Green Card Holder: Is the “6-Month rule” actually 180 days for naturalization eligibility?

[georgiaclelland]

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping someone can clarify a confusing point about time spent outside the U.S. as a permanent resident.

I received my green card in February 2024 and plan to apply for U.S. citizenship as soon as I become eligible. I regularly travel back to my home country, and I’ve always made sure each trip stays under 6 months to avoid disrupting the continuous residence requirement.

However, I’m now getting conflicting information about whether USCIS looks at “6 months” or “180 days.”

Here are my exact dates:

• Last departure: July 14, 2025
• Planned return: January 13, 2026
• That puts me one day under a 6-month mark… but technically it’s 183 days abroad.

Some sources say that anything under 6 months is fine. Others say USCIS uses 180 days as the threshold, and that going over 180 days could be treated as breaking continuous residence—even if it’s still under 6 calendar months.

Changing my flight would be extremely expensive during the holiday period, so I’d like to avoid that if possible. But I also don’t want those extra 3 days to jeopardize my naturalization timeline.

My question:
For N-400 naturalization, does USCIS consider:

• 6 months (calendar months) as the limit?
  or
• 180 days as the limit?

And if a trip is 183 days but still less than 6 months, will this cause any issues or force me to wait longer before applying?

Any insight—especially from people who have had similar travel lengths or have gone through naturalization recently—would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[SusieQQQ]

Is this written by AI? The way you have presented it looks like it.
Regardless, the only source you need to look at is the one which counts, which is USCIS. Which at first glance seems confusing as they too use both, but they clearly define “6 months” as 180 days, and “1 year” as 365 days. If you fill in the N400 online, it will calculate days out and and flag potential issues by number of days.

If I were personally in your shoes I would come back earlier (though I also would not be stretching USCIS rules to the maximum anyway because things like travel disruptions always have the potential to throw things out).

Anyway here is the manual link, and essentially part of it will come down to the officer’s interpretation.

Chapter 3 - Continuous Residence

A. Continuous Residence RequirementAn applicant for naturalization under the general provision

www.uscis.gov

I assume you also understand the physical presence requirements as well and are not just touching down to try maintain your green card.