road to citizenship, help is appreciated.

[komikzade]

hi my friend has green card.
he will apply to citizenship on may 2007.( 4 years 9 months)
he needs to go back to poland and stay there and in the meantime work there from now on. so he will be out of his us job by the end of this year.
if he continues coming to states every two months and stays for some day and keeps his bank accounts, ira, credit cards here would it secure his citizenhip.
when he applies for citizenship, does he need to be here in states until he gets his citizenship or can he travel?
will it be a problemm for him to be working out of country while having applied for citizenship here in states?
would someone help? regards. thx.

 

[boatbod]

will it be a problemm for him to be working out of country while having applied for citizenship here in states?

Yes, such action is generally interpreted by USCIS as abandoning your residency. You will likely be denied citizenship, and there could be grounds for revocation of your GC, although I'm sceptical whether that would actually happen.

I think "your friend" really needs to decide whether he seriously wants US citizenship, and if so, make the effort to stay in the US long enough to complete the process. It wouldn't be quite so bad making longish trips abroad (<6 mth) so long as he doesn't take foreign employment.

 

[komikzade]

i am confused

so now he received his GC on August 2002
as of today he fulfilled the 30 months. actually as to his calculations during this 48 months he was only out of the country at different times around 7 months in total. So he was here in the states for 41 months.

Now by the end of this year if he goes to Poland but keeps coming here every two months until his citizenship application , does it mean he will be denied?

what do they mean by staying out of the country less than 6 months//

does it mean in a year a total of 6 months or like contionues 6 months at one leaving? can someone please help.

 

[zhaoster]

I had a little memory of what the Act 316 says: the applicant should maintain the continuous residency from the time of application untill the admission tocitizenship...(please refer to the original document from INS).
I guess it actually means that the person could take long trips, or even works in abroad (as long as <6 mon) only in the early or the middle phase of the 5 year period. It might be understood that: because the issue of continuous residency is becoming outstanding during judicial period of the case, then the requirement is particularly reinforced to avoid any confliction with the legitemite purposes of citizenship.

 

[boatbod]

so now he received his GC on August 2002
as of today he fulfilled the 30 months. actually as to his calculations during this 48 months he was only out of the country at different times around 7 months in total. So he was here in the states for 41 months.

Now by the end of this year if he goes to Poland but keeps coming here every two months until his citizenship application , does it mean he will be denied?

what do they mean by staying out of the country less than 6 months//

does it mean in a year a total of 6 months or like contionues 6 months at one leaving? can someone please help.

The issues:
1. Yes he is eligible to apply N-400 now, but seeking employment abroad is usually considered abandoning US residency. Almost certainly it will disqualify him immediately from gaining citizenship (if USCIS finds out), however in the longer term, it could impact his GC, although this is less likely provided he continues to visit the US on a regular basis.

2. Prior to, and during the N-400 process there is a requirement not to be outside the US for longer than 6 months at a time (continuous residency). This remains in force until the person has taken the oath of naturalization, at which time they are free to move around the world as they see fit.

3. During the application process, appointment paperwork can turn up at any time. Since this is official govt mail, it will not be forwarded by the US postal service, so it is important to give USCIS a valid address. Somebody needs to regularly check this mail and inform your friend when he needs to turn up for fingerprinting, interview and oath. Missing an appointment can have a negative impact on your application...