5 years for Applying (with or without 2 year absence?)

hariA

Registered Users (C)
Does a 2 year stay out of US (with a reentry permit)count toward the 5 year requirement for applying for citizenship?

Say i stay in US for 3 years after PR, leave US with reentry permit for 2 years. Can i come back and file for citizenship?
 
Use I-131(may help) and/or I-470.

If you file the I-131 reentry permit form - it appears to help preserve your residency for upto 1 year. There is some ambiguity on this, though, check with a lawyer. The Guide to Naturalization from the INS website also has some examples. You can file a different form for certain special cases which preserves residency for the entire length of time - the form is Form N-470 (Application to Preserve Residency) I think. But the conditions on this form are fairly strict.
 
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