Citizenship application...

S

Spacy

Registered Users (C)
My case is a bit complicated :
Well, I had my green card in septembre 2001 but i stayed away less than a year (10 months).. and then the following year in august 2002 I stay again outside the US for 11 months. Back then, the maximum stay outside the US was less than a year and not 6 months. So now.. in summer 2006 can I apply for citizenship knowing that starting from 2003, I didnt pass a 6 month period abroad?
 
I think you are a little confused.

After 1 year of being outside of the US you automatically lose your greencard (unless you asked in advance for a special permission).

between 6 months to 1 year the burden of proof is on you to prove that you have not abandoned your residency for citizenship purposes.

Less than 6 months it's usually OK.

However, the USCIS officer will look at it carefully to check your intentions.

It's not enough for example to come here every 5 months for one week and obtain you citizenship.

In your case you stayed outside of the US for more than 6 months twice. i think it would be extremely hard to convince the USCIS officer that these trips were temporary in nature and that your principal place of residence is the US.

Obtain a lawyer if you still want to pursue your citizenship.
 
When you return after a stay outside the US for more than six months, you are seeking admission to the US and the fact that the officer at POE let this person in...means that the office was convinced that the stay outside was temporary in nature. I don't think you have to prove again that the trip in the past was temporary in nature.
 
Well, the first time (in 2002) I went to the US with an absence of 10 months, they didn't tell me anything... I guess back in time, an absence less than a year was ok.. But the second year in 2003... they asked me about the 11 months' absence.. I justified myself and it was ok, I was admitted.
But isn't enough to have a permanent resident proof for 2.5 year to obtain the citizenship? Or you have to live 5 entire years there?
 
JoeF said:
Well, but that doesn't mean that the continuous residency wasn't disrupted. The officers at the POE make no assertion whatsoever about that.
If a person stays abroad for over 6 months, the continuous residency requirement is broken unless the person can convince the CIS officer at the naturalization interview that it wasn't broken.
The officer at the naturalization interview can also come to the conclusion that the trips abroad were not temporary in nature, by reviewing additional information that the officers at the POE didn't have, e.g., tax returns.
In general, it is not and has never been enough to live abroad and just visit the US once in a while.
If the OP counts the 5 years from 2003 on, he or she would be eligible for naturalization in 2008 (unless he or she is married to a US citizen.)
Click to expand...

Here are the requirements

An applicant is eligible to file if, immediately preceding the filing of the application, he or she:

has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (see preceding section);

has resided continuously as a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. for at least 5 years prior to filing with no single absence from the United States of more than one year;

has been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the previous five years (absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period)

has resided within a state or district for at least three months

So based on those requirements...if Spacy can use the same evidence he/she used to prove to office at POE that the residency was not abandoned then it should be OK to file.
 
This is my opinion.

If you stay outside of US more than 6 months and less than a year, you have broken the rule of continuous residency, unless you show the right cause and backup evidence for the extended length of stay (example, you become ill abroad and not in a position to travel. You have to provide proof of medical forms and receipts to backup your cause in this case).

If I were you I will take a chance and just apply for citizenship. I prepare the evidence for the reason of two trips of extended stay to show at the time of interview. The officer may agree and may be not. If you are lucky, you can pass the interview. If not, only thing is you lose the application fee. Still you can apply again later when you are eligible.

I will definitely take chances. Other than some money and time, nothing to lose.
 
based on my understanding of USCIS's requirements, you have to worry about both (physical precense and continious residence). Big difference between the two and both have to be met....
 
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