HELP!!! Question on continuous residency..

J

Jabs

Registered Users (C)
I need some help as to when it will be safe for me to submit my N-400 application based on continuous residency requirements!! Thanks!!

I received my GC 03/01/03
I have been out of the country for the following dates:

01/26/2008-01/29/2008 (2 days)
12/16/2006-12/25/2006 (8 days)
01/26/2006-01/29/2006 (2 days)
01/23/2005-06/30/2005 (155 days)-in school in home country
09/01/2003-03/24/2004 (204 days....>6 months < 1 year) in school
03/09/2003-08/27/2003 (169 days)- in school in home country

03/24/2004-01/23/2005 During school, I worked as a flight attendant for the country's airline (non-USA airline), however I travelled almost daily to the USA. I used my greencard to enter each time, however my passport was not stamped.

After March 24, 2004, I did not break my residency, I was however out of the country 5 months after that, and after June 30, 2005 I have been working here and have not left the country for more that 8 days since.

Question, should I apply based on starting residency March 24, 2004 or June 30, 2005???

THANK YOU!!!
 
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Jabs said:
I need some help as to when it will be safe for me to submit my N-400 application based on continuous residency requirements!! Thanks!!

I received my GC 03/01/03
I have been out of the country for the following dates:

01/26/2008-01/29/2008 (2 days)
12/16/2006-12/25/2006 (8 days)
01/26/2006-01/29/2006 (2 days)
01/23/2005-06/30/2005 (155 days)-in school in home country
09/01/2003-03/24/2004 (204 days....>6 months < 1 year) in school
03/09/2003-08/27/2003 (169 days)- in school in home country

03/24/2004-01/23/2005 During school, I worked as a flight attendant for the country's airline (non-USA airline), however I travelled almost daily to the USA. I used my greencard to enter each time, however my passport was not stamped.

After March 24, 2004, I did not break my residency, I was however out of the country 5 months after that, and after June 30, 2005 I have been working here and have not left the country for more that 8 days since.

Question, should I apply based on starting residency March 24, 2004 or June 30, 2005???

THANK YOU!!!
Click to expand...
Unless you can show strong evidence of US residency ties during 2003-2005, you would be eligible to apply based on 5 years of continuous residency starting from June 30,2005.
 
Will I be able to apply July 1st 2009 based on the 4 years 1 day criteria? (Calculating from June 30, 2005). I have my parent's tax returns in which I was filed as a dependent while in school. I also have copies of their mortgage statements which would show ties of my immediate family to the US. I've also filed taxes from 2005-2008.
 
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I'm sorry Bobsmyth...I'm a little slow understanding these immigration issues. Are you saying I wont be able to apply until 5 years from June 30, 2005 (June 2010)??? OR Are you saying I'm eligible to apply NOW once I can show my ties to the US between 2003-2005 when I was out of the country! I'm sorry, just want to make sure I understand completely!

Thanks again
 
You can apply now and attempt to show enough evidence of maintaining residence during those long trips, or you can apply 5 years minus 90 days since your last long trip (April 1, 2010) which would put those long trips outside the statutory period so you wouldn't have to show any evidence of residence for them.
 
Jabs said:
I'm sorry Bobsmyth...I'm a little slow understanding these immigration issues. Are you saying I wont be able to apply until 5 years from June 30, 2005 (June 2010)??? OR Are you saying I'm eligible to apply NOW once I can show my ties to the US between 2003-2005 when I was out of the country! I'm sorry, just want to make sure I understand completely!

Thanks again
Click to expand...

What I was saying is that unless you can show strong proof of US residency ties during 2003-2005, the earliest you can apply is 5 years (minus 90 days) from June 2005.
 
Thanks again, just one more question. How am I going to list all those flights I did as a flight attendant when I was back and forth. There were over a hundred flights, and the airline was unable to furnish me with all the flight information. Should I just list the ones I have and indicate to them that some are missing.
Also..calculating the total trips and time out of the country will be very difficult if I have to include these flights. I'm not sure if it will be possible !!!! What do I do??
 
You don't have to list trips that were under 24 hours. So that should eliminate a large number of trips where you were returning to the US on a daily basis.

Other than that, all you can do is to try an estimate and approximate the multi-day trips for which you don't know the exact dates. On the sheet where you are listing them, you can add a sentence to explain that the trips between XX/YY date and AA/BB date are approximate as you do not have exact records of them.

If you wait until April 2010 to apply, those trips would be outside the 5-year window and would be practically irrelevant so they won't hassle you about it. Whereas if you apply now, those trips would be in the middle of a long set of absences outside the US within the past 5 years, so they would be less likely to tolerate inexact dates.
 
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Bobsmyth said:
Unless you can show strong evidence of US residency ties during 2003-2005, you would be eligible to apply based on 5 years of continuous residency starting from June 30,2005.
Click to expand...


Bob, why June 30, 2005??....that trip was less than six monts....wouldn't be March 24, 2004 since that was the last trip that broke the continuous residence???

Guacho
 
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guacho said:
Bob, why June 30, 2005??....that trip was less than six monts....wouldn't be March 24, 2004 since that was the last trip that broke the continuous residence???

Guacho
Click to expand...

The reason I mentioned June 30, 2005 is that it marks the end of a period of long trips that began in 2003, one of those trips presume break in continuous residency. USCIS will look at the pattern as well as length of trips to determine residency intent. Unless the OP can show strong US residency ties for the time in school, I feel it would be best to wait to reestablish the 5 years of continuous residency starting from the end of those long trips.
 
guacho said:
Bob, why June 30, 2005??....that trip was less than six monts....wouldn't be March 24, 2004 since that was the last trip that broke the continuous residence???
Click to expand...
Under six months doesn't mean one is automatically safe. Under six months only means the presumption of breaking residence is not there. Without that presumption, they have to look at other evidence to determine breaks in residence (including the entire pattern of other trips). The six month rule is not a hard and fast rule for determination of continuous residence. It is only a rule that governs who has the burden of proof.
 
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