180 days rule for Continued residence

[vcpat]

I have simple question,

Continued residence requirement for citizenship application states that one should not take "trips no longer than 180 days".

My question is that "Are these 180 days counted in one trip or 180 days total combined for all trips"?

Thanks

 

[Jackolantern]

If the trips are very close together they may combine them (e.g. two 5-month trips with a couple weeks in between is like a 10-month trip).

 

[OK-Boy]

What's your source of this info? I think one long trip should consider one trip no matter someoen leave the country after a day for another long trip as long as both of them don't more than 180 days....

If the trips are very close together they may combine them (e.g. two 5-month trips with a couple weeks in between is like a 10-month trip).

 

[Jackolantern]

Even if each trip is under 6 months, you may still be found to have broken the continuous residence.

http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?p=1759394#post1759394

 

[boatbod]

What's your source of this info? I think one long trip should consider one trip no matter someoen leave the country after a day for another long trip as long as both of them don't more than 180 days....

You're overlooking the issue of "intent". Basically if you make one or more back-to-back trips with a combined duration longer than the continuous residence cutoff period, an IO may decide your actions demonstrated intent to break residence and your short "visits" to the US were merely an attempt to circumvent the rules.

Its a very gray area of immigration law, but one that USCIS shows very little flexibility or tolerance to people stretching the boundaries.

 

[immigrateful]

Vcpat,

This forum is full of valuable information and I appreciate the comments from the two persons cautioning you. I have the CR situation in my case and I've received similar advice from them in the past - most times almost in unison.

I had my interview recently and here's first hand experience - my interview lasted a total of 10-12 minutes. I passed the test. My IO mentioned in passing that I had 4 back-to-back 5 month-3 week long trips outside of the USA. She gave me forms N-14 and 652 to send my proof of residency documents to her. She was very casual about the whole thing and said "As soon as you send in those documents, we'll schedule you for the next oath ceremony". When I asked her what documents constituted demonstration of proof of residency, I was told very casually "Oh, it could be something like your bank statements or credit card bills or a leasing agreement."

My case might still take the denial route but I am not losing sleep over this and I would suggest that people in a similar situation do the same.

I offered 100% truthful information to the officer about the entire application including the CR situation. When asked if the reasons that necessitated the trips still persisted, I replied "Yes".

 

[Bobsmyth]

Jackolantern's argument is based on a situation straight from the adjudicator's manual, but there's more to it.
Simply put, several short back to back trips trips under 6 months can count as intent to break continuous residency unless you can provide documentation to prove otherwise.

 

[vcpat]

Thanks

Thanks for replies.

My situation is 95days trip one year and 98 days trip next year (totalling more than 180 days). From the information received it looks I am on very safe side.

But good to know about back to back trips if such situation arise.

Thanks

 

[del0175]

The intent is key. For instance if you took those trips to help your employer set up overseas operations and continued to earn in the US and do taxes here, there is nothing to worry, but if you came to the US for a week or two just to maintain your status while you effectively lived elsewhere, well, that is definitely not good.

 

[cafeconleche]

immigrateful, may I ask as to why you have to make such long back-to-back trips? Is it for work? In my case, I will have had about 4 trips of similar length, but in my case it's because I'm studying abroad. I've been told on this forum that in such circumstances, I may be in oke shape, but this is not for sure. I'd love to know how your case goes.

 

[Jackolantern]

Jackolantern's argument is based on a situation straight from the adjudicator's manual, but there's more to it.
Simply put, several short back to back trips trips under 6 months can count as intent to break continuous residency unless you can provide documentation to prove otherwise.

The main point is to dispel the common misconception where people think they're safe because each trip is under 6 months.

 

[immigrateful]

Even if each trip is under 6 months, you may still be found to have broken the continuous residence.

http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?p=1759394#post1759394

This example could be cited in the adjudicators manual to demonstrate the fact that the applicant needs to maintain CR until the oath ceremony. It also states that the applicant acknowledged that he was residing abroad (as opposed to visiting abroad).

Two comments:

1. As long as an applicant is resident in the USA, there should not be a problem with the CR requirement despite the long back-to-back trips.

2. The further in the past these trips (within the 5 year accrual period), the smaller the chances of denial.

 

[immigrateful]

immigrateful, may I ask as to why you have to make such long back-to-back trips? Is it for work? In my case, I will have had about 4 trips of similar length, but in my case it's because I'm studying abroad. I've been told on this forum that in such circumstances, I may be in oke shape, but this is not for sure. I'd love to know how your case goes.

My trips were not for work. I had to make those trips due to a serious illness of a family member (parent). I will post the outcome of my case but I'm not expecting anything from the USCIS for about 120 days.

The Adjudicator's manual and past legal proceedings are often cited in this forum but they make little sense given that each case is unique and this is a gray & subjective area. There is no math to the decision making and if your case is otherwise clean, you should not have any problems. Perhaps the only math in the whole process is getting 6 out of 10 questions right for the test. All else is a subjective matter.

The general disposition of the USCIS and it's IOs is in favor of the applicant while ensuring immigration laws and rules are not being blatantly violated.

 

[Jackolantern]

1. As long as an applicant is resident in the USA, there should not be a problem with the CR requirement despite the long back-to-back trips.

That's also as long as the applicant can prove to the satisfaction of the IO that they were resident in the USA during those trips.

It's not impossible to get approved with a series of back-to-back trips. You just have a higher burden of proof to overcome, and the mere fact that each trip is under 6 months is not sufficient.

 

[immigrateful]

That's also as long as the applicant can prove to the satisfaction of the IO that they were resident in the USA during those trips.

It's not impossible to get approved with a series of back-to-back trips. You just have a higher burden of proof to overcome, and the mere fact that each trip is under 6 months is not sufficient.

As I mentioned in my post #6, this whole thing just came up in passing in the whole 10-12 minute interview. It did not seem to me like the big deal it's often made out to be out here.

The IO said that simple bank statements or credit card statements sent to a US address while I was visiting abroad would satisfy her. For me these were very easy to find. In that regard the burden of proof while resting with me seemed to be minimal (amounting a 5 minute call to my bank and a trip to the local post office to mail the documents).

In summary, while I'm still waiting on a decision, I think the whole experience was pretty smooth and I sometimes wonder whether it was worth the resources I've spent on the whole CR thing.

 

[Jackolantern]

As I mentioned in my post #6, this whole thing just came up in passing in the whole 10-12 minute interview. It did not seem to me like the big deal it's often made out to be out here.

You got lucky. Other people on this forum have been harassed or denied because of a similar situation, with the IO even calculating days and pointing out that they were outside the US for a total of (for example) 550 days of a 600-day period.

 

[immigrateful]

You got lucky. Other people on this forum have been harassed or denied because of a similar situation, with the IO even calculating days and pointing out that they were outside the US for a total of (for example) 550 days of a 600-day period.

I hope I'm not speaking too soon but my experience has been quite the opposite. I've dealt with the USCIS for more than a decade and I've never felt like I'm being harassed. Moreover, I've found that the USCIS is genuinely disposed in the favor of the applicant and they deny applications only when there is blatant fraud.

I do not think luck will be a factor in the adjudication of my application.

 

[boatbod]

I do not think luck will be a factor in the adjudication of my application.

Luck most certainly was a factor in your case. Put simply, you got lucky when your case was assigned to a laid-back IO. If you'd been interviewed by a more junior officer with something to prove, your experience might have been very different. In fact, it still could, but hopefully everything will go the way you think it will.

 

[immigrateful]

Luck most certainly was a factor in your case. Put simply, you got lucky when your case was assigned to a laid-back IO. If you'd been interviewed by a more junior officer with something to prove, your experience might have been very different. In fact, it still could, but hopefully everything will go the way you think it will.

The officer who interview me was a very young officer and she certainly was not laid back - I guess her interviewing style was polite and could have been interpreted by some as laid-back. But that was most certainly a facade. While the CR thing came up only in passing, she did ask me all the relevant questions in the 2-3 minutes we spent on this topic. Why was I gone so long? Did the conditions that required me to go still persist? And a few others.

Junior officer or senior officer - I do not think they are out there to get you.

Also I do not think there are too many officers who are incompetent for anyone to get lucky. They know exactly what they are doing and the organization as a whole is generally disposed to making the life of an immigrant easier by helping him/her become a citizen rather than finding minor flaws with the applications.

Quite obviously, I'm hoping for the best as well but I'm most definitely not losing sleep over this.

 

[Jackolantern]

I've dealt with the USCIS for more than a decade and I've never felt like I'm being harassed.

Lucky you. I've also dealt with them for more than a decade and I've been harassed on more than one occasion (at the embassy and at the port of entry). One of my brothers was also harassed recently ... after two decades of traveling in and out of the US and never overstaying (never spending more than a few weeks per year, except when he had a J visa some years ago), they really grilled him at the embassy in his latest application for a tourist visa and he had to fight like a dog with every point he could think of and every document and paper he had on him. At the end of it they only gave him a 1-year visa instead of the 5- or 10-year visas that he got in the past.

Do you happen to be a white European or Canadian? I'm not.