4 years and 1 day rule

SirDavid619

New Member
Hello! I was hoping someone would be able to help me out as to when I can qualify to apply for citizenship. As I understand the 4 years and 1 day rule applies to permanent residents who broke their continuous residency, and returned to the US and the clock started again from their arrival date to apply for naturalization. I was wondering if I qualify under this too.

I came to the US in September 2010 on an immigrant visa and was a permanent resident from then on. I applied for a re-entry permit after a few weeks, and returned back to my home country to finish my studies. I received my re-entry permit at the consulate in New Zealand, and stayed out of the US until a week before it expired in February 2013. I flew back into the US on February 11th, entered with my re-entry permit and green card without any issues and have been living in the US permanently since then. Since being out of the US for those 2 years and 3ish months defiantly breaks the continuous residency, do I qualify for the 4 years and 1 day rule, so I could apply on February 12th 2017 for naturalization? Or would I have to wait the full 5 years?

Thanks for your help!
 
I am not that sure whether OP can apply under 4 years and 1 day. Somewhere I read it would only apply to individuals who established their residency -> broke it -> and re-established it again. So if the OP never really lived in the U.S. before he got the re-entry permit he might get denied.

I would say if time is a concern and you have money for the fees, you can apply in February 2017, because there is a good chance of being approved. But I would not be surprised if an IO rejected the application. If that happens, you can reapply again immediately.
 
Top