30 months of phisical residency up to interview date or application date?

veram

Registered Users (C)
:confused: Hi, does anyone knows if 30 months of phisical residency counts from application date or interview date? Untill application date I had about 40 month residency in US during the last 5 years,which was good. But now I stay most of the time in another country (i come back to US every 6 months though, to keep continious residency), and waiting for my interview date to arrive. I will get it in about 18 months( as "promised" in my receit) if no longer. That means 5 year mark will shift, and I will have less then 30 months of phisical residency. And if i don't come to live in US again, I will not meet the criteria, do I? As far as i know the general law say- 30 month in 5 years prior the application. But I'm worried about extended time due long waiting time for interview. Thanks.
 
What do you mean? How does one "fulfill the physical presence requirement" after application? Stay in the US 30 months out of what? Between date of application and interview?

Or, did you mean continuous presence requirement? i.e. no absence over 6 months?
 
JoeF said:
Both. To fulfill the 30 months physical presence, you need to have 30 months of physical presence in the last 5 years before you apply, and in the last 5 years before the interview, etc.
Similar with continuous residence.
Bottom line: between application and oath, the requirements need to be fulfilled at all times.

guys, if I am understanding it correctly, If I live in usa for 30 months after my GC is approved, can I apply for citizenship. Even before 5 years.

so if my GC was approved on Jan/2005, can I apply for citizenship in June/2007.

am I correct.
 
I beleive:

(1) Physical presence of 30 months needed ONLY between Green Card Date and date of application.

(2) Continuous residence needed at all times (even upto the day of the citizenship interview).

As per the law (INA Act 316) - note the contents of (1) and (2)

No person, except as otherwise provided in this title, shall be naturalized, unless such applicant, (1) immediately preceding the date of filing his application for naturalization has resided continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, within the United States for at least five years and during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing his application has been physically present therein for periods totaling at least half of that time, and who has resided within the State or within the district of the Service in the United States in which the applicant filed the application for at least three months, (2) has resided continuously within the United States from the date of the application up to the time of admission to citizenship, (3) during all the periods referred to in this subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.

I am banking on this - I have finished my Physical presence and plan to be on a project abroad for the next 1 year. In the interim, plan to visit as needed to maintain the "not out of US for more than 6 months" rule.

My GC date is Dec 25, 2000. Plan to file in 1st week of October 2005. During the time out of US, will continue to maintain apartment etc. in the US and will be paid in the US from my own company. Do you see any problems with this, JoeF, Rahul etc? Thanks for all your help.
 
30 month of phisical residence

Hi MainBheeCitizen,

I would not bank on that law, because laws are tricky and if everything was that black and white we would not have so many lawyers in this country.
As much as I want to believe this law ( I live with my husband in his country now), I will come back to US before my 30 months expires and stay untill I'm a citizen. Below is what I found in FAQ sections of this site, answeared by Kahna lawyer( similar to our issue I believe):

""""Q28 a.If a resident becomes eligible for US citizenship after satisifying five years of lawful permanent residency requirements, then when he applies for the US citizenship, does he/she have to be physically present in the US from the time the application is made to the time an interview / sworn-in happens?
b.If not, how much of that time does he / she can spend outside the US?
A28 a.Yes.
b.Less than 6 months, generally speaking.""""""

It's up to you, but we should probably get more information on this.
If you work for American company abroad, may be you can get away with your absence, but I doubt.

Thanks
 
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