Am i ready ?

P

punjboy

Registered Users (C)
I am just confused and really in a fix on how should i go about this, any advice would be much appreciated.
Alright, so i got my GC in May,2005, i came in for the first necessary trip and then left back a month and a half later in July with my Re-entry permit. I came back in August 2006, 1 Year and 1 month out. Now since august 2006 - till present, i have had numerous trips to India, Dominican, UK and Canada. None of them was lasting more than 50-60 days( Month and a half or so). Now according to the Naturalization Guide,my one year from the Re-enter permit is counted towards my citizenship. So after 4 years and 1 day i can apply for my naturalization. Its been more than that now. Ohh apart from this, i was living alone, i started school in 2007 and still in university. I did get financial help from my parents, who are GC holders, but never lived here.

This is my case, now i am confused about a couple things -
1) Am i eligible for naturalization ?
2) I have lost my Re-entry permit passbook ? Should i send any kind of documentation with the application to verify that ?
3) Any tips or helpful advice, before i start my application in October ?

Would appreciate any help and sorry, for my post being too long.

Thanks

D
 
Like i said, i did had my Re-Entry permit. So i was allowed 2 years outside United States. But i returned in 1 year and 1 day. So basically my days started counting from August,2006. Plus one year from the re-entry permit. According to the example in the naturalization guide ( Bottom Page 23). It fits my case.
 
punjboy said:
Like i said, i did had my Re-Entry permit. So i was allowed 2 years outside United States. But i returned in 1 year and 1 day. So basically my days started counting from August,2006. Plus one year from the re-entry permit. According to the example in the naturalization guide ( Bottom Page 23). It fits my case.
Click to expand...

According to your original post, you were in the U.S. for a month and a half from your first required trip to the time you left and stayed out for 13 months. The 4 year 1 day rule only applies if you've stayed in the U.S. for at least a year prior to leaving. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. How can you expect to be credited with a year's residence when you've only stayed in the country for 6 weeks? Also, 6 weeks is not even enough to establish residence in whichever locality you've settled in, as you are considered a resident of that lcality after living there for 90 days.

Most importantly, re-entry permit doesn't preserve your residence status. It only preserves your green card.
 
The issue with the 4 year + 1 day rule is that they'll often require you to show ties to the US during the year when you were outside the US. Since you left the US so quickly after your initial admission as a permanent resident, it is unlikely that you would be able to provide sufficient evidence of that.

You could still go ahead and apply now and see what happens, but if you apply in May 2011 (5 years minus 90 days since you returned in August 2006) that 13 month trip won't affect you.
 
ahan, now you making sense, thanks for an explanation there. I guess I'll just wait till March,2011, before i apply. I guess that would give me 5 years and plus i can apply 90 days before i complete 5 years. I guess I'll just wait, rather than wasting $600.

thanks once again.
 
punjboy said:
ahan, now you making sense, thanks for an explanation there. I guess I'll just wait till March,2011, before i apply. I guess that would give me 5 years and plus i can apply 90 days before i complete 5 years.
Click to expand...

You came back in August 2006, so subtract 90 days from August 2011 and the result is May 2011 (or possibly June, if your return date was August 30 or 31). Not March 2011.
 
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