need advice - proof of time outside US - please help

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Barbus

Registered Users (C)
Hi, guys. Writing to ask for the advice on the following matter. I am applying for US citizenship in the middle of October. My problem is that I lost my passport in summer 2011 and had to go back to my country to get a new one.
Now I heard (please verify that) that at the interview they ask for the passport and look at the stamps from various airport immigration points to check that you were outside of US for no longer than 6 months, etc...
So my new passport does not have those stamps.... What is the way out? I had a total of 4 trips for last 4 years - to my country (2 months), Italy, Poland and Greece (each of about 1 week). I contacted Italian consulate in Chicago and they granted me a paper on my trip, so that is done. However, I was not so lucky with Poland and Greece consulates... Poland says my records might be gone, and there is no response from Greece at all... And I think I can prove the 2-month trip to my country...
I will appreciate the advice on how to deal with this matter. Maybe there is a way to contact USCIS for some kind of proof of my past trips (they must have the information on my trips, right?).
On the other hand, I am surprised why USCIS does not run a check on my trips outside the US before the interview... They must normally do that, right?

Thanks in advance.
 
You can file a FOIA (freedom of information act) request to border control for their records on you.
But such request can take up to 1 year to grant so if you are eager to start, it won't be worth it.

But since your four trips even add up to not much, I don't think it is a big issue. Just recollect
as much as you can
 
WBH said:
You can file a FOIA (freedom of information act) request to border control for their records on you.
But such request can take up to 1 year to grant so if you are eager to start, it won't be worth it.

But since your four trips even add up to not much, I don't think it is a big issue. Just recollect
as much as you can
Click to expand...

WBH, thanks for the response. Will get everything I can.
 
Barbus said:
Hi, guys. Writing to ask for the advice on the following matter. I am applying for US citizenship in the middle of October. My problem is that I lost my passport in summer 2011 and had to go back to my country to get a new one.
Now I heard (please verify that) that at the interview they ask for the passport and look at the stamps from various airport immigration points to check that you were outside of US for no longer than 6 months, etc...
So my new passport does not have those stamps.... What is the way out? I had a total of 4 trips for last 4 years - to my country (2 months), Italy, Poland and Greece (each of about 1 week). I contacted Italian consulate in Chicago and they granted me a paper on my trip, so that is done. However, I was not so lucky with Poland and Greece consulates... Poland says my records might be gone, and there is no response from Greece at all... And I think I can prove the 2-month trip to my country...
I will appreciate the advice on how to deal with this matter. Maybe there is a way to contact USCIS for some kind of proof of my past trips (they must have the information on my trips, right?).
On the other hand, I am surprised why USCIS does not run a check on my trips outside the US before the interview... They must normally do that, right?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

They usually take the information provided in the N-400 about the dates of foreign trips on faith and only ask to see passport stamps if you list some long trips that may call into question the applicant's continuous residency.
(Technically, a GC holder is not even required to possess a foreign passport and some countries take the old passport away when the new one is issued).

In your case you had one 2-month trip, and three one-week long trips. So it is rather unlikely that you'll be asked to show the passport stamps. Of course, you should have kept a photocopy of your old passport, just in case.
As WBH says, collect as much information as you can about those 4 trips, such as airline itineraries, credit card statements showing ticket purchases, etc. But do not give this stuff to the IO unless specifically asked for it during the interview. As I said, it is unlikely that you'll be asked anything about your trips since they were quite short.

If you are really anxious, you can indeed file a FOIA request with the CBP to get your entry/exit records. See
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/de...-of-my-travel-in-and-out-of-the-united-states
for instructions how to do this.
 
You can also provide flight records. Do you have the boarding passes or itineraries somewhere? Maybe in your email?

If you can't find these, then you probably still don't have to worry. They can check their own records too.
 
cafeconleche, thanks. I thought about that too. I found all the e-mails from orbitz on my trips.
 
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