Application for citizenship

[Spacy]

Hello, I have a couple of questions:

1) I got my green card in september 2001. For the first two years, I stayed outside the country for more than six months but less than one year and was readmitted at the airport. I want to apply now for citizenship (after almost 7 years), since after every long stay the counter goes back to zero: my new residency date would thus be 2003. Will the officer at the interview still take in consideration my long stay before the 5 years period, or he would just count my continueous stay after 2003?

2) If I was readmitted at the airport but do not have a convincing proof at the day of the interview to justify my long absence, can the officer suspend for instance my green card or deport me? Or the worse case would be to deny the application?

Thank you for your help and support!

 

[boatbod]

From the sound of it you should have no problems because your long absences were all outside the 5yr residence period. Anything outside that period will not count against you from a continuous residence perspective, and your GC is not at risk because you were never away for longer than 1 yr.

 

[Spacy]

Thank you for your response.
But when you fill out the N-400 form, you are required to put ALL your trips abroad from the moment you became a permamnent resident (so in case you stayed here for 20 years, are you supposed to remember all your trips abroad??) I hope they will not focus on the first two years.

Also, at the day of the interview, will the IO swipe my passport in his computer to verify entry-exit dates or he will just check my passport stamps? Some countries I went to (Switzerland, Canada) do not stamp your passport and I do not recall the exact days of my entries-exits.

Thanks!

 

[aabbcc11]

The proper thing to do is write the trip dates in reverse chronological order. This way your current short trips will be the first ones they see and also the older problem trips are at the bottom of the pile.
Write the approx travel dates as best as you can remember. Some IOs do check the passport stamps thoroughly,especially in cases where the person travels frequently and the residency may be suspect. In your case since you don't have long absences in the past 5 yrs, I think you will be fine.

 

[boatbod]

Thank you for your response.
But when you fill out the N-400 form, you are required to put ALL your trips abroad from the moment you became a permamnent resident (so in case you stayed here for 20 years, are you supposed to remember all your trips abroad??) I hope they will not focus on the first two years.

Also, at the day of the interview, will the IO swipe my passport in his computer to verify entry-exit dates or he will just check my passport stamps? Some countries I went to (Switzerland, Canada) do not stamp your passport and I do not recall the exact days of my entries-exits.

Thanks!

The earlier trips won't be counted against your continuous residence, but they can be examined to see if you abandoned your GC. I wouldn't worry though, as none of your trips were over 1yr, which is generally considered the cutoff for someone who doesn't have a reentry permit.

Approximate trip dates are usually sufficient if you don't have passport stamps to jog your memory. Its a safe bet that USCIS knows more about your travel history than you, but they rarely seem to make an issue out of this sort of thing.

 

[Spacy]

Thanks a lot for your help. One last question: my last entry after the 2 long absences was August 11 2003. Can I file now or should I wait until August?

 

[boatbod]

Thanks a lot for your help. One last question: my last entry after the 2 long absences was August 11 2003. Can I file now or should I wait until August?

If you file under the regular 5yr rules, you can apply up to 90 days prior to the 5yr anniversary of your continuous residence period.

You may however be able to apply under the 4yr+1day rule, in which case the 90 day exception does not apply. Based on your dates, that would apparently make you eligible now. If you go this route, you will specifically need to state you are requesting the 4yr+1day exception on your application.

 

[Spacy]

I prefer to apply after 5 years, just to be on the safe side.

Thanks a lot for your help!