i had green card since 1997 and stayed for 1mth in 97 and went back because of school issues,came back in98 for 1 week and left again. came back in 2000 with rentry permit of 2yrs and left again. this time came back after 2yrs and 4mths with reentry permit and since then has been residing inthe US for 4yrs and 5mths. am i eligible for the 4year and 1 day clause to apply for citizenship at this time.my lawyer says yes but i am confused.
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4 year 1 day clause in naturalization process
- Thread starter nikki76
- Start date
Asking the same questions again? You should've add your reply to existing thread insted of starting a new one.
Any time you have a disruption in continuance residence, you are ineligible for citizenship until you re-establish the continuous residence. For someone who had a long absence as you did, they allow you to re-establish the continuous residence after 4 years +1 day. You might be eligible to apply on paper but that's not the point because you still have to deal with the abandonment of residence issue. The interviewing officer will ask why you were absent for that long, and you'll still have to justify any long absence that occured last 5 years regardless of the 4 years +1 day rule.
An Englishman who posted on this board got denied exactly for that reason. He had a simiar circumstance as yours.
Any time you have a disruption in continuance residence, you are ineligible for citizenship until you re-establish the continuous residence. For someone who had a long absence as you did, they allow you to re-establish the continuous residence after 4 years +1 day. You might be eligible to apply on paper but that's not the point because you still have to deal with the abandonment of residence issue. The interviewing officer will ask why you were absent for that long, and you'll still have to justify any long absence that occured last 5 years regardless of the 4 years +1 day rule.
An Englishman who posted on this board got denied exactly for that reason. He had a simiar circumstance as yours.
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Definitely possible. Your whole immigration history is considered when it comes to citizenship. In fact, we have often heard of people who lost green cards during citizenship interviews.
Just a little more clarification on the issue. Any trip longer than 1 year will absolutely disrupt the continuous residence and immediately disqualify you (unless N-470 is filed). When you get to 4 years+1 day mark, your last long trip is 364 days long if only last 5 years are considered. Thus, techinically, you are no longer considered to have a trip longer than a year in last 5 years. That's where the 4 years +1 day rule comes from.
However, any significant absence (especially greater than 6 month) is still considered the break in continuous residence, and the burden is on applicants to prove that they did not break the continuous residence. For this purpose, the interviewing officers will consider all trips in last 5 years. All of it means, technically you are eligible, but realistically it's better to wait 5 years to avoid the issue altogether.
Just a little more clarification on the issue. Any trip longer than 1 year will absolutely disrupt the continuous residence and immediately disqualify you (unless N-470 is filed). When you get to 4 years+1 day mark, your last long trip is 364 days long if only last 5 years are considered. Thus, techinically, you are no longer considered to have a trip longer than a year in last 5 years. That's where the 4 years +1 day rule comes from.
However, any significant absence (especially greater than 6 month) is still considered the break in continuous residence, and the burden is on applicants to prove that they did not break the continuous residence. For this purpose, the interviewing officers will consider all trips in last 5 years. All of it means, technically you are eligible, but realistically it's better to wait 5 years to avoid the issue altogether.
While I would normally advise you can use the 4yr+1day rule any time you've been out of the country for LONGER than 1yr (continuous), I feel in your situation you may be better positioned to wait until you have 5 good years of residence before you apply.
I'm trying to figure out your exact timeline, but unfortunately your description just made my head spin. My basic issue is that you don't seem to have had any appreciable residence in the US until your most recent return from abroad. As others have mentioned, this could very well trigger some harsh questioning (or worse) during interview. By waiting longer, you tend to minimize this, although frankly you will not be able to completely avoid it if the officer decides to explore abandonment of LPR.
Seems like a pretty complicated case to me. Find a GOOD lawyer, not just one that say "no problem".
I'm trying to figure out your exact timeline, but unfortunately your description just made my head spin. My basic issue is that you don't seem to have had any appreciable residence in the US until your most recent return from abroad. As others have mentioned, this could very well trigger some harsh questioning (or worse) during interview. By waiting longer, you tend to minimize this, although frankly you will not be able to completely avoid it if the officer decides to explore abandonment of LPR.
Seems like a pretty complicated case to me. Find a GOOD lawyer, not just one that say "no problem".