Will I be eligible to apply for naturalization?

[Nicolaszz 10]

Hey guys! 
 

I came here in June 2020 on a green card from Lebanon. I spent ~2 months in June 2020 - August 2020, then came again in December 2020 and spent ~1-2 months till Late January 2021. Afterwards, I came in June/July 2021, enrolled in college in the US, stayed till approx September October 2021 (college was online at the time), then went back to Lebanon. Did college online and then moved here to the US permanently in January 2022. Will I be eligible to apply for citizenship this summer? My physical presence has been more than 2.5 years but I'm worried they won't count that first year where I went back and forth as residency. I had to do college In Lebanon because it was too late to apply after I got my green card

I never stayed more than 180 days outside the country.

[EmilyW 1,477]

There is a calculator in the online application that will tell you if you are eligible or not.  But it certainly seems that, for the first ~18 months of your GC, you were not really living in the US but, rather, visiting.

[Boiler 45,772]

5 years is January 2027 less 90 days

[Nicolaszz 10]

6 hours ago, EmilyW said:

There is a calculator in the online application that will tell you if you are eligible or not.  But it certainly seems that, for the first ~18 months of your GC, you were not really living in the US but, rather, visiting.

 

5 hours ago, Boiler said:

5 years is January 2027 less 90 days

Yes, but I never left for more than 6 months to maintain continuous residency. Not sure if that would change the case. 

[OldUser 7,015]

9 minutes ago, Nicolaszz said:

 

Yes, but I never left for more than 6 months to maintain continuous residency. Not sure if that would change the case. 

USCIS can conclude you started to reside in the US in 2022.

 

Did you have a lease since 2020? Did you have a job in the US since 2020? If yes, then I'm taking my words back and you should apply right away.

 

[Nicolaszz 10]

28 minutes ago, OldUser said:

USCIS can conclude you started to reside in the US in 2022.

 

Did you have a lease since 2020? Did you have a job in the US since 2020? If yes, then I'm taking my words back and you should apply right away.

 

I didn't have a job. I was only 17-18. I enrolled in college in the US in August 2021, but it was online during COVID. How can I try to persuade them that my residency was in the US since 2020 but I had to get my affairs in order (which I really did) back home before physically resided permanently?

My mom applied for taxes as a non filer during that 2020-2021 period where we hadn't yet officially moved in to the US. Would that be helpful at all? 

Edited 10 hours ago by Nicolaszz

[Boiler 45,772]

43 minutes ago, Nicolaszz said:

 

Yes, but I never left for more than 6 months to maintain continuous residency. Not sure if that would change the case. 

You mentioned that in your original post

[Nicolaszz 10]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

You mentioned that in your original post

Yes, which is what is not clear to me. I plugged the numbers in the naturalization calculator, and it said that I should be eligible to apply come March 2025, since I haven't taken trips longer than 6 months to break continuous residency. I'm just wondering how this would come up in a naturalization interview. 

[Boiler 45,772]

I assume you plugged in the wrong date, not exactly a difficult calculation.

[OldUser 7,015]

18 minutes ago, Nicolaszz said:

 I'm just wondering how this would come up in a naturalization interview. 

You'll have to provide list of all trips outside the US in the last 5 years. That's how your residency in 2020-2022 may get questioned. Essentially, you didn't have strong ties to the US in those years.

[OldUser 7,015]

32 minutes ago, Nicolaszz said:

My mom applied for taxes as a non filer during that 2020-2021 period where we hadn't yet officially moved in to the US. Would that be helpful at all? 

You're saying yourself in 2020-2021 you haven't officially moved to the US. You need to be officially and in fact living in the US to use this time for naturalization.

[Nicolaszz 10]

36 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I assume you plugged in the wrong date, not exactly a difficult calculation.

I didn't. It just asked if I've taken any trips longer than 6 months, which I haven't. Is there any other calculator? Also, what would I lose if I applied and didn't get accepted?

[Nicolaszz 10]

27 minutes ago, OldUser said:

You're saying yourself in 2020-2021 you haven't officially moved to the US. You need to be officially and in fact living in the US to use this time for naturalization.

 

41 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I assume you plugged in the wrong date, not exactly a difficult calculation.

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

In chapter 3. Summary, it says that if your absence was less than 6 months, then you do not need to overcome a presumption of breaking the continious residence part and you are eligible to apply for naturalization. Before I came here, during the 2020-2021, when telling people that I need to make back and forth trips of a couple months to get my affairs in order, people here would tell me that it's going to make me lose my green card. Yet I never got asked a single question at customs in 4 trips overall.. I feel this forum overcomplicates things.

[Boiler 45,772]

Then why are you asking? Apply and let us know how it goes.

[carmel34 3,647]

3 hours ago, Nicolaszz said:

Also, what would I lose if I applied and didn't get accepted?

If denied you can reapply.