Apllying for Citizenship - been out of US for 7 months

I

iowauser

New Member
I have in the US for over 8 years and with Green Card for a little more than 5 years. I am thinking about applying for citizenship, but in 2005 I was out of US for around 7-8 months because of my family problems. Am I still eligible to apply for citizenship? Or do I need wait?

Do I need a lawyer to apply for citizenship?

Thank you
 
Since you were out of the country for over 6 months but less than a year, I believe it's going to be up to the IO to decide whether you've broken your continuous residency. If you can show them proof it was due to circumstances beyond your control, you should be fine.
 
N400 - Part 6

In N400 Part 6. Information about your residence and employment - Do I need to mention where I stayed outside USA? Even though I was out of USA for 7/8 months - I still owned a house here in USA and filed taxes, so my residence was still the USA address. Even though I stayed outside, my residence didn't change. Pls advise.
 
Yes it will now be up to you to prove to the IO that you did not break continous residency after 6 months. Before 6 months it would be up to the IO to prove that you broke it. So get all the hard core evidence you can to persuade them that you in fact did not break it...
 
My question was do I need to mention the address outside USA in Part 6 of the form? In my opinion I shouldn't coz my permanent residence didn't change since I still owned my residence in US.
 
You break continuous residence

Based on the guide page 23, you have to be Physical Presence in the United States. “Physical presence” means that you have actually been in the United
States.

Just keep a house doesn't mean you live there.

My 2-cents.
 
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From I have learned in this forum, specially when you have left the us even for more than a year, for citizenship interview, it depends on how IO likes your case.
 
GCman2005 said:
From I have learned in this forum, specially when you have left the us even for more than a year, for citizenship interview, it depends on how IO likes your case.
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That is incorrect. Absences of over 1 year is automatically deemed a break in continuous residency. It's absences of between 6 months and 1 year that are discretionary. They're deemed breaks and it is up to the applicant to convince the IO otherwise.
 
Help Gurus Please - Entry/Exit Travel Records for 5 Years

Hi All,

My Natulization interview is coming up real soon.

I am in need for advise on proof of entry/exit to/from the US within the last 5 years. The entry part is not a problem since there are stamps on my passport. I though I could prove exit from the US by showing the entry stamps to the countries I travelled to, but they are all in a foreign language!

I do not have any itenararies or tickets to prove my travel dates. My concern is that I had a one time 9-months trip outside of the US and a few other shorts trips (not a concern). I am already providing a reasons for being abroad for that period (education). This is not my concern in this post though. My concern is on proving my duration of stay in the US.

Is there anywhere else where I can obtain entry/exit records? I will be more at ease if I can get this information from somewhere and take it to the interview.

FYI - I already contacted my airlines and they have no records going that far back!

Thank you!
 
Is your concern that you don't KNOW what your travel dates are? Or is it that you know them, but just don't have proof?

If you know the actual dates, write them and don't worry about the proof. The interviewer will take your word for it unless they have some other evidence that conflicts with the travel dates you listed (by "evidence" I don't mean just what you provide, I mean also whatever is in their system regarding entry/exit, arrests, passenger manifests, etc. including statements you made at the port of entry).
 
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Jackolantern said:
Is your concern that you don't KNOW what your travel dates are? Or is it that you know them, but just don't have proof?

I do know my dates. However, I was away from for a 9 months on on of my trips due to education. I have evidence proving my reasosn and everything. However, how can the IO validate that I was only out for that period of time, and not more. Also, how do they validate my other travel dates?

I am just trying to understand - does the USCIS have records of our travel dates already? or is it a burden upon the applicant to provide the dates of travel and proof of such dates?

That said, I need advise on what how to prove my travel dates, if needed.

Thank you very much...
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