Residency Question for Citizenship - Will I be eligible ?

I

I140helppls

Registered Users (C)
Guys
Here is my timeline and i would like to know whether i would qualify for citizenship:

GC Received : July 2006

Out Of India : October 2006 for 3 weeks
May 2007 - Jul 2007 for 3 months (kept my apartment)

These trips were for Business and i was employed by my US Company

Now I plan to apply for REP and N470 (I am not optimistic that i will receive it since i should wait till Aug 2008 for applying it and i cant wait, lawyer said they will apply). My future plan is

Feb 2008 -> Feb 2010 - Will be In India for Business. Will visit US every 6 months for a period of 2-3 weeks and will be employed by US Company or subsidiary that we open.

March 2010 -> i will be back in the US

Will i be eligible to apply for citizenship in May 2011 ?
Also i dont think my wife will be able to come back every 6 months. So the plsn is for just me to get the citizenship. Our kid is already a citizen.
 
Coming back for short stays in the US every 5-6 months does not preserve continuous residence for citizenship purposes. However, N-470 if approved would preserve it, provided that you stick to the conditions (working for the US corporation, etc.). If it is not approved, the four years and a day rule would apply (Feb 2010 + 4 years + 1 day).
 
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as per the law, the requirement is not to have a trip longer than 6 months and i am trying to do that for a period of 2 years. even if i do not have a approved n470, i am still working for the same company.....
 
This is an area I'm not very familiar and don't want to scare you. I would also be worried not only for naturalization purposes, but for issues of abandonment of permanent residency. I would personally put the naturalization requirements as a secondary concern to the concern of maintaining your permanent resident status and not being rejected in one of your trips back. Again, I am not speaking from experience or from having read such experiences from others.
 
A single trip of less than 6 months does not break continuous residence for naturalization purposes. But multiple long trips outside the for less than six months each, with only short stays in the US in between, tend to be viewed as one big long trip, breaking the continuous residence.

If you have a reentry permit, the trips should not cause you to lose your green card, but without an approved N-470 those trips will very likely be seen as breaking the continuous residence.
 
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well i got my GC in july 2006 and have been out of the country in may 2007.. i would have to wait till aug 2008 to apply for a new 470 .. however i need to go to india and as per my lawyer, there is NO REQUIREMENT to be physically present in the country for 1 year.. he said it is mentioned but it is not important.

so i am going to take a chance .. apply for n470 and then leave.
 
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The person in the post you mentioned was in russia for a different company and he actually established residence in another country... i am not trying to question .. but trying to be optimistic
 
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do you mean to say .. that there is no guarantee of re-entry with a REP. I mean you have to maintain residence in the US even if you have a REP. Say for e,g if i decided to go to india, work there for an indian company and then try to come back, would i be denied entry if i hade a REP?
 
Keeping the green card and continuous residence for naturalization are different things. REP preserves the green card. N-470 preserves continuity for citizenship and the criteria is more strict.

And yes, you do have to maintain ties of residence to the US even with a REP. But you can work overseas with an approved REP, although it could be problematic if working for a non-US company.
 
I think the question has been answered by Jackolantern. I think I hadn't read the part about REP in your posts. Anyway, it was a general comment on the two sides of the issue, the conservation of permanent residency and the continuous residence for naturalization purposes.
 
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OK I am a little concerned now...

Lets say i go to India to take care of my parents and am there in India for 2 years. I have a valid REP and work in India for a differenrt company. My intention is to come back and i file taxes as a resident.

Will i have an issue or be denied re-entry ?
 
I140helppls said:
well i got my GC in july 2006 and have been out of the country in may 2007.. i would have to wait till aug 2008 to apply for a new 470 .. however i need to go to india and as per my lawyer, there is NO REQUIREMENT to be physically present in the country for 1 year.. he said it is mentioned but it is not important.

so i am going to take a chance .. apply for n470 and then leave.
Click to expand...

Well if your lawyer said it, it either "must be true" or you simply need a different lawyer. So what are you going to do? Leave the country and take your chances, or seek advice from a couple more lawyers. Look at it this way - if the lawyer is wrong, will it inconvenience HIM in any way? Unlikely...
 
I need to leave the country .. the question is whether i will get an approved N470 or not? However in any case i will apply for REP and then only leave. I assume that is safe enough. I cant control whether the time spent outside will be considered for citizenship or not.
Please comment if you feel otherwise
 
Well, you just made your decision. You're getting the REP to preserve your green card, and whatever happens with citizenship will happen. No use in severely compromising your personal life for the sake of getting citizenship as early as possible. You can try for citizenship in 2011, and if they deny it based on insufficient continuous residence, try again in 2014.
 
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Thanks Jackolantern. If our Indian subsidiary doesnt work out and i need to join a company in India for employment (just in case) since i want to be in India for 2 years, my REP will still get me back to US right? I will continue to file as US Resident etc.
 
I140helppls said:
I need to leave the country .. the question is whether i will get an approved N470 or not? However in any case i will apply for REP and then only leave. I assume that is safe enough. I cant control whether the time spent outside will be considered for citizenship or not.
Please comment if you feel otherwise
Click to expand...

I'd go as far to say that I'm sure your GC will be secure (assuming you do get the REP), and equally sure you'll have a hard time proving you didn't break continuous residence for natz purposes.

In absence of the holy-grail N-470, about the best you could do is get your employer to provide a letter stating the fixed duration of your assignment before you depart. Having proof that you only ever intended to make a temporary trip is vitally important, and will be a deciding factor when USCIS adjudicates your natz case after you return. Beyond that, make sure you always file tax returns as a resident, and try to keep as many other ties to the US as you can.
 
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