Jacko and others

[PHSESAaug]

Guess after some research on the USCIS website, I think the following should be enough to get citizenship

1. Continuous Residence no absences longer than 6 months from the US
2. Physical Presence for 30 months

* As long as you meet the above mentioned conditions and have no criminal record, it should pretty much seal the deal

*It does not matter if you work abroad as long as you file income taxes in the US every year, maintain property or other ties to the US and visit the US before end of 6 months. No need for reentry permit

*Also the condition about working for the same employer is moot given the advent of AC-21

Can anyone find holes in this theory?

[Jackolantern]

* As long as you meet the above mentioned conditions and have no criminal record, it should pretty much seal the deal

No, doing that is not always safe. The IO can look at the entirety of the evidence to decide whether you broke continuous residence. Multiple trips close together of under 6 months each can still put you in trouble.

http://www.uscis.gov/propub/DocView/...89/192?hilite=

Continuous Residence Example


The applicant filed Form N-400 on September 8, 1999. He met the physical presence requirements during the statutory period. However, on June 15, 1999, he was sent overseas on an assignment by his employer, which is not an American corporation. He appeared for his interview on January 24, 2001. He informed the examining officer that he was on temporary work assignment in the U.K. and Russia. He acknowledged that he was at that time residing abroad with his spouse and children and gave his address in England. He was not gone for more than six months at any time, but his trips back to the U.S. from June 1999 to January 2001 were brief and sporadic. He cited several rulings from the 1940’s to support his claim that he had met the continuous residence requirement.


The application should be denied for lack of continuous residence under Section 316 of the Act. He failed to reside continuously in the U.S. from the date of application for naturalization up to the time of admission to citizenship.

[kali_GC]

Have you ever heard citizenship denial due to job change soon after GC approval??

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by kali_GC

Have you ever heard citizenship denial due to job change soon after GC approval??

No. Some people on this forum reported being hassled over it in the interview, but were ultimately approved after explaining why they changed jobs so soon and having the IO consult the supervisor. We don't know what would have happened if they didn't defend themselves well or the supervisor was in a bad mood.

[PHSESAaug]

The application should be denied for lack of continuous residence under Section 316 of the Act. He failed to reside continuously in the U.S. from the date of application for naturalization up to the time of admission to citizenship.

They want you to reside in the US during the naturalization process (application to eventual grant of citizenship)

Example:
In the US - 18 months
Outside the US - 30 months (trips within every 6 months to the US, file taxes in the US, maintain property or other ties)
Inside the US - 12 months
60 months completed - apply for citizenship from within the US

I am 100% convinced they can't deny citizenship for lack of continuous residence for the above mentioned case. Furthermore they just rejected his N-400 I believe - I will be surprised if they took away his green card

[GotPR?]

Originally Posted by PHSESAaug

Example:
In the US - 18 months
Outside the US - 30 months (trips within every 6 months to the US, file taxes in the US, maintain property or other ties)
Inside the US - 12 months
60 months completed - apply for citizenship from within the US

I am 100% convinced they can't deny citizenship for lack of continuous residence for the above mentioned case. Furthermore they just rejected his N-400 I believe - I will be surprised if they took away his green card

Well, before worrying about latck of continuous residence, the dude in example should be worried about his LPR status.

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by PHSESAaug

The application should be denied for lack of continuous residence under Section 316 of the Act. He failed to reside continuously in the U.S. from the date of application for naturalization up to the time of admission to citizenship.

They want you to reside in the US during the naturalization process (application to eventual grant of citizenship)

You have to continuously reside in the US for 5 years (or 3 years if married to USC) minus 90 days prior to applying IN ADDITION TO residing continuously from the date of application until the oath.

Taking four or five back-to-back 5 month trips doesn't mean denial is guaranteed. But once you do that, you aren't safe either, and the IO is free to look at the totality of the circumstances to approve or deny you. For example, your chances are better if you were doing a Master's degree overseas than if you were working for a non-US employer.

Anyway, this topic has been debated endlessly on this web site, and there are reports of some people being approved with such a pattern of trips as well people being denied. Do whatever you want, it's you who will bear the consequences good or bad, not us.

[PI3.14]

What if the applicant resided in the US for 59 of the 60 months prior to application but had to leave the country ...say for a family emergency or something, for a month after filing for citizenship and while the application is being processed. Will the person be denied citizenship?

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by PI3.14

What if the applicant resided in the US for 59 of the 60 months prior to application but had to leave the country ...say for a family emergency or something, for a month after filing for citizenship and while the application is being processed. Will the person be denied citizenship?

One month by itself is not going to be a problem. But when one month turns into 2 months which turns into 3 months which turns into 5 back-to-back trips of 4 months each, that's when you may get in trouble and it's up to the discretion of the IO and how well you can present evidence of strong ties to the US.

[nickS652]

Question: how exactly they track your "continuous presence"? Example: person who takes care of her sick parents travels often to her home country but resides in the US. Say she never leaves for more than 2 months, and in total stays say 7 months here and 6 months there. She does not work. So, formally she complies with 30 months persence requirement over 5 years. Now, come the interview for citizenship, what they gonna do, obviously she travels a lot. Will they review their database of departure and arrival records and calculate exact days over the 5 year period??? Somehow its hard for me to believe that they have time and capability for this. Maybe I'm wrong. OK, say they say she was not in compliance in year # 3 and she knows she was. Then she needs to pull out some kind of proof of departure and arrival records? Multiple stamps in old passports? By the way, passports get replaced with new ones and sometimes they take them away, so person won't have any proof of departure/arrival, really. Sometimes old passports get so clogged with stamps, its impossible to see anything. All this sounds a little unrealistic. Can anyone with similar case (multiple travel, no long stays) share what exactly happens in reality?

[nickS652]

Originally Posted by nickS652

Say she never leaves for more than 2 months, and in total stays say 7 months here and 6 months there.

Correction: 7 and 5 months, obviously

[far23]

"Who Is Eligible for Naturalization?"
(page #17 to 30)

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf

[Jackolantern]

Originally Posted by nickS652

Question: how exactly they track your "continuous presence"? Example: person who takes care of her sick parents travels often to her home country but resides in the US. Say she never leaves for more than 2 months, and in total stays say 7 months here and 6 months there. She does not work. So, formally she complies with 30 months persence requirement over 5 years. Now, come the interview for citizenship, what they gonna do, obviously she travels a lot. Will they review their database of departure and arrival records and calculate exact days over the 5 year period???

On the N-400 form, you are supposed to list every trip and the number of days for each trip. Then they cross-check it against their system.

A total of 5 months outside the US is not enough by itself to cause a problem with continuous residence. Those who take 3, 4, or 5 back-to-back trips of 5 months each are the ones who may run into trouble.