Clarification on the 3 month residency requirement in the district you are submitting N-400

[e_i_d_e_l]

Hello, I would greatly appreciate it if you could clarify this issue for me:

I will become eligible to apply for my US citizenship in January, 2010.

There is a requirement saying that you must reside within the district where you are submitting your application for 3 months prior to applying.

Does that refer to actual physical presence or simply maintaining a residence there?

Due to a family-related issue I have to travel outside the US during October & November.

Will I still be able to submit my N-400 in January or do I have to be physically in the US for the 3 months prior to applying?

Thank you very much for your help.

[richmondva]

Yes! You are free to travel as long as you can prove that you were a resident there for over 3 months. Mortagage/rent papers, leases, insurances, post office address, utility bills, telephone bills, drivers license etc. should be from that location/district and you should be fine. Don't try to fool USCIS in any way unless you had seriously maintanied a residence there. In my case I had gone out of country for a few weeks and applied right after I came back and had no issues. Of course I have been in the same house for over 5 years (same district for over 12 years ) and I have tax returns and all the documentation in the world to prove I have been a resident here.

[clt_guy]

Richmondva,

Here's my case using your example... Just suppose you were not in the same house for 5 years. You came to your house 4 months ago, but travelled out of the country for 3 months. Could you apply?

[sukhi]

In my case,i went to india in dec 2008,came back in april 2009,applied for citizenship in may 2009.You have to be at the same address for more than 3 months before you leave the country & should come back to same address.
Its my opinion.

[clt_guy]

Sukhi,

Did they check the dates on your N-400 or did they ask you about it during your interview?

[richmondva]

Richmondva,

Here's my case using your example... Just suppose you were not in the same house for 5 years. You came to your house 4 months ago, but travelled out of the country for 3 months. Could you apply?

clt_guy:

As long as you have all the documents that I had listed earlier (and in fact some more that I may have forgotten to list, example AR-11), you should be officially eligible at least in my opinion. Having said that if I were in such a situation I would actually delay my application by a few months just to be on the safe side assuming there is no urgent need to apply. I always prefer and recommend to keep the case as straight forward as possible and avoid any anxieties. If there is even a minor reason for anyone to question the residency and then one has go out of the way to establish and prove one's case; it may not be worth for gaining 3 or 4 months time in the application process.

[sukhi]

Sukhi,

Did they check the dates on your N-400 or did they ask you about it during your interview?

No,they didn't ask me about this.I have 4 long trips in my last 5 years & one trip to canada for 3 days.IO asked me only about canada trip,nothing else.But he checked all dates with passport(which i filled on N400 for trips outside US).

[sudha1999]

Hello, I would greatly appreciate it if you could clarify this issue for me:

I will become eligible to apply for my US citizenship in January, 2010.

There is a requirement saying that you must reside within the district where you are submitting your application for 3 months prior to applying.

Does that refer to actual physical presence or simply maintaining a residence there?

Due to a family-related issue I have to travel outside the US during October & November.

Will I still be able to submit my N-400 in January or do I have to be physically in the US for the 3 months prior to applying?

Thank you very much for your help.

According to Guide to Naturalization (M-476), one must live in the USCIS district for at least 3 months before applying for citizenship. There is one exception in case of students who are financially dependent on their parents. If I were you, I would wait for another two months without risking the naturalization application. As other members of the forum shared their experiences, you may try to apply immediately after returning to your home. Good luck!

[e_i_d_e_l]

Thank you for all your responses.

I have been living at my present address for about 5 years now, so I have fulfilled more than 3 months of living in the district in which I am applying.

Looking into this issue online, I found this:

"(ii) Return to the United States. If, upon returning to the United States, an applicant returns to the State or Service district where the applicant last resided, the applicant will have complied with the continuous residence requirement specified in §316.2(a)(5) when at least three months have elapsed, including any part of the applicant's absence, from the date on which the applicant first established that residence. If the applicant establishes residence in a State or Service district other than the one in which he or she last resided, the applicant must complete three months at that new residence to be eligible for naturalization. "

From what I understand from the above passage, one is eligible to apply as long as one has maintained a 3 month residency in one's district. Applying right after coming back from a foreign trip doesn't seem to matter,as long as you return in the same district.

Am I interpreting this correctly? Thank you.

[richmondva]

According to Guide to Naturalization (M-476), one must live (physical presence) in the USCIS district for at least 3 months before applying for citizenship. There is one exception in case of students who are financially dependent on their parents.
I am not sure utilities bills, rent or mortgage payment receipts and bank statements will help meet the 3 month eligibility requirement in your absence. These may be useful in case of extended absence for 6 months and over. If you need to travel outside country for two months, you may plan and make a trip. My suggestion is you can apply only when you are living continuously 3 months at the current address. If I were you, I would wait for another two months without risking the naturalization application.

I am not so sure whether the word "physical presence" has been used in this context in that document. Of course I haven't checked it recently but I sincerely doubt it. The "physical presence" requirement is for 30 months in the US out of a total of 5 years (for 5 year PR based applicants).

I agree though that one needs to "live" in the district for at least 3 months. However one does not break that requirement if he or she goes to visit a friend in the neighboring state over a weekend or if a student goes to college in a different state. In any case to corroborate this claim, I have personally applied within 3 weeks after coming from a 6 week international trip and did not encounter any problems whatsoever. However in the situation clt_guy has described in post #3 I do suggest that he/she wait for sometime (if its not urgent) before applying although in reality it is unlikely to cause any problems assuming he has actually relocated to the new district before going on the trip. In fact one of my friends moved to the Bay area about 8 months ago and has constantly been traveling internationally on business for the past 2 years (2 weeks at a time Monday through the following Thursday and then home for 3 day weekends and then back to the project). His application too got approved without any issues. He just had to make the extra trips for FP and Interview.

From what I understand, USCIS has this requirement so that people only file from their home district and do not misuse and file from a different location just because the processing times are faster elsewhere; thereby causing chaos and unexpected loads at some locations for USCIS.

[Bobsmyth]

According to Guide to Naturalization (M-476), one must live (physical presence) in the USCIS district for at least 3 months before applying for citizenship.

You're confusing physical presence with residency. The guide doesn't state that you must be physically present in your district area for 3 months months before you apply. It says you must have lived in your district area from at least 3 months before you apply.

[sudha1999]

[QUOTE=Bobsmyth;2100060]

According to Guide to Naturalization (M-476), one must live (physical presence) in the USCIS district for at least 3 months before applying for citizenship. /QUOTE]

You're confusing physical presence with residency. The guide doesn't state that you must be physically present in your district area for 3 months months before you apply. It says you must have lived in your district area from at least 3 months before you apply.

Sorry for confusion, I corrected the posting. I agree with you physical presence and residency are different in above context.

[clt_guy]

Thank you all for your input. I guess to play it safe, will have to wait for 3 months.