N-400 early filing after extended absence

A

alex_templar

New Member
I’m US resident since 01/17/2004

I was outside US for 411 days in 2010-2011 (extended absence).

I was given a notice from USCIS that I can apply for Citizenship on 1/18/2015 (4 years and 1 day following my return).

On 1/18/2015 my physical presence in US during the last 5 years is 796 days (26.5 months).

900 days (30 months) of physical presence in US will be on 5/02/2015

Question 1: CAN I file my N-400 on 02/02/2015 (90-days prior 5/02/2015)?

Question 2: If YES can I travel outside US after Filing and Biometrics or I should stay to collect those 900s by the time of my Interview?
 
1. I think No. The continuous presence requirement is the only one where you can file when you are 90 days from meeting it. All the other requirements (including physical presence) have to be met at the time of filing.
 
You can't file early under the 4 year 1 day rule. You also can't apply before you reach AT LEAST 900 days, but I recommend waiting at least a couple of months more than 900.
 
You need 913 days of presence (half of 5 years), not 900. The 90-day early filing period doesn't apply to the 4 year 1 day rule, nor to the 913 days physical presence requirement.
 
I was outside of the US for almost 2 years having reentry permit, then arrived in Oct 2010 (they let me in with RP), stayed in the US for a week and applied for a second RP while in the US, then left the country again. That application was denied because I didn't make it to fingerprinting. Then, after my first RP already expired, i finally moved to the US permanently in March 2011 (less than 6 months since previous visit). Since then, I haven't left then country for longer than 3 months and have enough total accumulated presence to apply for citizenship.

Question: does the 4 years and 1 day rule apply to me? Because if it does, I can apply for citizenship already, but I am not sure, because the last period of absence between Oct 10 and March 11 was almost 6 months.
 
Filipok: I would bet that if you haven't left the U.S. for more than 3months & you have accumulated more than 913 days then you could have already applied in March/April 2015 already. So I would say yes ...

And I am on the same boat as you
 
octopus said:
Filipok: I would bet that if you haven't left the U.S. for more than 3months & you have accumulated more than 913 days then you could have already applied in March/April 2015 already. So I would say yes ...

And I am on the same boat as you
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All,

I hope someone knows the answer to this. I am less than 90 days from my aniversary date which is 9/20/15 (5 years). I am worried about the physical residency rule since I was outside the U.S. for 177 days. I have after then been in the country continously since June 2014. Do I have to be continously present in the country in order to apply for citizenship after my returning date or am I okay to apply for early filling? Should I wait before applying? i've seeked legal advice and received opposite responses and that's why I am confused. I hope someone can explain
 
ecs1792 said:
All,

I hope someone knows the answer to this. I am less than 90 days from my aniversary date which is 9/20/15 (5 years). I am worried about the physical residency rule since I was outside the U.S. for 177 days. I have after then been in the country continously since June 2014. Do I have to be continously present in the country in order to apply for citizenship after my returning date or am I okay to apply for early filling? Should I wait before applying? i've seeked legal advice and received opposite responses and that's why I am confused. I hope someone can explain
Click to expand...
You need to meet two requirements: 1) "continuous residence" for the last 5 years (you can apply 90 days before you meet this requirement if you meet the other requirements), and 2) "physical presence" for half the days in the last 5 years. I am assuming that physical presence is not a problem for you. Continuous residence is usually broken by a trip abroad of at least 6 months (though for trips of between 6 months and 1 year it's possible to overcome this). You didn't have such a trip, so you didn't break continuous residence. So when you are 90 days away from having 5 years of continuous residence, you can apply.
 
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