Continuous Residence Eligibility

[thanks2rajiv]

Hello

If my parents stayed for less than 6 months (every calendar year) outside US (at the country of origin) for 5 years, would they be eligible to apply for US citizenship at the end of the 5th year?

Please note that they would have stayed on US soil only for 2.5 years or so (out of 5 years).

Please advise.

Thanks.

 

[boatbod]

Maybe, but it really depends on the exact circumstances and the IO who conducts the interview.

Continuous residence is one of the gray areas of citizenship eligibility - viewed from the letter of the law, any trip under 6 months is ok, however in practice its not that simple. If the trips were to different destinations, its probably ok. If the trips were back to back to the same destination, is probably not ok. There is middle ground if for example the trips were to the same location but separated by longer intervals.

As an example, my own situation included a 5-month trip taken once each winter for 3 consecutive years. I was employed in the US each summer, and as a consequence it didn't cause any problems during naturalization.