Citizenship Dilemma

[Rakhshindah Qur]

Hi ,I need the help of this forum on my citizenship case .
I got my GreenCard in the year of 2000 being married to a US citizen and mother 2 US citizen kids .I lived in California and just went overseas on a single trip to Pakistan for 5 weeks .In june of 2004 after 4 years of obtaining GC I applied for my citizenship . It so happened that my husband lot his job in Bay area in july 2004 and could not find a job here but instead got an overseas job offer in Pakistan and in November me and my children also moved to Pakistan .In the mean time my finger printing was done in San Jose .I got my interview date for 5 july 2005 in San Jose .During the interview the officer told me that I do not qualify for citizenship as I do not have a proof of residence in US .Instead of getting a rejection letter I got a letter that my case has been transferred to Arizona as we gave a relative,s address as a point of contact .In April of 2006 I was called in for fingerprinting again and on june 20th 2006 Iwas called for an interview again .The officer told me the same story that I do not qualify for citizenship but she took my English and US History test which I passed but she told me that she will discuss my case with her supervisor and send me her comments in writting .Iam still waiting for N 652 but I thought to have input from this forum as to what the most likely objection would be and how to tackle it .
Your comments would be of value to me .
Thanks,
Regards,
Mrs Qureshi

 

[mnsweeps]

Looks like you dont have proof of continuous residency as you moved back to Pakistan. You would be better off hiring a lawyer at this stage.

 

[Obongo]

Hi ,I need the help of this forum on my citizenship case .
I got my GreenCard in the year of 2000 being married to a US citizen and mother 2 US citizen kids .I lived in California and just went overseas on a single trip to Pakistan for 5 weeks .In june of 2004 after 4 years of obtaining GC I applied for my citizenship . It so happened that my husband lot his job in Bay area in july 2004 and could not find a job here but instead got an overseas job offer in Pakistan and in November me and my children also moved to Pakistan .In the mean time my finger printing was done in San Jose .I got my interview date for 5 july 2005 in San Jose .During the interview the officer told me that I do not qualify for citizenship as I do not have a proof of residence in US .Instead of getting a rejection letter I got a letter that my case has been transferred to Arizona as we gave a relative,s address as a point of contact .In April of 2006 I was called in for fingerprinting again and on june 20th 2006 Iwas called for an interview again .The officer told me the same story that I do not qualify for citizenship but she took my English and US History test which I passed but she told me that she will discuss my case with her supervisor and send me her comments in writting .Iam still waiting for N 652 but I thought to have input from this forum as to what the most likely objection would be and how to tackle it .
Your comments would be of value to me .
Thanks,
Regards,
Mrs Qureshi

This is an interesting case, not unlike the scenario I may go through (do a search on my original posts to see the details).

But your results are opposite (!) to what people were saying about
my potential situation (I haven't filed as yet).

Can you please elaborate on the interview details? Exactly what happened?
At what point did the officer make his decision and on what premise? Was
it after asking where you lived? Was it because you don't have a current
U.S. mortgage, lease or any financial holdings (i.e. health insurance).
Was it because your Husband is working in a foreign country?

Regards.

 

[Obongo]

Looks like you dont have proof of continuous residency as you moved back to Pakistan. You would be better off hiring a lawyer at this stage.

Now wait a minute. You only need three years of continual residency if
married to a U.S. Citizen right. So she was absent *after* she filed
the N400. Now according to the immigration officer I talked to
(see http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=217151)
I can be absent after the filing the N400. Now did the immigration officer
deny your case due to not having a *residence* in the US or because you
were a *non-resident* for more than six months (November until April could exceed 180 days)?

 

[boatbod]

Sounds to me the first problem was not being a current resident of CA (the district conducting the interview) hence redirect to AZ. At second interview I suppose had no proof of AZ residency either.

My general understanding of the situation is you must be a current resident of the district in which your application is being processed, and also for a minimum of 3 months prior. Proof of residency for this clause is generally considered to be a drivers license or state issued id.

 

[Obongo]

Sounds to me the first problem was not being a current resident of CA (the district conducting the interview) hence redirect to AZ. At second interview I suppose had no proof of AZ residency either.

My general understanding of the situation is you must be a current resident of the district in which your application is being processed, and also for a minimum of 3 months prior. Proof of residency for this clause is generally considered to be a drivers license or state issued id.

3 months prior to submitting the N400 Right? Or do you mean
3 months prior to the interview?

 

[Obongo]

3 months prior to submitting the N400 Right? Or do you mean
3 months prior to the interview?

I'm bumping this to the top since I believe its very important given
name checks are taking so long. Does the 3 month prior district residency
and overseas trips of no more than 6 months apply:

1) after you file for N400 but before interview?
2) after you get interview?

 

[benign]

stay

could it be both?

i know during my interview the officer was trying to make sure of this.

I just received my oath, and one of the questions asked on the letter is about any travel since the interview( along with other questions such as whether i got into trouble with law since the interview). now, if you answer yes to the question that you took a trip outside the country, there would possilbly want to know more about the travel. wont they?

 

[boatbod]

I'm bumping this to the top since I believe its very important given
name checks are taking so long. Does the 3 month prior district residency
and overseas trips of no more than 6 months apply:

1) after you file for N400 but before interview?
2) after you get interview?

Prior to filing N400, so that your application will be forwarded to whatever DO has jurisdiction over your residence. That said, you may get some leeway as long as you have the required residency prior to the interview.

 

[boatbod]

could it be both?

i know during my interview the officer was trying to make sure of this.

I just received my oath, and one of the questions asked on the letter is about any travel since the interview( along with other questions such as whether i got into trouble with law since the interview). now, if you answer yes to the question that you took a trip outside the country, there would possilbly want to know more about the travel. wont they?

Not positive on the answer here, but I'd speculate the travel question prior to oath ceremony is to make sure you haven't broken (6mth) residency criteria in cases where there is a long gap between interview and oath.

 

[Rakhshindah Qur]

Yes that is what my problem is that I was under the impression since I have completed my period of continous rasidence in US this restriction does not apply on me .As far as moving my case to AZ it was again their own discretion that they called me i n CA for interview .I lived for more than 90 days in the new district before they called me for FP the second time .Their denial is a total mess up as they have not given anything in writting as yet .
The first IO didnot mention the duration of my stay overseas she was only concerned about my proof of residence .The second officer was an arrogant lady who even started to question about my husband,s status who is been a citizen for 20 years and lived in the us for 15 years or so .
Give me ur input on this one .
Thanks.
Bye

Now wait a minute. You only need three years of continual residency if
married to a U.S. Citizen right. So she was absent *after* she filed
the N400. Now according to the immigration officer I talked to
(see http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=217151)
I can be absent after the filing the N400. Now did the immigration officer
deny your case due to not having a *residence* in the US or because you
were a *non-resident* for more than six months (November until April could exceed 180 days)?

 

[Rakhshindah Qur]

It is prior to submitting your N400 and yes proof of residence is Driver,s license ,which I have and they never asked about it .

3 months prior to submitting the N400 Right? Or do you mean
3 months prior to the interview?

 

[Rakhshindah Qur]

Yes after she saked me where I was living cirrently and I told her taht I was living overseas as I was under the impression that I hace completed my continous residence .She never objected to my 7 months stay overseas but her point of objection was that I do not have tangible assets to prove my ties with US.She said bank accounts and tax returns are not enough .
The second time my husband,s working overseas was also a point of concern .
Regards

QUOTE=Obongo]This is an interesting case, not unlike the scenario I may go through (do a search on my original posts to see the details).

But your results are opposite (!) to what people were saying about
my potential situation (I haven't filed as yet).

Can you please elaborate on the interview details? Exactly what happened?
At what point did the officer make his decision and on what premise? Was
it after asking where you lived? Was it because you don't have a current
U.S. mortgage, lease or any financial holdings (i.e. health insurance).
Was it because your Husband is working in a foreign country?

Regards.[/QUOTE]

 

[query11.]

Yes after she saked me where I was living cirrently and I told her taht I was living overseas as I was under the impression that I hace completed my continous residence .She never objected to my 7 months stay overseas but her point of objection was that I do not have tangible assets to prove my ties with US.She said bank accounts and tax returns are not enough .The second time my husband,s working overseas was also a point of concern .
Regards

was this 7 months continuous?
according to the law it doesnt matter if u have applied for naturalization,but u need to follow the rules,you need to make every visit less than 6 months that way u dont break the contiuous residency.
plz confirm

 

[Obongo]

was this 7 months continuous?
according to the law it doesnt matter if u have applied for naturalization,but u need to follow the rules,you need to make every visit less than 6 months that way u dont break the contiuous residency.
plz confirm

Correct. The immigration officer I talked to effectively said before
or after filing N400 you needed to meet the 6 month rule.

I think you got rejected, because as you the officer felt you
had abandoned your GC by living overseas. Probably this was recorded
in your file and the second officer just used your husband's job overseas
as a convenient way to deny you.

I guess the lesson is: be prudent and don't give out too much information.
Its a tough situation, because you may very well intend to return to the
US to make it your home, BUT the officer felt that at the time you abandoned
your GC.

 

[query11.]

Correct. The immigration officer I talked to effectively said before
or after filing N400 you needed to meet the 6 month rule.

I think you got rejected, because as you the officer felt you
had abandoned your GC by living overseas. Probably this was recorded
in your file and the second officer just used your husband's job overseas
as a convenient way to deny you.

I guess the lesson is: be prudent and don't give out too much information.
Its a tough situation, because you may very well intend to return to the
US to make it your home, BUT the officer felt that at the time you abandoned
your GC.

another thing traveling for more than 6 months does not mean abandoning your residency,it means breaking your continuous residency...
abandoning comes into picture if u r out of u.s.a for more than 1 year without a reentry permit.

 

[Obongo]

another thing traveling for more than 6 months does not mean abandoning your residency,it means breaking your continuous residency...
abandoning comes into picture if u r out of u.s.a for more than 1 year without a reentry permit.

Sure, travel of more than six months but less than a year resets
your residency clock. BUT wouldn't taking a job overseas be
seen as abandoning your GC regardless of how long you have/intend
to work there. Note, I'm not talking about sub-contracting overseas
for a US firm, I'm refering to (as the OP states) not being able/willing
to get a job in the US and taking up employment with a foreign employer.