Back to US using Re-entry Permit, need to wait 3 months before filing N-400?

T

techmgr

New Member
Hi,

I have satisfied the "physical residency" requirement (30 months out of 60 months in the US), but I have been abroad for the last 1.5 year under Re-entry Permit (and I have been back and forth to the US every 5 months as not to break "continuous residence" requirement). Now I am going back to the US to apply for my naturalization, do I have to wait for 3 months (physically present in the US) before I can submit my N-400 (Naturalization) application?

p.s. I've been maintaining my US address all this time (e.g., US driver license, car registration, bank statements etc sent to my US mailing address).

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
techmgr said:
Now I am going back to the US to apply for my naturalization, do I have to wait for 3 months (physically present in the US) before I can submit my N-400 (Naturalization) application?
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If you are referring to the 3-month state/district residence requirement, no you don't have to wait 3 months to satisfy that if you're moving back to the state you lived in before leaving the US for your long trips.

However, you are mistaken if you think that going back and forth to the US every 5 months automatically preserves your continuous residence. They look at the big picture of your overall travel pattern and ties to the US, not just whether each trip is 6 months or not. You having an 18-month stretch of trips could still result in being found to break continuous residence.

Unlike physical presence which is just a hard-and-fast mathematical rule, the 6-month rule is not an absolute one, and there is a lot of room for subjectivity with determinations of continuous residence. Applying for citizenship immediately after a long series of trips abroad creates the impression that you have already relocated abroad for good, and you are applying for citizenship now because it's the last chance to get it before leaving the US permanently. So where there is room for subjectivity, the subjective decisions are likely to go against you in such a situation. So although you are technically eligible to apply without waiting 3 months or even 1 month, it would improve your chances if you waited at least 6 months so the IO can see that you're still dedicated to living in the US.
 
techmgr said:
Hi,

I have satisfied the "physical residency" requirement (30 months out of 60 months in the US), but I have been abroad for the last 1.5 year under Re-entry Permit (and I have been back and forth to the US every 5 months as not to break "continuous residence" requirement). Now I am going back to the US to apply for my naturalization, do I have to wait for 3 months (physically present in the US) before I can submit my N-400 (Naturalization) application?

p.s. I've been maintaining my US address all this time (e.g., US driver license, car registration, bank statements etc sent to my US mailing address).

Thanks in advance for your help!
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As Jackolantern said, the main issue you'll have to deal with will be the continuous residency requirement, not the 3 months state/district residency requirement. You appear to be under the mistekn impression that taking trips back to the U.S. every 5 months preserves your continuous residency for naturalization purposes. In reality, even a single trip abroad under 6 months, or a series of such trips closely spaced together, may break continuous residency, depending on circumstances and the IO's judgement. Having a reentry permit does not help with preserving continuous residency either.

With you being mostly out of the U.S. for the last 1.5 years, one can be pretty certain that these absences will be scruitinized by the IO quite closely. What will matter are the nature and the precise circumstances of your trips and what kinds of ties to the U.S. you had during those 1.5 years. In particular, what was the exact reason that you spent the last 1.5 years abroad? Did you continue to rent/own housing back in the U.S. during that time? Did you keep a job back in the U.S. which you resumed upon returning? Did you take a job or jobs abroad while you were absent? What was your source of income during that time? Did you have family members remain in the U.S. during your absence(s)? Did you file the U.S. income tax returns for the periods that you were away? Etc. The answers to these types of questions will ultimately be used by the IO to decide if you broke continuous residency requirement or not.

In general, the very worst time to submit an N-400 is shortly after returning from a series of extended absences from the U.S. - that would definitely look suspicious and raise a red flag with the IO.
 
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similar situation

I am in a similar situation and my interview is next month. I have been about 2.5 years in the US and had long trips abroad for personal reasons. I took a temproary job outside, but this was all temporary. During that time I also had a temporary contracting Job in the US, about 15K $ income over 1.5 year. Now i'm in the US and resumed my original job from about 2 years ago. My family is still abroad. I assumed that since i satisfied the time requirments and employeed here, and filed all my taxes that i am satisfying the requirements. Please help! this post scared me and I need to prep for my interview
 
too_long said:
I am in a similar situation and my interview is next month. I have been about 2.5 years in the US and had long trips abroad for personal reasons. I took a temproary job outside, but this was all temporary. During that time I also had a temporary contracting Job in the US, about 15K $ income over 1.5 year. Now i'm in the US and resumed my original job from about 2 years ago. My family is still abroad. I assumed that since i satisfied the time requirments and employeed here, and filed all my taxes that i am satisfying the requirements. Please help! this post scared me and I need to prep for my interview
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"Long trips abroad for personal reasons" is too vague - you need to be much more specific to get substantive advice here.
Also, what about housing? Did you rent/own housing in the U.S. during your absences? And which job in the U.S. did you resume? Your temp contracting job or some other, non-temp, job?
 
too_long said:
I am in a similar situation and my interview is next month. I have been about 2.5 years in the US and had long trips abroad for personal reasons. I took a temproary job outside, but this was all temporary. During that time I also had a temporary contracting Job in the US, about 15K $ income over 1.5 year. Now i'm in the US and resumed my original job from about 2 years ago. My family is still abroad. I assumed that since i satisfied the time requirments and employeed here, and filed all my taxes that i am satisfying the requirements. Please help! this post scared me and I need to prep for my interview
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i basically went to be close to my parents during a rough time. I started a new job with my same employer 2 years ago. good paying full time job. i did not rent during my absense.
 
too_long said:
i basically went to be close to my parents during a rough time. I started a new job with my same employer 2 years ago. good paying full time job. i did not rent during my absense.
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It's hard to say without knowing more specific details (particularly the actual lengths of absences and of the periods in the U.S. between those absences), but your situation appears to be in the grey area where a great deal will depend on your luck with the specific IO. The "plus" factors, working in your favor, are that you resumed your prior job after returning to the U.S. and that you did have a U.S. source of income (even if not a major one) during your absences, and that you did file the federal income tax returns for the periods of your absences. You could strengthen your case if you were actually officially placed by your main U.S. employer on a temporary leave of absence when you went abroad, and if you could produce some documentation to that effect.
On the "minus" side are the facts that you did not rent/own housing in the U.S. during your absence(s), that your family did not remain in the U.S. and that you did take a foreign job, even if it was just a temporary one. Also, your reason for going abroad, "to be close to my parents during a rough time", sounds fairly open-ended. Usually, the IOs like to see an absence to be strictly temporary in nature, with a clearly defined in advance duration period - such as a temporary job assignment abroad, a job training course, an extended vacation, etc. Still, depending on your luck with the IO, it could go either way. Come to the interview well-prepared, with as much documentation regarding your ties to the U.S. as you can collect, and see what happens.
In particular, get the tax return transcripts from IRS for the years covered by your absences, get the documentation regarding your temp U.S. job that you had while you were away, get the documentation regarding your current job and the fact that you resumed this job after returning from abroad, plus get stuff like U.S. bank statements, U.S. credit card statements etc for the period(s) that you were away, etc.

But don't unload all your documentation on the IO without being asked first - wait until and unless the IO raises the issue of continuous residency and asks for supporting documentation.
 
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Thank you very much. i thought it was a lot simpler than this. Do you recommend going to the interview with an attorney?
 
Try explaining to them why you needed to be abroad so much. If you have proof of your parents' hardship, that will definitely help.
 
Hello,

Do you think I could have any issues at the interview?

Left USA after being laid-off in Oct 2010 to work with a client abroad on behalf of my own LLC, incorporated in USA. Came back in Jan for 10 days, filed N-400, then back again in March for fingerprinting and now coming back for good in mid May in order to start a consulting project in USA. So total time away 7 months (with two trips to USA in between). Expecting interview in the 2nd half of June.

My wife has always been in USA during that time, we own the same property were we have always lived in since 2001, always filing US income tax returns. Also, I have been collecting severance pay from my previous employer during the time out of the country. During that time maintained my US bank accounts (personal, business), credit card accounts (personal, business), car, car insurance, medical insurance, during one trips to USA extended driver's licence to keep it valid.

Thanks
 
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