When can i apply for citizenship?

J

jj154728

Registered Users (C)
* I became a LPR (GC) of USA in 12/2000.
* I lived in USA till 05/2003 except one month in India during 10/2002.
* I moved to India in 05/2003 and lived there till 03/2006 while visiting in between 4 times with no visits longer then 1 year but 1 visit longer than 6 months.
* I had re-entry (I-327) permit while i was living in India.
* I worked in India during my stay in India.
* I filed USA tax returns for Years 2003-2005 while I was in India.
* I permanently returned to USA in 04/2006 and have lived here since except 2 visits back to India for the periods of 5 weeks and 2 weeks, respectively.

can any one please tell me when would I get qualified to apply for citizenship (N-400)?
 
You can definitely apply by April 2011 ... actually Jan 2011 since you can apply 90 days before completing 5 years as a resident.

Can you apply before is the key question ... I know you will also be thinking about your GC renewal since it will be due this year.

#1. Since your absence is so far back, they may not care much about scrutinizing it.
#2. However, you presumptively broke continuous residence by being away so much. You will need to either prove residential ties to US during that period, or show approval to retain continuous residence.
#3. Assuming you can prove maintaining continuous residence, you can file 4 years and 1 day after your return ... which means right now.

If money (filing fee) is not a big consideration, you can try filing in the last quarter and see if they just let you slide. This will save GC renewal. If that does not work, you can refile a few months later anyway. However, if you can prove you maintained continuous residence, that will be the best and quicker scenario.
 
jj154728 said:
can any one please tell me when would I get qualified to apply for citizenship (N-400)?
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(1) Apply right now, and hope that you can succeed in the difficult task of convincing the interviewer you did not break continuous residence despite the long series of overseas trips and working in India,
or
(2) Apply January 2011 (when it is 5 years minus 90 days since your last long trip ended in April 2006) or later, by which time those long trips will be too old to affect you as far as continuous residence is concerned.
 
jj154728 said:
Why doesn't 4 years + 1 day rule apply in my case?
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Your last trip wasn't 1 year or more.

Even if the 4y+1d rule applied, that rule still involves having to prove ties to the US during that last year while you were gone, which is basically the same issue as the scenario (1) I described above.
 
Thanks Jackolantern

As far as ties with US goes, I filed my taxes, I had bank accounts here, and I had lots of extended family (my maternal uncle) with whom I have lived for 1/3 of my life in US in that house. In fact that house address was my official address for many of my early tax filings although I did not own that house. Does that help in any ways?
 
It may help, but the question is not whether you lived there 1/3 of your life, but were you living there prior to leaving for the other country, and did you return there? For example, if you lived in your uncles house for 10 years, then rented a place, then gave up that place and moved to country Y ... you actually are using your uncle's house only as a mailing address. If you either left from that house, OR returned to that house, your story has much much more credibility.
 
jj154728 said:
Thanks Jackolantern

As far as ties with US goes, I filed my taxes, I had bank accounts here, and I had lots of extended family (my maternal uncle) with whom I have lived for 1/3 of my life in US in that house. In fact that house address was my official address for many of my early tax filings although I did not own that house. Does that help in any ways?
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Extended family doesn't count; they only pay attention to immediate family ... spouse and dependent children. Or your parents if you were a student and they were supporting you.

Without having your immediate family in the US while you were gone, and without leasing or owning a house/apt, combined with working in India (foreign employment is a big no-no for continuous residence unless it's a US employer who sent you there), you're going to have a really difficult task of convincing the IO.

But ultimately, it's not my decision; it's the IO (and maybe their supervisor) who will look at the evidence make the decision. It's your time and money to spend; if you prefer to risk it by applying now rather than waiting until January, go ahead.
 
Thanks guys..I really appreciate your help.

Do they actually look at last 5 years on continuous residency or since one became LPR? I know everyone keeps talking about last five years but if you look at the N-400 form, it asks you to explain in detail the reason why you were out of USA for periods longer than 6 months since one becomes LPR and not just last 5 years. At the same time, they asks for the employment history and residency history for last 5 years only.
 
jj154728 said:
Thanks guys..I really appreciate your help.

Do they actually look at last 5 years on continuous residency or since one became LPR? I know everyone keeps talking about last five years but if you look at the N-400 form, it asks you to explain in detail the reason why you were out of USA for periods longer than 6 months since one becomes LPR and not just last 5 years. At the same time, they asks for the employment history and residency history for last 5 years only.
Click to expand...

They look at continuous residency during last 5 years, but also look at all trips since becoming LPR to determine if LPR status was ever possibly abandoned.
 
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