How to plan my stay between US and Sweden to be ready for citizenship?

Y

yc130

New Member
I got GC Feb 22nd, 2012 and found love of my life in Nov. Well he is Swedish citizen and lives and works in Sweden. It would not be easy for him to get GC here. So I would need to commute back and forth. However I would like to get US citizenship before we finally settle down in Sweden. So I would really appreciate your help on how I can keep my GC valid and make myself eligible for citizenship application in Feb, 2017.

1: I would need to stay in US for 30 months between Feb 2012 to Feb 2017.
2: I shall not stay outside of US for more than 6 months. However, once 30 months is met, I could stay in US for as little as a few days for each trip to US.
3: I shall not be employed in Sweden.
4: I have a house mortgage in US and my sister and her family live there, which is good fact for my case.
5: the 90 days rule would allow me to apply citizenship as early as in Nov 2016. for those 90 days, it is required for me to stay in US. Do I need to stay until my citizenship is approved? How long shall I stay in US before applying and after applying? It was said that it's better not to apply for citizenship right after spending a few months outside of US. In fact, staying in US a few months before apply citizenship is recommended.

6: So my plan is to first stay in US for 30 months, which will go to Feb 2015 given that we like to travel for a few months. Then between Feb 2015 to Aug 2016, I will spend most of time in Sweden and come to US for a few days to meet the 6 months rule. Then Sep 2016 to Feb 2017, I will stay in US and apply for citizenship in Nov and hopefully get it by Feb 2017. How does that sound? Any risk?

Could someone comment on my understanding above and correct them if wrong? Any suggestions on my case would be appreciated too.

Thanks,
Helen
 
The six month rule is not absolute. If you take multiple long trips outside the US and spend only a few days between them, the adjudicator may deem you to have broken continuous residence.
 
This looks difficult. Are you going to work at all? If you're merely going to live without working in both countries, it'll look fishy. What are you going to say is your reason for having spent so much time in Sweden? If you say your boyfriend is there, then they'll have a hard time believing you'll remain in the US after being granted citizenship, which in itself will have been granted after a spotty residential record. I'm not saying it DEFINITELY won't work. I'm saying it looks very dangerous.

You might get away with it if you study in Sweden. Can you do this?
 
cafeconleche said:
You might get away with it if you study in Sweden.
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Yeah, studying gives you a good chance but as cafeconleche said you still need a lot of proof, luck and a good interviewer. I've been studying abroad and have great excuses for everything and still I think I am becoming older prematurely from all the stress of wondering what would happen to my life if my citizenship is denied (I absolutely need it for my dream career).

The ONE sure way would be for you to find a job with an American company in Sweden and file N470. But you would still need a full 365 days inside the US with no exits and an extra 18 months of physical presence on top of that (for the full 30 months required). If you want to be 100% sure and avoid any stress, that would be the way to go.

Otherwise you will be at the mercy of the person interviewing you who apparently can do whatever he/she wants despite the evidence.
 
yc130 said:
I got GC Feb 22nd, 2012 and found love of my life in Nov. Well he is Swedish citizen and lives and works in Sweden. It would not be easy for him to get GC here. So I would need to commute back and forth. However I would like to get US citizenship before we finally settle down in Sweden.
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Why do you want US citizenship if your plan is to settle down in Sweden?

Your plan is highly likely to fail if US citizenship is your goal. Either you'll spend large amounts of time apart trying to satisfy the US residence and presence requirements, which would jeopardize the relationship, or you'll be denied citizenship, or both.

Forget about US citizenship for now. Get a reentry permit which would allow you to stay up to 2 years in Sweden. If by the end of those 2 years you decide you're going to marry him, then go ahead and marry him, surrender your green card, and get on a path to becoming a Swedish citizen (if you're not already one). If you decide not to marry him, go back to the US before your reentry permit expires, settle down in the US, and live your life in the US with the goal of US citizenship.
 
In her defense, the fact that she has a property in the US, a mortgage in the US, would these things not work to her advantage? I agree that the law in 'spirit' is not being sufficed in this case, but in 'fact' she'd be meeting all the requirements. Right or wrong?

I would take a view that her case would be left to the disposal of the Immigration Officer who'd be interviewing her. Likelihood is that the Immigration Officer would see through the case, but in fact, in my opinion she'd have sufficed the 'requirement'. Again, right or wrong?

Also, does it really make a difference or matter if she does decide to leave the US a day after getting her US Citizenship? I think the case leading up to her Citizenship should be scrutinized, but what she does (in terms of staying or leaving the US - for whatever reason), the day after getting her US Citizenship shouldn't matter.

Again, not sure if my opinion is reflected in the law (it's probably not). But would like to hear from others who may have some comments/views to what I've just said.
 
BritishGuy said:
In her defense, the fact that she has a property in the US, a mortgage in the US, would these things not work to her advantage? I agree that the law in 'spirit' is not being sufficed in this case, but in 'fact' she'd be meeting all the requirements. Right or wrong?

I would take a view that her case would be left to the disposal of the Immigration Officer who'd be interviewing her. Likelihood is that the Immigration Officer would see through the case, but in fact, in my opinion she'd have sufficed the 'requirement'. Again, right or wrong?
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I'm not saying it's a guarantee that she'll be denied. But it's still a high risk plan.

Also, does it really make a difference or matter if she does decide to leave the US a day after getting her US Citizenship? I think the case leading up to her Citizenship should be scrutinized, but what she does (in terms of staying or leaving the US - for whatever reason), the day after getting her US Citizenship shouldn't matter.
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After citizenship is already obtained, one can leave the US immediately and permanently. But before citizenship is granted, if the travel pattern and other evidence indicate an upcoming permanent relocation, that could result in denial.
 
BritishGuy said:
In her defense, the fact that she has a property in the US, a mortgage in the US, would these things not work to her advantage? I agree that the law in 'spirit' is not being sufficed in this case, but in 'fact' she'd be meeting all the requirements. Right or wrong?
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Wrong, I believe. There are actually two requirements - the first is the physical presence requirement which is quantitative. Either you've spent the necessary months in the US or you haven't. The second requirement, however, is continuity of residence which isn't so cut and dried.

The law and regulations state that for an absence of less than six months, the presumption is that continuous residence has not been broken unless USCIS has evidence to the contrary. Between six months and a year, the presumption is that it has, unless the applicant has evidence to the contrary. In both cases, the presumption can be overcome, provided there is evidence. Several long back-to-back trips (plus a spouse in the foreign country) would be just the evidence needed to overcome the presumption.

Putting the law aside, if someone spend the majority of the year in a foreign country with their spouse, where do you believe they reside? USCIS aren't stupid.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
if someone spend the majority of the year in a foreign country with their spouse, where do you believe they reside? USCIS aren't stupid.
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As a person who travels extensively and met other people who do as well, I can say that you can most definitely spend almost an entire year and perhaps even more abroad and still have your one and only safe residence in the U.S.

And those are just travelers, of course there are other people who must spend lots of time temporarily abroad for studies, caring for a sick family member, etc. And I suspect this will only increase in the future as the world becomes more and more interconnected.
 
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riq2012 said:
As a person who travels extensively and met other people who do as well, I can say that you can most definitely spend almost an entire year and perhaps even more abroad and still have your one and only safe residence in the U.S.

And those are just travelers, of course there are other people who must spend lots of time temporarily abroad for studies, caring for a sick family member, etc. And I suspect this will only increase in the future as the world becomes more and more interconnected.
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I'm a contract airline pilot and what you've just quoted is me to a tee. My wife will be applying for her citizenship in 2015. With my earnings being from all over the world and stuff (US taxes and all taken care off), and with my wife having spend 19 months of the 3 years required in the US (as she and the kids - as they've young and not in school, sometimes follow me to where my contracts take me) I hope the USCIS see beyond it all as the US is home for us. We own an apartment there in NY, mortgage, all that jazz. Once the kids are old enough then they'll be going to school in NY, but they're still babies so hence they can join me where I head to. My wife would have done the requisite 18 months out of the 3 years required, taxes all done (married filing separate for our certain tax situation), and I commute from the US . Many pilots do this - but not all have this immigration issue hanging over their head! I hope when our time comes they understand the situation as my wife would have met ALL the criteria.
 
riq2012 said:
As a person who travels extensively and met other people who do as well, I can say that you can most definitely spend almost an entire year and perhaps even more abroad and still have your one and only safe residence in the U.S.
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Again, don't just focus on one thing.

It's one thing to spend a long period of time outside the US, but if you're in a variety of different locations staying in temporary lodging then it becomes much easier to claim residence in the US. If you're in the same place with a spouse who happens to be a citizen of that country, that's a different story.

Continuous residence is a judgment call, taking into account all of the circumstances. The time abroad, property, spouse, travel history, etc.
 
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