Continuous residency question - how much chance can they deny my n-400

pipilu

New Member
Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. Looking for some advice. The story is a bit long, but just be patient :)

I came to US when I was in the young 20s. Then studied here and got my MS and Ph.D. Got my GC in 2006 through EB1A. Met my wife here. Got married, got kids, bought two houses (we rented out one). My wife became a citizen four years ago but I didn't just because of laziness.

Both my wife and I had decent job, decent income till the end of last year when I fought with my boss and quit the job. At that time my father in law was pretty sick and my mom in law broke the leg. My wife and I decided then I went back to my home country to give them some care since the kids need mom and she has a good job. My wife is the only child in her family. So I went back to my home country.

Also at the time a friend in my home country invited me to help him in his business. Since the friend and my parents in law are in the same city, I agreed. So I accepted a part time position in his company.

I came back this Feb and stayed home 3 wks. I planned to come back again in June but my father in law got heart attack and I had to cancel my flight and stayed there till end of Aug. The absence of second trip was 172 days. This was the only absence that was more than 2 months since I came to US 18 years ago. When I crossed CBP, I got stopped and questioned. The officer warn me that such long stay could lead to GC cancellation. Of course he didn't write down anything, but just let me go and recommend me to get citizenship or re-entry permit.

I was a bit scared, though I don't believe that my GC is in any danger since I have all my family, properties, insurances, 401, stocks, ... and almost all my friends, work connections, etc in the US. But I was still concerned.

So I sent n-400 at the end of Aug, and honestly disclosed that I had a part time job overseas. I didn't think much at that time, and traveled back to my home country at the end of Sept after my bio, since my parents in law were still quite sick. And now and then I did do some work for my friend.

Now it is time for the interview (end of this month in Boston). When I searched the forum, I became worried: I worry that my part time job will give the IO a reason to deny my application, or even take away my GC :-(

BTW: I have asked my friends to drafted a letter stating that my position is temporary and part time (last no more than a year). I also have all the copies of parents in law's hospital bills, etc.

So people, pls weigh in what I should do?

Here is a summary:
1997: came to US
2002: started to work, and got married
2006: first kid, first house, and GC (working for the same employer for 12 years)
2009: second kid
2011: second house, wife became a citizen
11/2014: quit my job, and went back to my home country, taking care of my sick parents in law, and working part time in my home country.

trips (the previous ones lasted no more than 3 weeks, so shall ignored)
12/10/2014 - 2/15/2015
3/10/2015 - 8/27/2015 (got questioned by CBP when returned)
10/01/2015 - 11/25/2015 (have booked the ticket)
12/12/2015 - Interview (scheduled)
 
In my opinion, you should be fine. It's not like you have a series of back to back trips of slightly under 6 months. You should definitely emphasize that you were helping sick family members. However, do you have to disclose your part time job in your home country? Is there a way you could leave that out? I think you have good chances, but evidently that's just my opinion.
 
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