Continuous residency concern

viviancchk

New Member
Hello all, please be patient for my story, its a little long.

I submitted N-400 in Feb, 13, and never got notice, so I called USCIS and they mailed me a new one in Aug schedule a fingerprint in Oc, and I just recently did the fingerprint.

During the time filling out the N-400, I put a trip down from Feb to May, 13 to go to Taiwan to stay with my boyfriend. We met in US from work when he was in OBT, and now he has to go back to do the involuntary military service. I did not return on may because of medical reason, i needed to stay in TW to recover. However, due to financial reason, I need to work a little bit in TW to live, and I returned back to US in Oct. Will it effect my continuous residency for my N-400? I live with my parents in my parents house, pay cell phone bill and student loan in US.

Secondly, if I need to go out the country again for a 3 months trip, will it be a burden toward my n-400? Thanks a lot for your help.
 
It is not very clear how many days you were away from USA. If it is more than 6 months there will be problems.

I would advice you not to leave for another 3 months trip. Wait till your interview is over. Working in TW is a negative point.
 
So you were away from Feb. to October -- 8 months? That trip of more than 6 months combined with working abroad seriously hurt your chances of approval (unless the work there was for your US employer). If you leave again for a 3 month trip in the near future, that would likely destroy the last shred of a chance you have left.
 
my bf and i were engaged too during my stay in TW, I'd like to stay with him untill he finishes his military service. What would the best way to do this?
 
my bf and i were engaged too during my stay in TW, I'd like to stay with him untill he finishes his military service. What would the best way to do this?

If you go ahead with that plan (assuming this is not US military service you're talking about), your citizenship prospects are doomed. But at least you could get a reentry permit to preserve your green card, if your stay abroad is expected to be a year or more.
 
If you go ahead with that plan (assuming this is not US military service you're talking about), your citizenship prospects are doomed. But at least you could get a reentry permit to preserve your green card, if your stay abroad is expected to be a year or more.

Please understand, if you apply for re-entry permit, your present application for citizenship will be rejected. You would have to wait for 4 years and 1 day after your return to apply afresh. It is for you and your bf to decide.

If you have stayed 8 months abroad in the last trip, your present application is likely to be rejected, unless IO takes a lenient view of your medical condition. If you have all the medical records it is worth a try. It is for you to convince the IO during the interview.

You do not have to share any info about your engagement with the USCIS. Sharing that info will result in further complication about your intentions.
 
Please understand, if you apply for re-entry permit, your present application for citizenship will be rejected.

Applying for a reentry permit does not have a negative effect on naturalization; it's the long trip(s) which would affect the chances of naturalization. If someone applies for the permit but then doesn't take any long trips with it, the existence of the permit would be irrelevant and ignored for naturalization purposes.
 
thanks for the help! i guess it will leave to me and my bf to decide where to live in the future. my other question is if i give up my pr status, can my parents help me to reapply for green card thru f3 petition in the future?
 
my other question is if i give up my pr status, can my parents help me to reapply for green card thru f3 petition in the future?

Yes, but the F3 category has a very long wait (10 years) and it might become unavailable to you because the proposed immigration reform would put an age limit of 31 on the F3 category.
 
Reentry Permit or any other options?

Dear Sir; Madam,
I'm an American Citizen, and my wife is a green card holder. She lived in the US from 2004-2010 at which time she accepted a job from her Non-profit organization in Washington DC (www.iri.org) in her home country Ecuador. At that time she had never left the US beyond a few days, so we knew she was eligible for naturalization. We applied for an N-470 before leaving, but received a letter indicating that IRI (non-profit) did not show on their list organizations that would allow her to keep her resident time while abroad. We didn't learn until we were outside the US that it would have been ideal to get a reentry permit. Now my wife is not working with IRI any-longer(for almost 1 year), and we expect to return to the US in approximately 1 year from now. We have a 4 year old son who is also an American citizen, and have travelled in and out of the US with her several times without a problem so far. What we need to know is which would be the best route to take in order to obtain her citizenship, or for her not to lose her green card at airport immigration in the near future. Would it be advisable to move to the US for a few months in order to start her process of naturalization? or would it be better for us to move back for a few months just to get the reentry permit? Since we left we've been returning to the US every 3 to 5 months. Is my wife eligible? taking into account the continuous resident requirement for naturalization? Which path do you recommend for us?

Thank you,
 
There's no way she can get citizenship now if she's been out since 2010 and only visited every few months. She also ought to have got a re-entry permit before she left in 2010. Has she ever been advised to get a re-entry permit or surrender her GC (by border agents in the US)? If not, then chances are the next trip back wouldn't cause much trouble. She could get a re-entry permit on her next trip to the US, but she'd have to stay for a few weeks or leave and return for the fingerprinting appointment. When she returns to the US permanently, she can apply for citizenship after 4 years plus 1 day if she maintains continuous residence. To be safe, she might as well wait a whole 5 years.
 
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