Out for 11 months and citizenship?

R

robwoj

Registered Users (C)
Hey gurus-

What happens if a person is out of the US for 11 months but those 11 months are broken up as 2 seperate trips:

1st trip - 5.5 months
come back to the US for 2 weeks
2nd trip - 5.5 months

So in reality the person is out for 11 months almost continuous. Just that the person comes back to the US after 5.5 months. Would such a person still be able to file a successful naturalization application?

Also during the 11 month absence that was broken up into 2 seperate trips the person maintained ties to the US etc.

We assume that the person was physically present for more than 2.5 years and he/she meets all other criteria for getting the citizenship.

Let me know.
 
So in that case stretching the limit - is the following person eligible to naturalize:

The person leaves the US on a reentry permit for 2.5 years but he/she breaks up the stay abroad into 5 seperate trips:

1st trip 5.5 months
come back to the US for 2 weeks
2nd trip 5.5 months
come back to the US for 2 weeks
3rd trip 5.5 months
come back to the US for 2 weeks
4th trip 5.5 months
come back to the US for 2 weeks
5th trip 5.5 months

Notice that the person is away for 2.5 years almost continous but is able to preserbe his/her green card because of reentry permit and ties to the US.

After the 5th trip the person quits further trips and stays in the US until naturalization.

Since the INS can grill the person - the person prepares all documents like speeding tickets, tax returns. In addition the person brings a reputable lawyer to the interview.

Let's also assume that the person does those 5 trips after working for more than 1 year for sponsoring employer and can document that circumstances have changed significantly before quitting after 1 year.

The person can also document that the reason for all the 5 trips was temporary and it was a good reason to leave the US on all 5 trips.
 
I read that. The document says that a 6 month trip is not an issue...

So would this say that an applicant who wishes to leave the US for for example 2.5 years can simply keep on coming back to the US every 5.5 months? He still needs to satisfy the 30 month physical residence requirement, good moral character, sponsored job quiting after a reasonable amount of time etc.

So my point is that it is likely to be okay to go for up to 2.5 years abroad (while having a reentry permit to back this up) and still be able to naturalize.

It is stretching the limits of the laws but not breaking them?

If I am mistaken - can somebody tell me about this?
 
Hey JoeF -

You know that it takes 0.5 years to get a reentry permit and that a reentry permit is valid for 2 years?

Why would they make a reentry permit valid for 2 years if you say the person is likely to go in front of an immigration judge in the event they use up the 2 years of the reentry permit? I assume you would go in front of immigration judge to discuss revocation of green card?

So does INS try to trick immigrants with 2 year reentry permits? In this newsgroup some people applied for 2 consecutive reentry permits so they stayed for 4 years abroad.

So my question still stands - if you went abroad for 2.5 years by taking small trips of about 5.5 months - would you be able to naturalize assumming you had a good reason that INS agreed with when you applied for a reentry permit.

Let me know.
 
Correct me if I am wrong - but I think what you are saying is this:

If you have a valid reason like temporary employment for 2 years abroad (for example a contract with clear ending date from a US based employer) and you come back to the US once every 5.5 months for 2 weeks then you can still naturalize and therefore it is not a gamble with your citizenship and green card?

Again we assume the person also takes other precautions for retaining green card like: ties to the US, property in the US, credit cards, bank accounts in the US etc.

Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top