Stay in Canada after N-400 is applied in January

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splax0098

Registered Users (C)
I will be eligible to apply for my US citizenship sometime in January of 2010 (4 years and 9 months of PR), and immediately after that I plan to be staying/living with friend in Canada.

My sister lives in the same city as I live in now (San Francisco), and I plan to use her home address for correspondence in the application.

Is this going to be okay?

If the application takes more than 5 months (which is the average processing time of the San Francisco District Office), I can come back to SF so that I don't break "continous residence" rule.
 
Naturalizing and moving residence abroad are incompatible. Naturalize and then move.

My 2 cents.
 
What you are planning is a recipe for how to get denied. You are required to main continuous residence in the US all the way until the oath. If you want to give up your house or apartment in the US to spend a long time in Canada, do that after you complete the oath.
 
splax0098 said:
I will be eligible to apply for my US citizenship sometime in January of 2010 (4 years and 9 months of PR), and immediately after that I plan to be staying/living with friend in Canada.
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Are you planning to live with your friend or just visit while you maintain a US residence?
 
I was planning to leave my apartment entirely in the US to live in Canada. And according to your replies, this is a really bad idea.

However if I maintain my apartment for the duration of the process then it should be fine, right? It looks like it may take as short as 4 months. Hopefully it will be short as I will be paying for an apartment that I will not be using most of the time.

Thanks for your comments.
 
Here's another scenario... if I do give up my apartment and I change the addresses of all my bank accounts and credit cards to my sister's address, then isn't this going to look like I actually am still maintaining a US residence?
Also I will be continuously employed by my US employer when I stay in Canada, so I think this is going to provide further proof that I am maintaining a US residence.

Appreciate your comments.
 
splax0098 said:
Here's another scenario... if I do give up my apartment and I change the addresses of all my bank accounts and credit cards to my sister's address, then isn't this going to look like I actually am still maintaining a US residence?
Also I will be continuously employed by my US employer when I stay in Canada, so I think this is going to provide further proof that I am maintaining a US residence.

Appreciate your comments.
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Just do it.....
 
Some interviewers are not so easily fooled. Soooo many people try to do what you're planning, they've seen it a thousand times. When they see that you have spent nearly all of the time outside the US while your N-400 process was pending, with only short trips back to the US for the fingerprinting and interview, they can pick up on the fact that you've really moved out of the US, and will harass you with more questioning and/or demand more proof that you're really living in the US.
 
splax0098 said:
You agree that it;s ok for me to give up my apartment and just use my sister's address to make it look like I still live in the US?
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Everything is OK until you walk into the DO for interview :-)

If this is the only exception you have, depending on the speed of processing, it might get overlooked if you get your interview in 2-3 months.

However, the question you have is what to do/show if you are asked to prove your ties to US. You need to figure out how you will do that if you are using your sister's address. Your explanations may fly, they may not.

Bottom line is that there is a risk, and YOU have to decide whether you are willing to take the risk, and/or live with the consequences. No one else can do it for you.

Why don't you live in US, and maintain your apartment at least until the interview?
 
Stick it out for a few more months...
During the Interview, the IO will probably ask you if you've had any more trips out of the country since you applied for Naturalization.

How are you going to answer that question without raising serious doubts on whether you're abiding by the continuous residence requirement?
 
I have had week end trips to Canada after application

GungaDin said:
Stick it out for a few more months...
During the Interview, the IO will probably ask you if you've had any more trips out of the country since you applied for Naturalization.

How are you going to answer that question without raising serious doubts on whether you're abiding by the continuous residence requirement?
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I have had week end trips to Canada. During interview the officer looked at huge number of trips (mostly) to Canada but was compassionate enough to understand that I have my family there. She did approve my application. I asked her is it okay to travel to Canada and the answer was - as long as you do not cross the 180 day limit you are good. Just mention all your trips at the back of the Oath Letter since the interview.
 
NewB said:
I have had week end trips to Canada. During interview the officer looked at huge number of trips (mostly) to Canada but was compassionate enough to understand that I have my family there. She did approve my application. I asked her is it okay to travel to Canada and the answer was - as long as you do not cross the 180 day limit you are good. Just mention all your trips at the back of the Oath Letter since the interview.
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NewB, I think your situation was very different. You maintained your live/work ties to the US even though you were in Canada with family on weekends. (trips to Canada on weekends oddly prove that you were in the US during the week)

splax0098 is planning on actually moving to Canada after applying for the N-400.

IMO this is risky.

For the others who know more about this:

If splax0098's N-400 is denied for not maintaining ties with the US, does the continuous residence clock automatically reset to 4 years + 1 day from their return to the US?
I ask because under the current processing times, it may be possible to 'test' the waters and if denied, return to the US within 6 months of original departure.
(I suspect the answer is that once a finding is made that continuous residence has been broken, the clock will reset to 4 yrs + 1 day - but I could be wrong).
 
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