Is being out of the US for more than 6 months and less than a year break the time for naturalization

L

Lalmba

Registered Users (C)
Hi there,

I got my GC on 11/20/2005 and left the US after a month of stay for 11 months and then came back again for a month on 2006 and left for another 11 months then came back on 09/2007 and stayed since then except for a couple of traveles for a month on 09/2009 and 3 weeks on 07/2010.

1) Now it has been 5 years since I got my GC can I now apply for a cintizenship or the two travels of 11 months will break my 5 year period?
2) I lost my passport on 09/2007 and entered the US in a new passport. I don't want to make a mistake on the days I traveled, is there a way I could get the days I traveled on from the immigration department for proof of days traveled outside the US?
3) If I can not apply now when is the right time to apply?
 
Approximate dates are ok, as long as your residency is not borderline.

11 months trip is a problem. More so since you have 2 back to back 11 months trips. Whether they make an issue out of them is another question. If they do, you need to be able to show proof of continuous residence in US during your absence ... this usually implies that you maintained a house etc., in US during your absence, and / or your immediate family was in US while you were abroad.

There have been a couple of cases where USCIS did not buy the applicant's story that they established residence in US when they left US so soon after getting the GC. It is likely they will ask you to wait 5 years since you returned from your last long trip.

Anything early ... it is possible but entirely their call on whether they dig deep into this issue, although the probability of digging deep is high.
 
Lalmba said:
Hi there,

I got my GC on 11/20/2005 and left the US after a month of stay for 11 months and then came back again for a month on 2006 and left for another 11 months then came back on 09/2007 and stayed since then except for a couple of traveles for a month on 09/2009 and 3 weeks on 07/2010.

1) Now it has been 5 years since I got my GC can I now apply for a cintizenship or the two travels of 11 months will break my 5 year period?
2) I lost my passport on 09/2007 and entered the US in a new passport. I don't want to make a mistake on the days I traveled, is there a way I could get the days I traveled on from the immigration department for proof of days traveled outside the US?
3) If I can not apply now when is the right time to apply?
Click to expand...

If you feel you can afford to lose $675 , then go ahead apply right now. There are good chances you may be approved for USC. You meet physical presence. Approval or not depends on IO/DO. No one can say what will be their decision.

If you want to be 100% certain, then apply sometime in June 2012. Be careful with law and be on the correct side for next 20months.
 
I am pretty upset on this issue actually. Do you know why? Quite many people around me or sedon ahnd 3rd hand aquantaints live in home country after getting the PR. Common sense tells me not everyone of them really continuously live in the USA but I do not see any of them have trouble
getting citizenship. It is not that I am jealous but you understand you hate it when you obey a rule
while others do not but not get penalized
 
Do you have very strong evidence of ties to the US during those two 11-month trips? If not, you'll most likely be denied. A single trip of over 6 months is grounds for denial; you have to provide evidence to overcome TWO trips like that.

But it is not a guaranteed denial; the IO will use their discretion and review the evidence you present to make the decision. So you can apply now and see what happens, if you're willing to risk the money.

If you apply when it is 5 years minus 90 days after the end of the last 11-month trip, those 11-month trips will not affect you.
 
Thanks all for your replies...

I asked this question for I thought I passed the Naturalization Checklist. In that list it does not talk about time outside the US between 6 months and 1 year. It just mentions time above 1 year. I want to do only the right and legal thing but I don't want to also to pass the application time if my travel is excusable. Defnitly don't have $675 to spend. My next question is... I ready somewhere that if you are out for two years they may count for you one year and one year you will loose? I didn't have a re-entry visa... does this apply to me and I could apply on October 2011?
 
Read the guide to naturalization for discussion on continuous residence.

To get credit of 1 year, you should have established or maintained residence. Did you?
 
Lalmba said:
Thanks all for your replies...

I asked this question for I thought I passed the Naturalization Checklist. In that list it does not talk about time outside the US between 6 months and 1 year. It just mentions time above 1 year.
Click to expand...

Read The Guide To Naturalization. It mentions trips between 6 months and a year.

The difference between the 6+ month trips and year+ trips is that a year+ trip automatically disqualifies you (unless you have an approved N-470 or served in the military), whereas you are given the chance to present evidence to support your case for the 6+ month trips.
 
As was mentioned, the guide discusses absences between 6-12 months. Unless you have substantial evidence of US residency ties during those two 11 months trips, you'd be best to wait 5 years after your last trip of over 11 months before you apply.
 
lalmba, that is indeed a million dollar question (or $675 for some). The guide is little misleading in that it talks about you breaking continuous residency by going for more than 6 months, but in the checklist for naturalization it seems to be more lenient by "suggesting" it's ok to have gone for more than 6 but less than 1 year. Yes, they probably need more documentation for that.

I wonder if being ill while overseas and having a doctor's note and medical records would qualify as evidence. I wonder how the IO would treat a major illness as a reason to stay away for more than 6 months (9 to be precise) but less than one year. This in addition to lease documents, credit card, bank statements being received at the address where you kept the lease.

I know a poster who replied recently where his wife had stayed away for 11 months too and had NO problem at the interview. He did have her on his mortgage documents and he himself was in the US while she was away. '

It would be very very helpful if some more people came forward with their experiences in such cases of absence.

PS: straight from the godha's mouth :)

Bobsmyth said:
As was mentioned, the guide discusses absences between 6-12 months. Unless you have substantial evidence of US residency ties during those two 11 months trips, you'd be best to wait 5 years after your last trip of over 11 months before you apply.
Click to expand...
 
#1. There is a difference between 1 trip and 2 such trips, and then too back to back.
#2. There is a difference between going away and having family stay back, and having a household back in US.
#3. There is a difference between having household in US, and just coming to US to "activate" the residency.

Not so easy to compare cases.
 
Thanks all for your answers they were very helpfull. I don't have any reason such as those you mentioned. I could simply not come because I had to finalize my previous life In Australia before I move for good to the US, it is not that easy to shut one door and open the next one.
 
Lalmba said:
I could simply not come because I had to finalize my previous life In Australia before I move for good to the US, it is not that easy to shut one door and open the next one.
Click to expand...

This is precisely the situation for so many people ... more so for people who come through DV lottery and have very little time to plan how their life is going to change. But then the right way is to satisfy the US residency requirements and then apply for N400. Anything less, and it is a question of luck.
 
Lalmba said:
Thanks all for your answers they were very helpfull. I don't have any reason such as those you mentioned. I could simply not come because I had to finalize my previous life In Australia before I move for good to the US, it is not that easy to shut one door and open the next one.
Click to expand...

That is understandable, but it is an argument that goes against qualifying for naturalization, which is based on showing your ties to the US. The fact that you had to spend nearly 2 years in Australia to close up your life there shows that your ties to Australia were very strong during that time. You didn't start being a true US resident until you wrapped up all of that and returned to the US in late 2007.

2) I lost my passport on 09/2007 and entered the US in a new passport. I don't want to make a mistake on the days I traveled, is there a way I could get the days I traveled on from the immigration department for proof of days traveled outside the US?
Click to expand...
If you apply while any of those 11-month trips are in the 5-year lookback window, you would need exact dates, because those 11-month trips are close to the critical time frame of 1 year.
 
Thanks again to all, I think I will apply in another 2 years. Time flies and it will be 2 years in no time.
 
Lalmba,

You don't have to wait a full five years. You only need to wait four years and one day since returning from the last long trip. See 8 CFR 316.5(c), it explains the break in residence, the rebuttable presumption criteria, and the ONLY known remedy for an affirmative break.
 
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