Naturalization question after greencard

S

sanket_82

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I have a small doubt about my father-in-law's greencard. He is out of country for 8 months now and before leaving he didnt get a chance to file for reentry permit since it was a family emergency and he didnt even get a chance to apply for US citizenship. He has green card for more than 5 years now. His prior trips in these 5 years would consist of 4-5 trips consisting of 1 to 3 months duration with a gap of atleast 9 to 10 months. Now as per my knowledge and reading in this forum I believe he has lost those 5 years eligibility and might have to restart again. Now my question is

1) When can he apply for US citizenship?

2) Is there any exceptions in such cases or he has to again accumulate those 5 years?

Any help is highly appreciated.
 
If he comes back right away with a solid reason of staying over 6 months he still might be able to get US Citizenship, it sounds like it is just a one time event in his 5 years of GC history and he just might get away with it.
 
He needs to return to the US before this 8 month trip turns into 12 months, otherwise he could lose his green card.
 
If he loses it, he has to start all over again to get a green card. If he returns before 1 year with a good reason for the long trip, and if he can stay for about 6 months, sometimes less, sometimes more (he can also travel during the process) then he has a chance of getting citizenship, after which he can leave for as long as he wants.
 
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