Citizenship and back-to-back trips out of the US

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sotiredofwaiting

Registered Users (C)
Hi guys,
The subject has been discussed before, but I could not find an aswer that would statisfy me.
Frankly, looking at the documents, it only says that trips over 6 months will break the continuity of residence (if you don't have additional factors, like property and/or job in the US). But it does not say that multiple trips of say 5.7 months will break it.

Some of you claim that such multiple trips can be interpreted as a one long trip. What's the basis for this?

My situation: working abroad for a company somehow related to the one I worked for in the States. Have reentry permit. Came back after 5.5 months for 1 week and then after 4 more months for 4 days. Initialy planned to move back in January, which would be one more 4-month absence, but now I can see an option to stay for additional 4 months till May.
No property in the States, no family. Keeping address and using the US credit cards a lot. Filed the taxes as resident.


Thanks.
 
sotiredofwaiting said:
Hi guys,
The subject has been discussed before, but I could not find an aswer that would statisfy me.

Some of you claim that such multiple trips can be interpreted as a one long trip. What's the basis for this?
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The law has two parts - a) intent and b) definition. The definition might say 6 months, but the intent is to validate whether you actually live here or not. You decide ... what would be the basis for CIS to determine whether you are a resident or not? Would a person with a single 180 day trip be equated with a person with 3 back to back 120 day trips? While the law as defined may say YES, in reality - these are 2 different situations, and the officer would have some discretion to differentiate between these. Are you not making these 4 day trips just to beat the "statute of limitations" ... or did you move back to US after the first trip, and were then told by your company within 2 days to pack your bags and get back to the other country? And then you moved back after 4 months, and again 4 days later your company told you to pack your bags? Who will buy it?

At best, what this is doing is to beat the automated computer check of flagging trips longer than 183 days ... in case they have such a computer check.

Not sure if this will satisfy you, but it is unlikely the forum will echo the answer you are looking for. While I know each person's situation is different, and there must be 100 valid reasons for you to be away and listen to your company ... and it is not our business to comment on them, but note that in all these situations, what you (and others) are trying to balance is a risk on one side (naturalization requirements) versus opportunities, and sometimes there may not be an optimum solution. This does not mean that the naturalization would be denied, but you would have more legwork to do to justify your absence, maybe wait another few months/years while you recapture your residency numbers.

Last, read up on how you can "preserve your residency" while being out of the country - especially if it is truly a US company, and more so if you return with the same company / same district. Things are not as gloomy as I indicated in previous paragraphs, but you got your work cut out to collate these documents.
 
sanjoseaug20 said:
Not sure if this will satisfy you, but it is unlikely the forum will echo the answer you are looking for.
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Yes, I know, I'm just looking for other people's experiences.

It seems all signs are telling me to pack my bags and return to the States. Especially that I now have realized that I actually care about getting the citizenship.


especially if it is truly a US company
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No, boths of them are subsidiaries of the same European company.

Thank you!
 
If you can get the company to pay you in the US in dollars, then you could explain to immigration that you were just sent overseas on assignment. Is this a possibility, guys?
 
cafeconleche said:
If you can get the company to pay you in the US in dollars, then you could explain to immigration that you were just sent overseas on assignment. Is this a possibility, guys?
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No. They have certain guidelines to determine what is a "US corporation", including factors like the percentage of ownership by US citizens and residents and whether it is traded exclusively on a US stock market. It's not just about where you get paid or which currency.
 
sotiredofwaiting said:
And this lawyer seems to agree:

http://www.immigration-information....-us-citizen/8166-continuity-of-residence.html
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But they were talking about a single trip, maybe two trips, and didn't really get into the scenario of a string of multiple back-to-back trips.

It is true that keeping each trip under 6 months avoids the presumption of breaking residence. But that does not block the IO from determining that you broke continuous residence. When the presumption is not there, it just means the burden is on the IO to show that you broke continuous residence, rather than on you to show that you didn't.
 
I know you were talking about the citizenship but what if someone keeps having 6 months trips and coming back for a week or so for about 2 years, could that revoke his green card?
 
DV-PHARAOH said:
I know you were talking about the citizenship but what if someone keeps having 6 months trips and coming back for a week or so for about 2 years, could that revoke his green card?
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Yes, they can. It does not happen in one-shot, and you get opportunity to fix things, but yes they can.

This usually happens at the point of entry. There are people who slip through multiple long trips out with no issues, but at times the officer will start asking you about the trips. If not satisfied with your answer, he/she will put a note in your passport and ask you to meet an immigration judge before you travel US next time. That's it ... that cooks the geese. If you travel out without meeting the judge (let's say due to appointment issues), you will have trouble entering next time. If you meet, you will need to explain - and they can either take away your card then and there, or ask you to surrender. They can let you go also.

I am sure I have not described it accurately enough, but this is the gist of what happens. Each person has their own situation For example, I know someone who surrendered GC in native country rather than go to a judge because the person was not planning to be in US long term at that point.
 
Jackolantern said:
When the presumption is not there, it just means the burden is on the IO to show that you broke continuous residence, rather than on you to show that you didn't.
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Do you know this for a fact and can you show reference? I am asking because I think this point is important and can clarify a lot of questions if it is true. I have seen many people asking about multiple trips below 180 days including myself. The law does not say anything for trips below 6 months. Except that it talks about the intent - I think...
 
ketanco said:
Do you know this for a fact and can you show reference? I am asking because I think this point is important and can clarify a lot of questions if it is true. I have seen many people asking about multiple trips below 180 days including myself. The law does not say anything for trips below 6 months. Except that it talks about the intent - I think...
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People on this forum have had their naturalization denied for breaking continuous residence even though each trip was under 6 months. And USCIS published an example of somebody who took multiple consecutive trips over about an 18-month period and got denied even though each trip was under 6 months. It is quoted in an older post (see http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?p=1759394#post1759394) but the link in that post doesn't work anymore (I'll try to find an updated link later).
 
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Jackolantern said:
And USCIS published an example of somebody who took multiple consecutive trips over about an 18-month period and got denied even though each trip was under 6 months. It is quoted in an older post (see http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?p=1759394#post1759394) but the link in that post doesn't work anymore (I'll try to find an updated link later).
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Try this... you have to scroll down quite a bit. Do a browser find for "continuous residence example".

http://www.mikebakerlaw.com/2008/03/naturalization-application-form-n-400.html

I took the BOLD words from the example in the link, put double quotes around it and Googled. Pretty easy to find if you know the exact sentence you are looking for.
 
ketanco said:
Do you know this for a fact and can you show reference?
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For what it's worth, the postings of Jackolantern convinced me to quit my job and move back to the States.
I guess I've realized that I do care about the citizenship a lot.


Jackolantern - thanks for all you postings in the forum! It's always good stuff.
 
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