Continuous Residency Requirement

[MelbourneBen]

Hi All,

I have a question I was hoping someone may be able to answer.

As I understand it, in order to gain US citizenship through naturalization there are several requirements; two of which are physical presence and continuous residency. The physical presence requirement is easy to understand - you simply need to be physically present in the US for at least 30 months in the previous five years.

However, my question relates to the continuous residency requirement. Unless I am mistaken, a person is deemed to have maintained continuous residence if they have not been absent from the US for greater than six months in a single trip. If this is correct, are there any issues with a LPR for a period of 18 months to two years coming in and out of the country but not being outside the US for more than 180 days?

For example, if I was in the US for a few weeks, left for five months, came back for a few weeks and then left for five months etc. Would this be a problem? Keep in mind that over this period I would be showing my intention to return by filing taxes, having a cell phone service in the US, maintaining a US driver's license, keeping a US bank account and making regular deposits, maintaining a mailing address etc etc.

Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Ben

 

[MelbourneBen]

I should add that the reason for being away from the US for 18 months to two years is so that I can finish my MBA.

 

[Hannah7]

US immigration law can be interpreted multiple ways, it is not black and white (un)fortunately. To answer your question. You understand correctly that you must not be outside of the U.S. for a period longer than 6 months at a time. But if you try to beat that requirement by coming to the U.S. after 5 months for a few days and leaving again for another 5 months and doing the same, then some trouble-fishing immigration officer may interpret it as a one trip longer than 6 months.

The safest approach is to never leave the U.S. until you become a citizen. Truth be told, that would be super hard for most of us who have some ties and families in different countries. If you can help it, try to remain in the U.S. for the majority of the year. If you really need to take a trip that is longer than 6 months, do your best to break it in between with a stay in the U.S. for a few weeks at least. If you do that once it shouldn't be a problem, especially if you meet other requirements and if you are well beyond the physical presence requirement. My 2 cents.