Was away for work but stayed resident - When can I apply for Citizenship?

[Darson]

My wife and I got our GCs in March 2009. I was transferred with work to the Caribbean and moved with family in January 2012 and returned June 2014. We regularly came back to the US (approx twice a year for at least a week), got re-entry permits etc and I filed my taxes as resident for the whole time away. We also maintained our house in the US, car, bank accounts etc.

Looking at the worksheet, it asks if you have been away for more than 30 months in the last 5 years. I can safely say that I was never away continuously for more than 30 months (personally the longest stretch without returning to the US was 6 months but my wife and kids had one stint where they were out of the US for 11 months continuously). The total time away (including holidays elsewhere in the world) is currently sitting at about 34 months in the last 5 years.

Now that we are back permanently, every month we stay here reduces this number. In 5 months time, I will be able to say that I have been away for less than 30 months in the last 5 years. Can I apply for Citizenship then? Or is there some other constraint?

 

[newacct]

An absence of more than 6 months usually breaks continuous presence, which means you have to start over again with the 5 years (well, you need to wait 4 years + 1 day after you came back from that trip). You could possibly rebut the presumption of breaking continuous presence for an absence of between 6 months and 1 year, but I am not sure you can do that in this case. See http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html#S-C

 

[Darson]

Thanks for the reply. I think this statement: "Accordingly, the applicant’s residence is generally the applicant’s actual physical location regardless of his or her intentions to claim it as his or her residence." is what makes it challenging for me. I totally didn't think about this when I accepted the assignment abroad.

 

[Jackolantern]

Looking at the worksheet, it asks if you have been away for more than 30 months in the last 5 years. I can safely say that I was never away continuously for more than 30 months ...

The physical presence requirement means you must not have been outside the US for more than a total of 30 months in the past 5 years; nothing to do with continuous.

The continuous residence requirement is a separate thing, which says you should not be outside the US for more than 6 consecutive months during the past 5 years (but you may be able to overcome that with sufficient evidence of ties to the US held during the 6+ month absence(s)).