PR for around 10 years, N400 but one travel outside the US for more than 6 months and less than 1 year

[SamA01 4]

Hi, I need some guidance.

My mom has been a PR for close to 10 years living with me after my wife passed away.  I have two children. 

She only travelled outside the US for less than a few weeks at a time until a time between 2021 Sept. to April 2022 she was outside the US with me for around 8 months.  I have my own house and my older dauther stayed back in the US during this time.

 

There were three reasons for this extended travel of 8 months away from US.

1. Her sister had a terminal cancer overseas.  She passed away finally in 2022.

2. One of my dauthers is autistic and her condition worsened.  We needed more help from her mother side of the family to take care of her to see if it would help her.

3. She is 76 now and did not want to travel too much during Covid.  She could come back to US within 6 months and travel back overseas but she is too old, it was risky for her health.

 

We filed for her N400 without representation in 2018.  She passed her test but in Chicago the interviewing officer was way too biased and racist and said she could not communicate well in English.  Although she can get her way by speaking and understanding English.  I was way too busy at that time to mount any legal challenge.   As an example, the interviewing officer asked her if she would marry again to bring any terrorist into the US, go figure.  My faster has passed away over 15 years ago.

 

Now her 10 year GC is expiring.  I can file to renew her GC or file for N400.

However, she has one absence in 10 years that is 8 months long, in 2021-2022.

 

We are currently out of the US for travel/vacation since May 03, 2023 but plan to be back in the next two months.  Total 4 months outside the US this year.  I plan to get married myself this time (for a different thread later).

Again, this this time, her second sister has cancer and also I have many things to take care of overseas with my parental and personal assets.

 

My Question: Shall I file N400 for her at this time, hire an attorney and then address the issue of 8 months spent outside of the US for her during the interview?

Or she would need to wait a few more years before we can file for her N400 and I should file to renew her GC at this time?  My mom's permanent home is in US but we have many close relatives living outside of the US in Pakistan and Canada.

 

Thank you for your time and help

Edited June 26, 2023 by SamA01
typo

[Timona 4,207]

File online. 

No need for attorney 

[Marieke H 2,496]

1 hour ago, SamA01 said:

 

We filed for her N400 without representation in 2018.  She passed her test but in Chicago the interviewing officer was way too biased and racist and said she could not communicate well in English.  Although she can get her way by speaking and understanding English.  I was way too busy at that time to mount any legal challenge.   As an example, the interviewing officer asked her if she would marry again to bring any terrorist into the US, go figure.  My faster has passed away over 15 years ago.

Make sure she is well prepared for the test this time; maybe find her some classes for immigrants seeking to naturalize.

 

And I can assure you that there was nothing racist about the questions the officer asked; they are professional, and it is just part of their job to ask these kind of questions. During my AOS interview, I was asked if I intended to overthrow the government and if I associate with terrorists. 

[Boiler 45,467]

She can certainly file when eligible, most people do so without a Lawyer but her money.

 

I assume her language skills have improved?

[Mike E 11,739]

3 hours ago, SamA01 said:

My Question: Shall I file N400 for her at this time, hire an attorney and then address the issue of 8 months spent outside of the US for her during the interview?

1. She is outside the U.S. now. She needs to show the begin and end dates of each travel abroad. Afaik, “current” is not a valid answer.

 

2. In less than the past 6 months she had been outside the U.S. for 4 months. One requirement is 3 months of residency in the state where she will be filing

 

3. So given 1 and 2 she is not eligible to file N-400.

 

3 hours ago, SamA01 said:

However, she has one absence in 10 years that is 8 months long, in 2021-2022

What ties to the U.S. can she demonstrate at that time? Such as tax returns, lease, mortgage, deed?

 

3 hours ago, SamA01 said:

hire an attorney

I would have an attorney attend any N-400 interview she has.

[SalishSea 17,818]

7 hours ago, SamA01 said:

Hi, I need some guidance.

My mom has been a PR for close to 10 years living with me after my wife passed away.  I have two children. 

She only travelled outside the US for less than a few weeks at a time until a time between 2021 Sept. to April 2022 she was outside the US with me for around 8 months.  I have my own house and my older dauther stayed back in the US during this time.

 

There were three reasons for this extended travel of 8 months away from US.

1. Her sister had a terminal cancer overseas.  She passed away finally in 2022.

2. One of my dauthers is autistic and her condition worsened.  We needed more help from her mother side of the family to take care of her to see if it would help her.

3. She is 76 now and did not want to travel too much during Covid.  She could come back to US within 6 months and travel back overseas but she is too old, it was risky for her health.

 

We filed for her N400 without representation in 2018.  She passed her test but in Chicago the interviewing officer was way too biased and racist and said she could not communicate well in English.  Although she can get her way by speaking and understanding English.  I was way too busy at that time to mount any legal challenge.   As an example, the interviewing officer asked her if she would marry again to bring any terrorist into the US, go figure.  My faster has passed away over 15 years ago.

 

Now her 10 year GC is expiring.  I can file to renew her GC or file for N400.

However, she has one absence in 10 years that is 8 months long, in 2021-2022.

 

We are currently out of the US for travel/vacation since May 03, 2023 but plan to be back in the next two months.  Total 4 months outside the US this year.  I plan to get married myself this time (for a different thread later).

Again, this this time, her second sister has cancer and also I have many things to take care of overseas with my parental and personal assets.

 

My Question: Shall I file N400 for her at this time, hire an attorney and then address the issue of 8 months spent outside of the US for her during the interview?

Or she would need to wait a few more years before we can file for her N400 and I should file to renew her GC at this time?  My mom's permanent home is in US but we have many close relatives living outside of the US in Pakistan and Canada.

 

Thank you for your time and help

English proficiency is part of the deal when you want to naturalize.   It’s not “racist” for the immigration officer to require that-  it’s the law.

[SalishSea 17,818]

5 hours ago, Marieke H said:

Make sure she is well prepared for the test this time; maybe find her some classes for immigrants seeking to naturalize.

 

And I can assure you that there was nothing racist about the questions the officer asked; they are professional, and it is just part of their job to ask these kind of questions. During my AOS interview, I was asked if I intended to overthrow the government and if I associate with terrorists. 

Those terrorism/coup questions are also contained in every immigration form my husband has ever had to fill out.

[SamA01 4]

15 hours ago, Marieke H said:

And I can assure you that there was nothing racist about the questions the officer asked; they are professional, and it is just part of their job to ask these kind of questions. During my AOS interview, I was asked if I intended to overthrow the government and if I associate with terrorists. 

There were other questions which were not appropriate for her age.  Also, her mom was living then at 85.  She was Canadian.  They asked if she married again to bring in a terrorist.  Nevertheless, my mom is not bad with English, she is educated but has some hearing issues.  I wish I had an attorney present during the interview.

[SamA01 4]

15 hours ago, Mike E said:

. In less than the past 6 months she had been outside the U.S. for 4 months. One requirement is 3 months of residency in the state where she will be filing

She was in the US for whole one year before she travelled again overseas this May 03.  She has residency of Illinios for a long time as she lives there.  If I am not mistaken, the 3 month rule is to show that you live in the area where you are filing from.   She has bank account and filed taxes in Illinois (no income).  She has lived in IL since she got her GC 10 years back.

She is overseas only because now her second sister has cancer and is being treated.  During the interview time is can be established that she travelled mainly to be close to her siblings during their last days.

15 hours ago, Mike E said:

What ties to the U.S. can she demonstrate at that time? Such as tax returns, lease, mortgage, deed?

She only filed taxes occasionally since she has 0 income.  This was not an issue last time she had the interview.  She has no lease or mortgage, she stays with me and I support her financially.

 

15 hours ago, Mike E said:

I would have an attorney attend any N-400 interview she has.

This is what I am thinking.  But I wanted to get the opinion here that it would be ok to file N400 for her even if she has a 8 month stay outside of the US in 2021-2022 during her last 10 years in the US mainly due to reasons mentioned above.

[SamA01 4]

11 hours ago, SalishSea said:

English proficiency is part of the deal when you want to naturalize.   It’s not “racist” for the immigration officer to require that-  it’s the law.

She can communicate well but at her age I hope they are not expecting her to be able to give a public speech in English.  The interview officer talked to her for at least 20 minutes and she answered his questions.  My only thing is that I was not allowed in during the interview.  I mean, at her age, one has to be a little more considerate of her condition, i.e., lack of hearing, age etc. and take those factors in account.  This was a time of Trump and it felt like the whole immigration department was in sync with how the administration was thinking about immigration.

[Boiler 45,467]

In the circumstances she should consult with an Immigration Lawyer when she returns home.

[SamA01 4]

11 hours ago, SalishSea said:

Those terrorism/coup questions are also contained in every immigration form my husband has ever had to fill out.

Yes, we fill them out, but asking a 74 year old lady that would she me marrying a terrorist just to bring that person into the US, to me its crossing the redline.  The officer also asked a similar question to her about her mother (age at least 90) who was living at that time and was a Canadian national.

[SamA01 4]

2 hours ago, SamA01 said:

Also, her mom was living then at 85

Sorry age 90 at that time..

 

The system wont allow me to make any more posts for today. 
She did not have a single over 183 day absence at the time of her first N400 filing.

If it can be proven she was overseas long for the 3 reasons listed above, can the 183 (less than 365) day challenge be addressed at the interview?

Edited June 27, 2023 by SamA01

[Boiler 45,467]

1 minute ago, SamA01 said:

Yes, we fill them out, but asking a 74 year old lady that would she me marrying a terrorist just to bring that person into the US, to me its crossing the redline.  The officer also asked a similar question to her about her mother (age at least 90) who was living at that time and was a Canadian national.

She does not have to Naturalise, I know someone Canadian actually who has been a Permanent Resident for at least 40 years, apparently he did not want to naturalise due to some Inheritance Tax aspect, not that it matters what the reason is.

[Mike E 11,739]

3 minutes ago, SamA01 said:

If I am not mistaken, the 3 month rule is to show that you live in the area where you are filing from

She is not sleeping in IL these past 3 months. She is not living in IL.

 

4 minutes ago, SamA01 said:

She only filed taxes occasionally since she has 0 income.  This was not an issue last time she had the interview.

Did she have any single absences of over 180 days at her last interview? 
 

When people spent 181 or more consecutive days outside the U.S., as per https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/attachments.pdf she needs evidence she did not intend to break continuous residency. Tax returns, lease, something. 

4 minutes ago, SamA01 said:

She has no lease or mortgage,

I do not believe she is qualified to file N-400.