4 years and 1 day or 5 years minus 90 days ??

4 years plus 1 day rule is for applicants who have been outside the US for more than 1 continuous year with a reentry permit during statutory period. It allows up to 364 days of that time outside the US to be counted towards continuous residence requirement.

5 years minus 90 days rule allows an applicant to file a N-400 up to 90 days before the applicant has reached 5 years of continuous residence as a LPR.
 
well thanks, what is the statutory period?

Statutory period is the time that you are required to meet certain criteria, namely continuous and physical residence and good moral character. For 5 year based application, statutory period is 5 years.
 
can someone explain the 4 years and 1 day rule or 5 years minus 90 days rule....

One only can apply for naturalization based on the 4 years and 1 day rule if one otherwise has been a GC holder for over 5 years, but was outside the U.S. for longer than 180 days without having abandoned permanent resident status. in this case, 90 days rule doesn't apply.

If you meet all criteria/conditions on 5 year rule, you can apply 90 days earlier.
 
if you are LPR for more than 5 years and you leave the USA for more 180 days, Continous residency is not broken and you dont have to wait 5 years - 90 days ???
am I correct?
 
One only can apply for naturalization based on the 4 years and 1 day rule if one otherwise has been a GC holder for over 5 years, but was outside the U.S. for longer than 180 days without having abandoned permanent resident status. in this case, 90 days rule doesn't apply.

Under this interpretation of the rule, an applicant who has been a LPR for 5 years and 2 months, and had a trip outside US for more than 180 days can apply under 4 years + 1day.

The important part you left out was that that applicant can only apply 4 years + 1 day after the last return to the US from a trip of more than 180 days.

Note: The actual rule says it can only be used for travel of more than 1 year, but a 1993 letter in AFM misinterprets it to include travel between 6 and 12 months. Also, there's no requirement to have been a LPR for at least 5 years before being able to invoke the rule.
 
if you are LPR for more than 5 years and you leave the USA for more 180 days, Continous residency is not broken and you dont have to wait 5 years - 90 days ???
am I correct?


If you leave the US for more than 180 days (but less than 12 months) you are presumed to have broken continuous residency, but are given the chance to prove otherwise. If you can't prove that you did not break residency, continuous residency will be considered broken. Don't confuse 5 years - 90 day rule with break in continuous residency.
 
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