Citizenship and N400. Been outside of U.S more than 6 months

[Gnaget 1]

Hello.

I need some clarification of the time limits to get citizenship. Our timeline:

• 7/7/17 Green Card Issued
• 6/25/18 Moved To US
• 6/15/20 Moved back to Europe
• 8/20/20 Went back for biometrics for I-131 Reentry Permit, Issued 11/25/2020
• 6/25/21 Visited US for 1 month, (was outside of US 10 months)
• Spring 2022, I myself visited US 3 times for work
• 6/25/22 Will go back for another 2 weeks

In total we lived 24 months in Florida, and have held green card for almost 5 years now, so we should be eligible to apply for citizenship after moving back for a few months

 

We are thinking of moving back and stay at least a year and get citizenship, but are all the time we already lived there wasted, and do we need to wait another 5 years if we move today?

Our lawyer who helped with the I-131 application said " As long as you do not exceed staying 12 months in Europe. i.e come back for vacation 1 month each year you're good to go and won't loose any time"

Technically we did not exceed 12 months absence, however I have worked the whole time in Europe, but kept an address and bank accounts in US and filed taxes as well.

 

From what I can find online I don't believe what my lawyer told me to be accurate. We have been outside for too long and will have to start all over with the 5 years, or are our trips back enough to keep our initial date?

[JeanneAdil 6,511]

you have been outside the US too long 

1 month a year?

u need a different lawyer

 

BTW green card is not issued till u enter the US 

 

In general, an applicant for naturalization must file his or her application for naturalization with the state or service district that has jurisdiction over his or her place of residence. The applicant must have resided in that location for at least three months prior to filing. 

 

Have continuous residence and physical presence in the United States;

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-6

[Lil bear 4,219]

Study the USCIS website regarding 

continuous residence

and 

physical presence 

and 

state residency for 90 days prior to filing 

 

All 3 conditions must be met   You will need to do your math to determine if your travel history enables you to do so. Having a reentry permit isnt a magic fix all 

[arken 4,197]

For good response, provide the dates per table below. No need of any reason, just the dates.

 

[Gnaget 1]

55 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

you have been outside the US too long 

1 month a year?

u need a different lawyer

 

BTW green card is not issued till u enter the US 

 

In general, an applicant for naturalization must file his or her application for naturalization with the state or service district that has jurisdiction over his or her place of residence. The applicant must have resided in that location for at least three months prior to filing. 

 

Have continuous residence and physical presence in the United States;

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-6

Yes, I also believe I've been out too long. But Isince we've never actually been away for over a year in a row we might be OK, right? Or is it a total of one year absence for the 5 year period that counts?? It is not super obvious, at least not for me :-)

 

 

Prior to getting Green Card we wnt to LA and handed over the "green card" package to USCIS,  That was in early July 2017.  Then we returned to Europe and moved to Florida June 2018, so we already have had our green cards for a year by then.

[Gnaget 1]

37 minutes ago, arken said:

For good response, provide the dates per table below. No need of any reason, just the dates.

 

Well, the dates are in my original post. What I left out is that we went to L.A for a vacation in july 2017 to "activate" the green cards, That is why they are issued 7/7/2017

A bit more detailed timeline:

 

• 2016, Won Green Card lottery
• Early July 2017 First entry with DV VISA
• 7/7/17 Green Card Issued, Date on green card, Got them in the mail in August
• 14/7/2017 Back to Europe
• 6/25/18 Moved To US, (within a year from GC issue)
• Fall 2019, supershort trip to Europe, 3 nights
• 6/15/20 Moved back to Europe.
• 8/20/20 Went back for biometrics for I-131 Reentry Permit, Issued 11/25/2020
• 6/25/21 Visited US for 1 month, (was outside of US 10 months)
• Spring 2022, I myself visited US 3 times for work, total maybe 10 days, so outside of US approx 9 months
• 6/25/22 Will go back for another 2 weeks

 

So during these 5 years since I got my GC, I've stayed for a total of 26 months, 24 in a row, 1 m vacation, and two 2weeks vacations. Been outside 10+9 months since we moved in June 2020

I have re-entry permit until Nov 2022, but that does not seem to matter in this case.

I totally understand if we cant count our residency from 7/7/17 but rather 6/25/18. That would mean that we are eligible to apply next year.

 

Is it worth moving back and take a chance that we can apply or is it a dead end? Because I don't really want to stay for 5 years. The citizenship is actually mostly for my 14 year old daughter so that she will have more opportunities in the future, For me personally it does not matter

 

 

37 minutes ago, arken said:

 

 

[Lil bear 4,219]

25 minutes ago, Gnaget said:

 

Well, the dates are in my original post. What I left out is that we went to L.A for a vacation in july 2017 to "activate" the green cards, That is why they are issued 7/7/2017

A bit more detailed timeline:

 

• 2016, Won Green Card lottery
• Early July 2017 First entry with DV VISA
• 7/7/17 Green Card Issued, Date on green card, Got them in the mail in August
• 14/7/2017 Back to Europe
• 6/25/18 Moved To US, (within a year from GC issue)
• Fall 2019, supershort trip to Europe, 3 nights
• 6/15/20 Moved back to Europe.
• 8/20/20 Went back for biometrics for I-131 Reentry Permit, Issued 11/25/2020
• 6/25/21 Visited US for 1 month, (was outside of US 10 months)
• Spring 2022, I myself visited US 3 times for work, total maybe 10 days, so outside of US approx 9 months
• 6/25/22 Will go back for another 2 weeks

 

So during these 5 years since I got my GC, I've stayed for a total of 26 months, 24 in a row, 1 m vacation, and two 2weeks vacations. Been outside 10+9 months since we moved in June 2020

I have re-entry permit until Nov 2022, but that does not seem to matter in this case.

I totally understand if we cant count our residency from 7/7/17 but rather 6/25/18. That would mean that we are eligible to apply next year.

 

Is it worth moving back and take a chance that we can apply or is it a dead end? Because I don't really want to stay for 5 years. The citizenship is actually mostly for my 14 year old daughter so that she will have more opportunities in the future, For me personally it does not matter

 

 

 

You need a minimum of 30 months inside the US out of the previous 60 months. The rerntry permit preserves you “residency intent” so that any stays outside the US of over 6 months do not break your residrncy .. but you fail the physical

presence test.  There are good examples on the USCIS info pages to help you apply the requirements to your situation. 
 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/chapter4.pdf

 

https://citizenpath.com/continuous-residence-physical-presence-requirements/

Edited June 21, 2022 by Lil bear

[Gnaget 1]

27 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

You need a minimum of 30 months inside the US out of the previous 60 months. The rerntry permit preserves you “residency intent” so that any stays outside the US of over 6 months do not break your residrncy .. but you fail the physical

presence test.  There are good examples on the USCIS info pages to help you apply the requirements to your situation. 
 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/chapter4.pdf

Yes, I agree that being outside more than 6 months forces us to start over, but is seems that we only have to stay for 4 years,  so we get a year "for free"

If you return within 2 years, some of your time out of the country does count. In fact, the last 364 days of your time out of the country (1 year minus 1 day) counts toward meeting your continuous residence requirement.

 

Thanks

[Lil bear 4,219]

4 minutes ago, Gnaget said:

Yes, I agree that being outside more than 6 months forces us to start over, but is seems that we only have to stay for 4 years,  so we get a year "for free"

If you return within 2 years, some of your time out of the country does count. In fact, the last 364 days of your time out of the country (1 year minus 1 day) counts toward meeting your continuous residence requirement.

 

Thanks

Yes. Correct. Return and stay … But you do not meet the requirements to file 5 years from your first entry .. so work out what you need to do to meet the requirements, accept that remaining in the US for several years into the future is the “cost” of getting to be USC. Green cards are for living in the US .. even if gained through DV 

Edited June 21, 2022 by Lil bear

[arken 4,197]

 

 

3 hours ago, Gnaget said:

the last 364 days of your time out of the country (1 year minus 1 day) counts toward meeting your continuous residence requirement.

It only counts toward continuous residency (CR) if you are able to provide documents that satisfies the IO that you maintained residency during those 364 days.

 

3 hours ago, Gnaget said:

but is seems that we only have to stay for 4 years,  so we get a year "for free"

Not exactly free. If you apply for citizenship 4 years and 1 day from your last return after supposedly breaking CR, You have to provide evidences that you maintained CR during that 1 year, the year preceding the last 4 year.

 

If you apply for citizenship 4 years and 6 months from your last return after supposedly breaking CR, you get 6 months free and you don't need to provide any evidences of maintaining CR during that 6 months.

[Mike E 11,739]

It’s 5 years less 180 days from the return of the last absence that exceeded 180 days. 
 

 

[arken 4,197]

42 minutes ago, Mike E said:

It’s 5 years less 180 days from the return of the last absence that exceeded 180 days. 
 

Not quite right. That's only if one can't prove maintaining residency. In case of absence of more than 180 days but less than a year, one can successfully get citizenship by using 5 yrs from Resident Since date if the person can overcome the burden of break in residency.

 

Only if the absence exceeded more than one year, then one can apply in 5 years less 180 days or 4 yrs plus 1 day after returning.

 

 

[Mike E 11,739]

4 hours ago, arken said:

If you apply for citizenship 4 years and 6 months from your last return after supposedly breaking CR, you get 6 months free and you don't need to provide any evidences of maintaining CR during that 6 months.

The above is wrong. The below is correct.  

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

It’s 5 years less 180 days from the return of the last absence that exceeded 180 days. 

 

Edited June 22, 2022 by Mike E

[Scandi 4,166]

15 hours ago, Gnaget said:

Hello.

I need some clarification of the time limits to get citizenship. Our timeline:

• 7/7/17 Green Card Issued
• 6/25/18 Moved To US
• 6/15/20 Moved back to Europe
• 8/20/20 Went back for biometrics for I-131 Reentry Permit, Issued 11/25/2020
• 6/25/21 Visited US for 1 month, (was outside of US 10 months)
• Spring 2022, I myself visited US 3 times for work
• 6/25/22 Will go back for another 2 weeks

In total we lived 24 months in Florida, and have held green card for almost 5 years now, so we should be eligible to apply for citizenship after moving back for a few months

 

We are thinking of moving back and stay at least a year and get citizenship, but are all the time we already lived there wasted, and do we need to wait another 5 years if we move today?

Our lawyer who helped with the I-131 application said " As long as you do not exceed staying 12 months in Europe. i.e come back for vacation 1 month each year you're good to go and won't loose any time"

Technically we did not exceed 12 months absence, however I have worked the whole time in Europe, but kept an address and bank accounts in US and filed taxes as well.

 

From what I can find online I don't believe what my lawyer told me to be accurate. We have been outside for too long and will have to start all over with the 5 years, or are our trips back enough to keep our initial date?

The 12 month rule your lawyer mentioned is to not lose your greencard/LPR status (the general rule is if you stay outside the US for a year or more your LPR status would be considered aboandoned). 

 

For the citizenship there are other rules. 

[Cathi 5,755]

A green card is for living in the U.S., not visiting. You do not have even close to the amount of time needed to apply for citizenship. You need to move to the U.S and park yourself here.