Residence and Physical Presence question

[steve-phuket 10]

my wife would like to start her N400 ASAP which since she's married to me, a USC, I think is 3 years after granting of her green card right?

 

we like to travel a lot. we're going to Thailand soon for 4 month and then Europe next summer for 2 month. I assume the physical presence is based on calendar year? So in 2025 we'll be gone Jan Feb Mar, then June July, and back to Thailand Dec, so right up against the 6 month limit. How strict is USCIS on the 6 month per year rule?. I read this "(absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period) ". how would we 'establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period' if we went a bit over? I'd like to do a quite trip to Canada next year too but would skip it if its a problem. These are all vacations, not moving abroad. We're retired so its what we do. 

 

I should add we own our house in NY and have no plans to move. My wife has family in Thailand and I have family in UK hence the reason for extended visits. She's only had her GC for 1 year so I'm just planning ahead at this point.

 

thanks

 

 

Edited November 15 by steve-phuket

[wildbug100420 102]

2 hours ago, steve-phuket said:

my wife would like to start her N400 ASAP which since she's married to me, a USC, I think is 3 years after granting of her green card right?

 

we like to travel a lot. we're going to Thailand soon for 4 month and then Europe next summer for 2 month. I assume the physical presence is based on calendar year? So in 2025 we'll be gone Jan Feb Mar, then June July, and back to Thailand Dec, so right up against the 6 month limit. How strict is USCIS on the 6 month per year rule?. I read this "(absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period) ". how would we 'establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period' if we went a bit over? I'd like to do a quite trip to Canada next year too but would skip it if its a problem. These are all vacations, not moving abroad. We're retired so its what we do. 

 

I should add we own our house in NY and have no plans to move. My wife has family in Thailand and I have family in UK hence the reason for extended visits. She's only had her GC for 1 year so I'm just planning ahead at this point.

 

thanks

 

 

I think you're cutting it too close being outside of the US. No absences over 6 months and more than half of the time in the USA. 

[Lil bear 4,188]

2 hours ago, steve-phuket said:

my wife would like to start her N400 ASAP which since she's married to me, a USC, I think is 3 years after granting of her green card right?

 

we like to travel a lot. we're going to Thailand soon for 4 month and then Europe next summer for 2 month. I assume the physical presence is based on calendar year? So in 2025 we'll be gone Jan Feb Mar, then June July, and back to Thailand Dec, so right up against the 6 month limit. How strict is USCIS on the 6 month per year rule?. I read this "(absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period) ". how would we 'establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period' if we went a bit over? I'd like to do a quite trip to Canada next year too but would skip it if its a problem. These are all vacations, not moving abroad. We're retired so its what we do. 

 

I should add we own our house in NY and have no plans to move. My wife has family in Thailand and I have family in UK hence the reason for extended visits. She's only had her GC for 1 year so I'm just planning ahead at this point.

 

thanks

 

 

It’s not on a calendar year basis. It’s over the 3 years of being a GC holder. There is both continuous residency ( no more than 6 months out of the US for any one stay) and  physical presence . ( maximum of 18 months out of the past 36 months present in the US) 

So she could do the  proposed travel in 2025 without breaking the Continuous residence, and still meet the presence requirements,  as long as time out  in 2024 and 2026 does not exceed 13 months total, with no trip exceeding 6 months. 
 

 

[steve-phuket 10]

10 hours ago, Lil bear said:

It’s not on a calendar year basis. It’s over the 3 years of being a GC holder. There is both continuous residency ( no more than 6 months out of the US for any one stay) and  physical presence . ( maximum of 18 months out of the past 36 months present in the US) 

So she could do the  proposed travel in 2025 without breaking the Continuous residence, and still meet the presence requirements,  as long as time out  in 2024 and 2026 does not exceed 13 months total, with no trip exceeding 6 months. 
 

 

thanks for the info. so i need to start a log of all our travel starting from when she got the GC. fortunately this year we've only been out of the country for a week so far so we have time in the bank so to speak.

 

 

[Lil bear 4,188]

21 minutes ago, steve-phuket said:

thanks for the info. so i need to start a log of all our travel starting from when she got the GC. fortunately this year we've only been out of the country for a week so far so we have time in the bank so to speak.

 

 

Yes good plan   Good records of v in b and out will make filing simpler   Remember too that the day you leave and the day you return are considered “in USA” days not out.. its only full 24hr periods midnight to midnight that are days out of the country. So if you depart on Friday and return the next Friday , you only count 6 days absence. 
But try not to run to close to the limit !!   You may have emergency travel needed that might take you over the limit. Better to play it safe until naturalization  is complete, then go for it !! 

[steve-phuket 10]

23 hours ago, Lil bear said:

But try not to run to close to the limit !!   You may have emergency travel needed that might take you over the limit. Better to play it safe until naturalization  is complete, then go for it !! 

thanks,  yes we will no go 18 months out to the day, probably 16 to 17 so we have a buffer. but its interesting that immigration tracks that in detail. i guess its all in an INS computer somewhere

[Lil bear 4,188]

42 minutes ago, steve-phuket said:

thanks,  yes we will no go 18 months out to the day, probably 16 to 17 so we have a buffer. but its interesting that immigration tracks that in detail. i guess its all in an INS computer somewhere

They track many things in detail.