When can I apply for N-400?

[zorzor 7]

47 minutes ago, Redro said:

Even if you weren’t working- filing taxes with your wife is good practice as it indicates you maintained residence in the US. You also have to show you filed taxes as part of your N400 application or state why you didn’t file taxes… stating “I was visiting the U.S. not living there” shows you shouldn’t count any of your time in 2021 as part of time towards N400 app. 
Do you have 2 year or 10 year green card? 

I have a 2 year GC, and i received a 72-month extension for it. People say that right now waiting for the 10 year GC takes much longer, so I figured I could apply for N-400 before I even receive my 10 year GC. 

[zorzor 7]

32 minutes ago, Mike E said:

You returned to the U.S. Feb 22, 2022.

 

180 days before Feb 22, 2022 is August 26, 2021. So you legally you could apply August 26, 2024, without a waiver of the assumption of breaking continuous residency,   because August 26, 2021  to Feb 2022, 2022 is   an absence of just 180 days prior to Feb 22, 2022.
 

Or  better yet file August 27, 2024, which yields an absence of just 179 days prior to Feb 22, 2022.

Is there any source where i can find this rule? Because when i google this, i can see only 4 years and 1 day rule (or 2 years and 1 day)

[Boiler 45,311]

Yep apply 1st Jan 2025, meantime sort out the other stuff.

[Mike E 11,739]

6 hours ago, zorzor said:

Is there any source where i can find this rule? 

The same chapter that discusses the 4 year one day rule discusses the rule I described: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3

 

 

An applicant who is subject to a 5-year statutory period for naturalization is absent from the United States for 8 months, returning on August 1, 2018. The applicant has been absent from the United States for more than 6 months (180 days) but less than 1 year (365 days). As such, the applicant must be able to rebut the presumption of a break in the continuity of residence in order to meet the continuous residence requirement for naturalization.

If the applicant is unable to rebut the presumption, he or she must wait until at least 6 months from reaching the 5-year anniversary of the newly established statutory period following the applicant’s return to the United States. In this example, the newly established statutory period began on August 1, 2018, when the applicant returned to the United States. Therefore, the earliest the applicant may re-apply for naturalization is February 1, 2023, which is at least 6 months from the 5-year anniversary of the pertinent statutory period.^[18]

 

Ignore the nonsense about 6 calendar months. Every ISO I have encountered uses 180 days, and even Jim Hacking says it is 182.5 days, and even then only if he is appealing a case.

 

I do not advise you to try this rule. Any LPR that draws attention to an absence of more than 180 days is at risk. You were not paying rent; you clearly abandoned LPR status.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Mike E

[Mike E 11,739]

6 hours ago, zorzor said:

I have a 2 year GC, and i received a 72-month extension for it. People say that right now waiting for the 10 year GC takes much longer, so I figured I could apply for N-400 before I even receive my 10 year GC. 

Did you file I-751?

[Rocio0010 5,579]

Did you file for 751?

I am not going to comment on the time you need to have spent in the US, because that has already been addressed. 

However, there is also another requirement, and it is that you need to prove that you've been living together with your spouse for three years. You said that when you were in Ukraine for 290 something days, you only lived together for half that time. So, you don't qualify right now because you haven't lived with your spouse for three years.

 

Did you apply for the 751?

[Redro 4,611]

On 7/18/2023 at 4:45 PM, zorzor said:

I have a 2 year GC, and i received a 72-month extension for it. People say that right now waiting for the 10 year GC takes much longer, so I figured I could apply for N-400 before I even receive my 10 year GC. 

You’ll probably be waiting for 10 yr GC for quite a few months unless you receive an RFE if you have no marital evidence from the first year(you have no evidence you were living with your  partner?) … you’ll probably have to file for citizenship under the 5 year rule. You should make sure you file for the first year you were a resident as that part of the requirements of filing for citizenship. Make sure to amend your wife’s taxes and re-file MFJ. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Redro

[zorzor 7]

20 hours ago, Mike E said:

I do not advise you to try this rule. Any LPR that draws attention to an absence of more than 180 days is at risk. You were not paying rent; you clearly abandoned LPR status.

Just to clarify, you're not advising to try the 2 years and 1 day rule, correct? 

 

So, if I do apply on August 27, 2024, then everything should be fine and I shouldn't have an issue at all with the fact that I was absent from the U.S. for 10 months (given that everything else is okay)? 

20 hours ago, Mike E said:

Did you file I-751?

Yes, I did. Back in February of this year. 

[zorzor 7]

1 hour ago, Rocio0010 said:

Did you file for 751?

I am not going to comment on the time you need to have spent in the US, because that has already been addressed. 

However, there is also another requirement, and it is that you need to prove that you've been living together with your spouse for three years. You said that when you were in Ukraine for 290 something days, you only lived together for half that time. So, you don't qualify right now because you haven't lived with your spouse for three years.

 

Did you apply for the 751?

Yes, I did apply for I-751, earlier this year. 

 

Regarding the living situation: we were living together in Ukraine from June-October 2021 and from December 2021 - February 2022 (we have plenty of pictures together, we went on vacation together. The only reason we were apart October-December was because she went to the U.S. for those months for work). 

[Mike E 11,739]

2 minutes ago, zorzor said:

Just to clarify, you're not advising to try the 2 years and 1 day rule, correct? 

I am advising you to try neither the 2 year and 1 day rule, nor the 3 year less 180 days rule. Instead, as I have written before, I

 

On 7/17/2023 at 9:37 PM, Mike E said:

advise Feb 23, 2025, so that your absence is less likely to be an issue.

 

 

 

[zorzor 7]

46 minutes ago, Redro said:

You’ll probably be waiting for 10 yr GC for quite a few months unless you receive an RFE if you have no marital evidence from the first year(you have no evidence you were living with your  partner?) … you’ll probably have to file for citizenship under the 5 year rule. You should make sure you file for the first year you were a resident as that part of the requirements of filing for citizenship. Make sure to amend your wife’s taxes and re-file MFJ. 

Regarding the living situation. We were both in the U.S. - March 2021 - May 2021. Then I flew back home by myself, she stayed to work. Then, we were living together in Ukraine from June-October 2021 and from December 2021 - February 2022 (we have plenty of pictures together, we went on vacation together. The only reason we were apart October-December was because she went to the U.S. for those months for work). 

[zorzor 7]

4 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I am advising you to try neither the 2 year and 1 day rule, nor the 3 year less 180 days rule. Instead, as I have written before, I

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much Mike! You've helped a lot. 

 

If you don't mind I have one more quick question for you. One of the requirements for n-400 is to be enrolled in selective service 30 days after an immigrant comes to the U.S. I was enrolled in it before I turned 26, however, I was enrolled one year after I came here (it wasn't of my doing, it was automatic). Would that decrease my chances or ruin my case because it wasn't during those 30 days, it was one year after? 

[Mike E 11,739]

5 minutes ago, zorzor said:

I was enrolled in it before I turned 26, however, I was enrolled one year after I came here (it wasn't of my doing, it was automatic). Would that decrease my chances or ruin my case because it wasn't during those 30 days, it was one year after? 

The sole requirement for males who were in the U.S. between ages 18 and 26 less a day is that they registered. 
 

Since you registered before age 26, and assuming you can prove you are registered, this will have zero impact on naturalization, eligibility for federal employment, or eligibility for federal student aid.

[zorzor 7]

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

The sole requirement for males who were in the U.S. between ages 18 and 26 less a day is that they registered. 
 

Since you registered before age 26, and assuming you can prove you are registered, this will have zero impact on naturalization, eligibility for federal employment, or eligibility for federal student aid.

Thank you so much! Yes, when i'm entering my info at https://www.sss.gov/verify/ it's showing my Selective Service Number and the date of registration.