I would not be able to leave the country for  more than 6 months without losing my green card I would have applied for citizenship.

 

Considering we are not able to move back permanently now, I am guessing my only option is to give up the green card?

Understandable, but unfortunately situations change and that forces plans to change.  Like I said, you could still choose to relocate back to the US relatively soon even though you have been outside the US for over a year.  There may be questions asked by CBP, but many people seem to be able to do this.  It appears the timing for you did not work out well given the financial situation you were dealt that was not helped by the fact that according to your profile you were living in California.  Like I said, you can also look at the SB-1 and do a little more research there.  I am not sure that is an option, but it might be.

 

Good Luck!

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

have u applied for the child's US citzenship and US passport?

[scottfede 0]

37 minutes ago, Mike E said:

The other option is to come back to the USA when ready and see what happens.  As @Dashinka says YMMV.  Some if not most just get admitted as returning residents without drama.  
 

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-3671?language=en_US#:~:text=The CBP officer will collect,final determination on your case describes the possible drama and when you break it down it isn’t as bad as some might tell you.  

 

We might just end up trying this. We were supposed to fly back to the States this February to go see family (but had to cancel cause the Covid situation is way too bad right now), and we were just gonna try to access the country hoping they don't decide to deny me and put me on the next flight back to Italy. I am just afraid that the more time I spend outside the country, the lower my chances get to be admitted with no drama.

 

42 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Understandable, but unfortunately situations change and that forces plans to change.  Like I said, you could still choose to relocate back to the US relatively soon even though you have been outside the US for over a year.  There may be questions asked by CBP, but many people seem to be able to do this.  It appears the timing for you did not work out well given the financial situation you were dealt that was not helped by the fact that according to your profile you were living in California.  Like I said, you can also look at the SB-1 and do a little more research there.  I am not sure that is an option, but it might be.

 

Good Luck!

We were actually in Arizona, but rent prices in Phoenix got crazy during the pandemic because of people moving from CA to AZ. We had our rent blocked at $1250 until November, but then our lease expired and rent went up to $1850. There was just no way we could pay that much money with only one of us working.

I will definitely look into the SB-1 and see if that might be an option. Thank you!

 

40 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

have u applied for the child's US citzenship and US passport?

Yes we have, and she already got her US passport and social security number.

[Mike E 11,739]

1 minute ago, scottfede said:

We might just end up trying this. We were supposed to fly back to the States this February to go see family (but had to cancel cause the Covid situation is way too bad right now), and we were just gonna try to access the country hoping they don't decide to deny me and put me on the next flight back to Italy.

That would be illegal and contrary to published CBP policy as per the link I provided.  I’m not going to say it can’t happen but if we worry police officers will always do illegal things then should never leave our homes.  
 

1 minute ago, scottfede said:

I am just afraid that the more time I spend outside the country, the lower my chances get to be admitted with no drama. .

It does seem that for some people, coming back to the USA for a couple weeks or less takes the heat off.  

[Jawaree 717]

2 yrs outside is definite abandonment, if a valid pressing reason caused you to want to stay out you could have applied with strong reason to uscis, you should return to US & continue residency now, the pandemic was worst in Italy according to news media, and you say light & banking was being kept up in the US, careful with your excuses have back up documents for  uscis

[SteveInBostonI130 3,434]

14 minutes ago, Jawaree said:

2 yrs outside is definite abandonment, if a valid pressing reason caused you to want to stay out you could have applied with strong reason to uscis, you should return to US & continue residency now, the pandemic was worst in Italy according to news media, and you say light & banking was being kept up in the US, careful with your excuses have back up documents for  uscis

 

OP has been out of the country for 13 months, not 2 years. If they try to return in Feb 2022, they would have been away 1 year and 2 months.

 

@scottfede, the official method to apply for a returning resident visa, SB-1. 

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/returning-resident.html

 

Unofficially, you can do what you plan by trying to return in February and see how CBP handles your case.  It will be at their discretion on what they do.  They may let you in with just a few questions, try to get you to state you have abandoned your residency and to sign a form to that effect, or refer you to immigration court.

[iwannaplay54 985]

On 1/24/2022 at 8:17 AM, Dashinka said:

Understandable, but unfortunately situations change and that forces plans to change.  Like I said, you could still choose to relocate back to the US relatively soon even though you have been outside the US for over a year.  There may be questions asked by CBP, but many people seem to be able to do this.  It appears the timing for you did not work out well given the financial situation you were dealt that was not helped by the fact that according to your profile you were living in California.  Like I said, you can also look at the SB-1 and do a little more research there.  I am not sure that is an option, but it might be.

 

Good Luck!

OP qualifies and certainly “pregnancy during COVID” would probably be accepted without question.  

 Problem with SB1 is it requires a new support affidavit to be filed with the embassy at interview time.  
 

Not sure OP’s sponsor can meet the hurdle with no US income and not sure if a joint affidavit is accepted for that visa class

Edited January 30, 2022 by iwannaplay54

[Dashinka 24,493]

2 hours ago, iwannaplay54 said:

OP qualifies and certainly “pregnancy during COVID” would probably be accepted without question.  

 Problem with SB1 is it requires a new support affidavit to be filed with the embassy at interview time.  
 

Not sure OP’s sponsor can meet the hurdle with no US income and not sure if a joint affidavit is accepted for that visa class

Qualifies for what?  Naturalization?  Being absent from the US for more than a year like the OP, automatically breaks continuous residence unless they had previously filed the N470.  I am not aware of much discretion on this item.  The big issue is the OP is still outside of the US and is not yet sure of their plans.  Until they decide if they want to stay in Italy a few more years or come back relatively soon, they can only look at potential options, but I don’t think they can naturalize from outside the US.

 

2. Absence of 1 Year or More

An absence from the United States for a continuous period of 1 year or more (365 days or more) during the period for which continuous residence is required will automatically break the continuity of residence. This applies whether the absence takes place before or after the applicant files the naturalization application.^[19]

Unless an applicant has an approved Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes (Form N-470), USCIS must deny a naturalization application for failure to meet the continuous residence requirement if the applicant has been continuously absent for a period of 1 year or more during the statutory period. Form N-470 preserves residence for LPRs engaged in qualifying employment abroad with the U.S. government, private sector, or a religious organization.^[20]

 

^{https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3}

[Mike E 11,739]

I believe “ qualifies” refers to qualified  for SB-1.  I disagree and believe it will be. denied.  
 

And I agree that being out for over a year is a break in continuous residency for N-400 that will not be over come.  

[iwannaplay54 985]

11 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Qualifies for what?  Naturalization?  Being absent from the US for more than a year like the OP, automatically breaks continuous residence unless they had previously filed the N470.  I am not aware of much discretion on this item.  The big issue is the OP is still outside of the US and is not yet sure of their plans.  Until they decide if they want to stay in Italy a few more years or come back relatively soon, they can only look at potential options, but I don’t think they can naturalize from outside the US.

 

2. Absence of 1 Year or More

An absence from the United States for a continuous period of 1 year or more (365 days or more) during the period for which continuous residence is required will automatically break the continuity of residence. This applies whether the absence takes place before or after the applicant files the naturalization application.^[19]

Unless an applicant has an approved Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes (Form N-470), USCIS must deny a naturalization application for failure to meet the continuous residence requirement if the applicant has been continuously absent for a period of 1 year or more during the statutory period. Form N-470 preserves residence for LPRs engaged in qualifying employment abroad with the U.S. government, private sector, or a religious organization.^[20]

 

^{https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3}

Returning resident visa

New clock starts on that with naturalization

Unfortunately there is a support affidavit hurdle on this one.

Edited January 30, 2022 by iwannaplay54

[iwannaplay54 985]

15 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I believe “ qualifies” refers to qualified  for SB-1.  I disagree and believe it will be. denied.  
 

And I agree that being out for over a year is a break in continuous residency for N-400 that will not be over come.  

We’ve discussed this.  
 

I have one, you do not (very few do) and it was I not her who was grilled at the embassy counter, both interviews.  I know exactly what they ask, what they want, and what they are looking for.  Based on OP’s post?  No problem.  We could do that.

 

Except in this case for that affidavit.  That one in this situation will have to get obtained by someone else.  It’s a real problem.

 

Break in residency was never a question, looking at 2 1/2 years after re-entry to apply.  Minimum.  We waited three.  Just to avoid the hassle.

Edited January 30, 2022 by iwannaplay54