PART 7. TIME OUTSIDE THE USA. (including trips to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean islands)

M

Michiganman

New Member
The question while seemingly straight forward presents a problem, and or questions for me.

4 things.

1. I am Canadian with family and friends still living in Canada

2. I live in Michigan and am only 40 mins from the border.

3. I have over the past 5 years been driving Semi Truck which included trips to Canada that required over night stays off and on, some of which would have been maybe 23 hours or less, and some that might have been 24 hour or more upto and including stays of maybe 40+ hours.

4. I was not aware until I recently got the N-400 Application that I would actually have to account for every trip into Canada.

I have the issue of even remotley knowing of the countless trips I have made to and from Canada as even 'receipts' for hotel, motel or even food would have been little to non existent due to my being able to stay with family. And when I was driving Semi. You bring everything with you. including but not limited to your bed (sleep in the truck)

So how would anyone suggest I go about filling out part 7 a, 7b, and then most importantly 7c and the actually dates of leaving and returning. My passport being canadian would have never been nor needed to be stamped. And upon returning to the USA. I woul dhave shown my resident alien Card.

Thanks.
 
This is definitely not an easy task
I am nit sure if you can provide exact or even close to exact dates. I think you may want to focus on showing that you have filed taxes and maintained residence in usa
 
chicagoboy77 said:
This is definitely not an easy task
I am nit sure if you can provide exact or even close to exact dates. I think you may want to focus on showing that you have filed taxes and maintained residence in usa
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Indeed. I am sure I can't be the only Canadian in history to not know in advance that I should have kept track of all my trips. As I have even said to some of the customs officers when crossing on my daily run into Canada. Trips to exotic places would be easy for me to recall and or look up in the last five years. But never would I have thought going to and from Canada as being 'exotic' me being Canadian.

Thanks for your quick response.
 
Michiganman said:
3. I have over the past 5 years been driving Semi Truck which included trips to Canada that required over night stays off and on, some of which would have been maybe 23 hours or less, and some that might have been 24 hour or more upto and including stays of maybe 40+ hours.
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I presume you drove the truck there for work purposes, not for vacation. So you or your employer must have some kind of log of your trips.

Indeed. I am sure I can't be the only Canadian in history to not know in advance that I should have kept track of all my trips.
Click to expand...
If you're denied citizenship because you had numerous trips that you didn't record or remember, you won't be the first person denied for that reason. If denied for that reason, it's not the end of the world -- start recording your trips from now, and you'll be able to get citizenship in the future.

The main issue is whether your trips put you in jeopardy of breaking the limits for physical presence. You are allowed a max of 913 days outside the US in the past 5 years before applying for citizenship; trips under 24 hours don't count. Do your trips put you anywhere close to the 913 day limit? If your situation is something like 100 or 200 trips with half of them under 24 hours and the rest under 48 hours, they probably will approve your case even if you can't provide the exact data. The more trips you have, the more important it becomes to have accurate and complete data.
 
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