Leaving dates on N400 - questions.

T

thrix

Registered Users (C)
I will apply soon for citizenship, I don't remember exactly leaving dates of the USA. coming back dates I have from passport's stamping. I never got stamped by foreign immigration and once I didn't get stamped from INS officer. I will type something around the date I left. Can they denied me a citizenship or revoke my GC, because they will think I want to lie them? I just don't remember exactly leaving dates.

Can I withdrew my application even if my case will go to continued ?
 
I am sure that millions of people have gone through your thought process about not remembering exact dates. If you don't remember and don't have a way of retrieving these dates what can you do? My take on this is that the question in the N-400 form is aimed mostly at making sure you comply with the residence requirements. I think you would be in trouble if you tried to intentionally hide that you spent more than six months out of the country, because that I think would be a material fact. However, if you don't remember if a trip was 14 or 15, or 20 days long and it doesn't have any effect on physical presence I would think it doesn't matter much. You could choose to mention that the dates are to the best of your recollection. In my case, from previous experience, I chose to printout the relevant N-400 page and used it to keep track scrupulously of all my trips of more than 24 hours.

PS: You ask about withdrawing your application, but in your first paragraph you say you are about to apply. I don't get it. Why would you spend 400 dollars and then withdraw your application? If you're so worried about the dates thing (which I think is a non-issue) then don't apply and save the money. Keep track of your trips for the next five years and then apply. That should take care of all your worries.

This is just my opinion. I am not encouraging anyone to enter false information on the N-400 application. I am just trying to interpret the spirit of the N-400 form and then apply some common sense.

My 2 cents.

My 2 cents.
 
I agree that is probably is not critical. I had my Green Card for 23 years before submitting my N-400. Because of my job, I made numerous trips overseas ...... I had to add THREE PAGES of them to my application. I had been keeping records for the more recent ones. However, for earlier ones, most had a passport stamp, some only had a re-entry permit stamp and some had neither. I provided the best data I had but explained that there might be a few, inintentional inconsistencies. Whatever you do, qualify your answer but DO NOT LIE AT ALL. Good luck !!!!!!!
 
We're originally from Canada, and when we got our green cards, we were close enough to our home town and visit for a weekend (though it was still a long drive). We had no idea when we had taken trips to Canada during the first 5 years of our GC status. When we decided that citizenship might be for us, we waited long enough accumulated 5 years of "reasonably accurate" travel data. For the first 4 years, we included a statement like "no more than N trips per year, the longest being 12 days".

Accuracy is important if you are close to the physical presence and continuous residence limits. If you are far away (like us), then truthful estimates *should* do.

(and, remember, I'm not a lawyer)
 
The first couple of years of my travel history was vague at best. I had some reentry stamps, but couldn't with much certainty figure out where I'd been or for how long. In the end I gave it my best shot and was prepared to defer to the IO if he had better info than me. Never came up during interview, so I guess it wasn't that important...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top