citizenship eligibility

S

stunt123

New Member
Hi All,

I am trying to figure out if I am eligible but i do not want to make any mistakes.

so here is the question.

I am a permanent resident (green card holder through lottery) since 02/24/2004.

I was out of the US for 199 days (i was a student in another country) and I came back to the United states on 04/11/2005. Based on that information, am I eligible to apply now for citizenship or should I wait until 04/10/2010?? Since i came back I was not out of the country.

Also, i am not married (never have been). When i was out of the country (199 days) I did not keep close ties to the US as defnied by the fed (no family, no mortgage and no rent)

I appreciate your answers.

thank you
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You can apply in January 2010 90 days prior your 5 year mark.
You were outside US for 199 days and you broke continues residency.
 
Uncle Joe said:
You can apply in January 2010 90 days prior your 5 year mark.
Click to expand...
The rule states an applicant may apply 90 days before they have reached 5 years of continuous residence as a LPR. Since the OP has presumed to have broken continuous residency (and by admission OP did break it), it would be pointless to apply 90 days before reaching 5 years of LPR status.
 
Uncle Joe is right. Check the dates. He is counting 5 years minus 90 days from the day OP returned to US and re-established continuous residence.
 
stunt123 said:
Hi All,

I am trying to figure out if I am eligible but i do not want to make any mistakes.

so here is the question.

I am a permanent resident (green card holder through lottery) since 02/24/2004.

I was out of the US for 199 days (i was a student in another country) and I came back to the United states on 04/11/2005. Based on that information, am I eligible to apply now for citizenship or should I wait until 04/10/2010?? Since i came back I was not out of the country.

Also, i am not married (never have been). When i was out of the country (199 days) I did not keep close ties to the US as defnied by the fed (no family, no mortgage and no rent)

I appreciate your answers.

thank you
Click to expand...

I beleive that you havent broken your continous residency based on From M-477 "Naturalization Eligibility Worksheet". If I were you, I will call USCIS and explain my situation to them and also tell them that according to Form M-477, you are eligible and then you can get clarification there. I want you to know that this forum is a great forum but not many people really know what they are talking about and there are always differeces from case to case so the burden is left on you to make research and sound decision.

Remember, I am not an immigration attorney so if you need expert advice, please consult one.

Best wishes!!
 
OK, so you may or may not have broken your continuos residency - depending on the discretion of the IO - or, on which poster has current accurate information.
So, your choices-
*apply now, and maybe be approved, maybe not. If you are approved, great, if not, you are out $675, and can re-apply Jan 2010.
*Wait four months, and have a straight forward case.

It's up to you - how urgently do you want citizenship, how willing are you to gamble $675?
 
sanjoseaug20 said:
Uncle Joe is right. Check the dates. He is counting 5 years minus 90 days from the day OP returned to US and re-established continuous residence.
Click to expand...

Correct, the eligibility date (Jan 2010) is correct, but it's important to state 5 years of continuous residence as a LPR rather than just 5 years as a LPR to avoid confusion.
 
johntlc said:
I beleive that you havent broken your continous residency based on From M-477 "Naturalization Eligibility Worksheet". If I were you, I will call USCIS and explain my situation to them and also tell them that according to Form M-477, you are eligible and then you can get clarification there. I want you to know that this forum is a great forum but not many people really know what they are talking about and there are always differeces from case to case so the burden is left on you to make research and sound decision.

Remember, I am not an immigration attorney so if you need expert advice, please consult one.

Best wishes!!
Click to expand...

And how do you suggest the OP prove US residency ties by being a student out of country with no ties to US (as OP stated).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Calling them will be useless. They will tell you to apply now, because they will not make subjective or complicated determinations of eligibility in informal conversation. But when you apply you'll probably get denied.

Their policy is to advise applicants to apply unless it is glaringly obvious that they are ineligible. This is because in the past they have told individuals not to apply, and then after consulting a lawyer or doing their own research the individuals later find out (sometimes years later) that they actually were eligible to apply for citizenship or a green card or some other immigration benefit. That resulted in lawsuits and other problems for USCIS and the applicants. So they've decided it's better to have the applicant apply and then accept or reject them based on proper analysis of the details, rather than drawing conclusions based on incomplete facts and one-second informal analysis.
 
Hello,
I am a green card holder (DV lottery ) since 09/04/2013 and i have never been out of the country for more than 1 month at the time; i understand i can submit my application for citizenship as early as 06/07/2018, does anyone know if it will make a difference in the processing time to submit that early or they still will not get to my application till September? Do you know roughly how long it will take to get the interview?
Thank you
 
afaridabj said:
Hello,
I am a green card holder (DV lottery ) since 09/04/2013 and i have never been out of the country for more than 1 month at the time; i understand i can submit my application for citizenship as early as 06/07/2018, does anyone know if it will make a difference in the processing time to submit that early or they still will not get to my application till September? Do you know roughly how long it will take to get the interview?
Thank you
Click to expand...

Submit as early as they allow so you can get a start on processing. There is a huge variation on time till interview depending on the FO concerned, some people here have reported a few weeks (I think this is rare), others can take around a year.

Processing times by FO here: https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/#mainContent
 
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