sun77377 said:
If that’s the case then how do I fulfill 5 months in a US residency requirement? How do I provide proof of being in the US for required time when filling for US citizenship? Your feedback is highly appreciated.
Thanks
That is why you must make a list with dates in and out of the US everytime that you travel so then you can have a good account of your short trips. So then you can count how many months out of the 5 years you have been in the US. The residency requirement is not too much problem if you don't make trips over 6 months but can be an issue on the "physical presence".
"Residence and Physicial Presence Requirements
Residence is not the same thing as physical presence. The term "residence" is defined under INA §101(a)(33) as the place of general abode which means one's principal actual dwelling place in fact, without regard to intent.
The period of continuous residence in the United States must be subsequent to lawful admission as a permanent resident and must be for a period of at least five years (or three years where the applicant's permanent residence was derived from marriage to a U.S. citizen) preceding the filing of the application for naturalization. Residency in the United States must also be maintained from the time of filing of the application until the time that the alien acquires U.S. citizenship.
In the case of absences from the United States of six months or less, there is no break in the continuity of residence for naturalization purposes. An absence of more than six months but less than one year raises a rebuttable presumption that the continuity of residence has been broken for naturalization purposes. An absence of one year conclusively breaks the continuity of residence. However, under INA §316(b), §316(c) and §317, there is an exception for persons serving abroad in the United States Armed Forces, certain U.S. government agencies and U.S. companies, religious workers and international groups of which the United States is a member, provided that:
The alien has at least one year of physical presence in the United States as a lawful permanent resident; and
The individual files an application to preserve residence before he or she has spent one year abroad.
A person must be physically present in the United States for at least half of the required residence time preceding the date of filing the application (30 months out of the five years, or 18 months out of three years if permanent residence was derived from marriage to a U.S. citizen)." from:
http://www.americanlaw.com/citnat.html
That is found at the guide at
www.uscis.gov as well
