• Hello Members, This forums is for DV lottery visas only. For other immigration related questions, please go to our forums home page, find the related forum and post it there.

need advise

A

ahmad4421

Registered Users (C)
hi, I got my GC on NOV. 1st, 2009 stayed in the US for 10 days then left the US for 7 months and came beck in July 2010. I have not left the US since. Is there any harm to my case for US citizenship?when can I apply for US citizenship?

Thank you in advance.
 
ahmad4421 said:
hi, I got my GC on NOV. 1st, 2009 stayed in the US for 10 days then left the US for 7 months and came beck in July 2010. I have not left the US since. Is there any harm to my case for US citizenship?when can I apply for US citizenship?

Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

Absolutely no harm.
But those 7 months you stayed out of the usa will be deducted from the 5 year that you have to cumulate
For you to apply for a citizenship.
 
Thank you vladek15425, so when can I apply for citizen ship, is it 5 years from Nov 2009 or 5 years from July 2010?
 
If you are out the US for longer than 6 months the effective date will be the later date, July 2010 in your case. You can send in your application after 4 years 9 months from what I understand, so that you can take your oath at 5 years.
 
SusieQQQ said:
If you are out the US for longer than 6 months the effective date will be the later date, July 2010 in your case. You can send in your application after 4 years 9 months from what I understand, so that you can take your oath at 5 years.
Click to expand...

Are you sure of this?

I was under the impression that only a re-entry permit would reset the counter.

My impression is that if you have not violated the terms of your green card (staying out up to 1 year at the beginning is not a violation) all you needed was to have been present in the US a total of 36 months of the past 5 years.
 
c1984 said:
Are you sure of this?

I was under the impression that only a re-entry permit would reset the counter.

My impression is that if you have not violated the terms of your green card (staying out up to 1 year at the beginning is not a violation) all you needed was to have been present in the US a total of 36 months of the past 5 years.
Click to expand...

Yes. See the continuous residence requirements on this page http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship...physical-presence-requirements-naturalization where they state that absences of more than 6 months disrupt the continuous residence. I've seen it in other official documents too.
 
SusieQQQ said:
This explains it more explicitly, that an absence of 6 months or longer is automatically assumed to have broken continuity:

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html
Click to expand...

Interesting! Thanks for the link.

However the link says that even absence between 6 months and 1 year could be OK, as far as you can defend it appropriately. I think the absence within the first year of LPR status is similarly defensible.

1. Absence of More than Six Months (but Less than One Year)

An absence of more than six months (more than 181 days but less than one year (less than 365 days)) during the period for which continuous residence is required is presumed to break the continuity of such residence. This includes any absence that takes place prior to filing the naturalization application or between filing and the applicant’s admission to citizenship.[10]

An applicant’s intent is not relevant in determining the location of his or her residence. The period of absence from the United States is the defining factor in determining whether the applicant is presumed to have disrupted his or her residence.

An applicant may overcome the presumption of loss of his or her continuity of residence by providing evidence to establish that the applicant did not disrupt his or her residence. The evidence may include, but is not limited to, documentation that during the absence:[11]

  • The applicant did not terminate his or her employment in the United States or obtain employment while abroad.
  • The applicant’s immediate family remained in the United States.
  • The applicant retained full access to his or her United States abode.
Click to expand...

I also found this link, which has a very interesting claims:
http://islawfirm.com/immigration-la...us-green-card-and-qualifying-for-citizenship/

Continuous Residence

In order to satisfy the continuous residence requirement, applicants for naturalization are required to show that they have:

• Resided continuously in the U.S. for five years before applying; or
• Resided continuously in the U.S. for three years in the case of qualified spouses of U.S. citizens.

“Continuous residence” means that you have maintained residence within the United States for the required period of 5 or 3 years. While occasional travel outside the United States is permitted, extended absences of over 6 months may disrupt your continuous residence and make you ineligible for naturalization in the United States.

If you were absent in the United States for more than six months but less than one year, you have to prove that you did not abandon you permanent resident status by presenting documents confirming your continuous ties to the United States during the time of absence.

An absence from the United States for one year or more disrupts your continuous residence unless you obtain necessary paperwork in advance in order to preserve your residence for naturalization purposes (see below).

Note: Generally, an absence of more than 1 year while holding a reentry permit interrupts your continuous residence for citizenship purposes. However, it should be noted that event if absence on reentry permit lasts 2 years, the clock for calculating the continuous residence restarts from the conclusion of the first year of absence on reentry permit. In other words, any period of absence beyond the first year, while holding a reentry permit, is counted towards the continuous residence requirement for naturalization purposes.
Click to expand...
 
c1984 said:
Interesting! Thanks for the link.

However the link says that even absence between 6 months and 1 year could be OK, as far as you can defend it appropriately. I think the absence within the first year of LPR status is similarly defensible.



I also found this link, which has a very interesting claims:
http://islawfirm.com/immigration-la...us-green-card-and-qualifying-for-citizenship/
Click to expand...

Yeah, but from what I hear they are pretty sticky about what constitutes defense. They are explicit that this is different from the "intent" aspect (which is what the CBP guys/immigration judges use to determine if you have abandoned residence). So if you haven't maintained a home, job etc during those 6 months you will have a tough time proving it. Whereas for intent reasons you just need to prove you intended coming back to make the US your residence.

That bit about the re-entry permit is interesting too.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top