Citizenship: Physical presence requirement

N

Noman74

Registered Users (C)
I have met the 30 months physical presence requirement for the U.S Citizenship. Now I am getting a really good job offer over seas and would like to know if this will hurt or break the continuity. I am planning to visit U.S every 4-5 months. I will also be keeping my residence, utilities running, credit cards, taxes etc.

Any inputs or personal experience will be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
There is an additional requirement of being a resident for some months(3/6??) in the state that you are appying from, at the time of applying.

mrrk
 
I am not sure of the details of your situation but you need to consider (a) a reentry permit (Form I-131) and (b) filing an application to reserve US residency (Form N-470)

These links might help …. Please note that I am not sponsoring or recommending them and cannot vouch for their accuracy. Plenty of other sites if you Google the appropriate words and form numbers as above.

http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/reentry-permit.html
http://www.foreignborn.com/visas_imm/entering_us/12returning-residentalien.htm

Also, go the USCIS site for FREE forms and more explanations.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
 
Noman74 said:
I have met the 30 months physical presence requirement for the U.S Citizenship. Now I am getting a really good job offer over seas and would like to know if this will hurt or break the continuity. I am planning to visit U.S every 4-5 months. I will also be keeping my residence, utilities running, credit cards, taxes etc.
Click to expand...

Successful naturalization is more complicated than simply meeting the 30 month physical presence requirement. Specifically, taking open-ended foreign employment with a non-US company, very effectively suggests to USCIS that you are abandoning your US residency, and hence maybe even lose your LPR. Simply returning to the US every "X" months is not normally considered sufficient to meet the requirements for continuous residence, even though you may never have been outside the US for more than 6 months at a time.

If you intend to take foreign employment, it is critically important that you can prove the job offer is for a fixed duration. Before leaving, you should apply for an I-131 re-entry permit, and if circumstances permit, ideally also an N-470. Understand too, that you may still be considered to have broken continuous residence unless you have the residency protection afforded by an N-470.

I strongly suggest you consult an immigration attorney experienced with overseas employment as it relates to naturalization before you accept this offer. The best situation would of course be to finish getting your USC before you go overseas!
 
I did talk with an immigration attorney before I took my offshore assignments in India and I was not asked to file N470. Its too late now since I am ready to apply for n400 now.

I filed taxes as a resident during the time I was abroad but I had little or no US income. The US taxes statemnts did not have my foriegn earnings. Will that be a problem?

Thanks.
 
mrrk said:
The US taxes statemnts did not have my foriegn earnings. Will that be a problem?
Click to expand...

Well, as an LPR, you are supposed to declare and pay taxes on your worldwide income. Having said that, there are many international tax treaties, so you may not owe any additional tax to the IRS.

The other thing to consider is that USCIS officers are not generally tax experts, so it is very unlikely they will scrutinize your returns/transcripts that closely and find the problem.
 
And, you can refile/amend your taxes (up to some number of years after the filing date). As boatbod said, if you paid taxes in the other country, and they have a tax treaty, it is unlikely you owe much money to the IRS.
 
The US has a tax treaty with India so you guys are right about not having to pay it twice. The technicality is declaring it. On one hand you are saying that you were working for your US employer when you are away, and then the tax records doesnt reflect that income..

At the worst it may be ammended returns later and the hope that INS doesn't care about this.
 
You remarked that you had very little or no US income, which means you had little to no income reported on your tax returns. Only a few dollars shown on your returns. :eek: I would think that IO will notice something that is so obvious. After all, we all gotta make money somewhere. Many people have reported that IO do look at your tax returns carefully to make sure you do not owe any tax to IRS. I think USCIS will need to see your Indian income somehow.

Also, working for US company by itself doesn't seem to be enough to satisfy the requirement for preserving the residence. This person was in similar situation, and he was thoroughly interrogated by IO.
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=239101

It just shows you need to be prepared with strong evidences.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top