Yet another Continuos residence question

S

shapra

Registered Users (C)
Please pardon yet another of those threads asking when am I eligilble and how I can maintain my residence requirements. Here are some details

1. Green cards approved 5/2004
2. Will be eligible to apply 2/2009 (Thanks, someone posted http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html)
3. Spouse broke the residency requirement and may lose GC by being out for a year. Kids are US citizens, but attached to mom
4. I have to be out of the US this year to take care of family health worries
5. Dont own a house in US. Still have a car, license, insurance, registration, bank accts, stock options, mailing address (unchanged) etc in the US
6. Started Work for a US company, outside the country, 3 months ago

This year, I have 4 months in the US, 3 months outside the US and want to see how I can satisfy IO questions on continuous residence. Will it suffice if I spend another 3-4 months between now and Feb in the US?

Is it necessary to keep a job in the US?

Thanks for your suggestions.
 
shapra said:
6. Started Work for a US company, outside the country, 3 months ago
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Did you look into getting an N-470? Thats really the only guaranteed method of preserving continuous residence - anything else is subject to the discretion of the IO.
 
When you apply for citizenship through to oath date you need 30 months physical presence out of 60 months (i.e., of the previous 5 years, you need to have been physically in the US for half that time). This calculation will be based on the section of the N-400 where you list your travel dates. Figure out your own number of days based on your prospective application date in 2/2004 going back 5 years - make sure you do the calculation for after that date as well for 6 months to 1 year after than date depending on your estimate of processing time from application to oath. This requirement isn't discretionary. If you can't meet it, no point applying.

Physical presence requirement is separate from the continuous residency requirement. During the 5 years you have to maintain continuous residency in the US regardless of whether you live abroad temporarily. P.O. Box mailing address is not good enough. While you're back in the US, will you be staying with relatives or a friend? Have all your mail forwarded there (bank statements etc.). Ideally, try to get one of the utility bills transferred to your name or when you apply/interview have the friend sign an affidavit that you were in fact living with him/her. Make sure you file US tax returns as a permanent resident (Form 1040/A/EZ) - using your friend's address if possible. This may not be if you're also paying taxes abroad and need to claim foreign tax credits - USCIS doesn't like it if you claim foreign tax credits, but sometimes it a lot of money....

Continuous residency is also where the "under 6 months out of the US at any one time" becomes important. If over 1 year, you broke continuous residency for N-400 application purposes (whether they also consider you to have abandoned your greencard is up to immigration officer at your port of entry, but generally pretty dicey). If you are out between 6 months and 1 year, there is a presumption that you broke continous residency and it's at USCIS discretion to determine whether or not you actually did based on the evidence you provide (e.g., mail to US address, US citizen children, paying US taxes, parents in the US, etc.). Under 6 months there is no presumption, but if trips are back to back and your interviewer is a stickler, he/she can also determine that you broke continous residency - good to have the same type of evidence as listed above.

You say that you're working for a US company. If you already have the 30 months physical residency (e.g., if you were pretty much continously in the US since you got your greencard), look into whether you can file an N-470 to preserve your time in the US for purposes of continuous residency requirement (look on the USCIS website for N-470). Also, if you don't have the 30 months, once you're back you'll be able to count the previous time (i.e., USCIS won't consider the time abroad to have been a break in continous residency).

If your days don't work out - that is if there is no way you'll have 30 months physical presence in the US by the time you apply or won't by the time the application is finally processed and your particular job isn't eligible for N-470. Look into applying for a re-entry permit so at least you don't screw yourself out of the greencard. If you have a re-entry permit, USCIS won't consider you to have abandoned your greencard and you won't have to come back every 6 months. You can then apply 4 years + 1 day after you move back to the US.

Good luck.
 
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Thank you all for your kind replies.

Triple Citizen said:
Can you please explain this sentence?
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Kids stay out of the country, with Mom.

boatbod said:
Did you look into getting an N-470? Thats really the only guaranteed method of preserving continuous residence - anything else is subject to the discretion of the IO.
Click to expand...

My company was too scared to do N470.

sh1996 said:
During the 5 years you have to maintain continuous residency in the US regardless of whether you live abroad temporarily. P.O. Box mailing address is not good enough. While you're back in the US, will you be staying with relatives or a friend? Have all your mail forwarded there (bank statements etc.). Ideally, try to get one of the utility bills transferred to your name or when you apply/interview have the friend sign an affidavit that you were in fact living with him/her. Make sure you file US tax returns as a permanent resident (Form 1040/A/EZ) - using your friend's address if possible. This may not be if you're also paying taxes abroad and need to claim foreign tax credits - USCIS doesn't like it if you claim foreign tax credits, but sometimes it a lot of money....

<snip>

Good luck.
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Thank you for the detailed note. I maintain my old residence address(my brother still stays there) and I pay some utility bills too, out of my checking acct. I filed my US tax returns in April 2008.

Prior to this break of 3 months I have never stayed out of the US for more than one month a year. 30 months continous residence till now is not an issue.

I estimate if I file in Feb 2009 and my application gets through, I may get an interview end of 2009 (California). The next 16 months (Aug 2008-Dec 2009
) are what I need to plan with enough presence in the US and the remaining time outside the US.
 
update

Thanks for all the previous replies. I would request another look at this:

1. Green cards approved 5/7/2004
2. Will be eligible to apply 2/7/2009 (Thanks, someone posted http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html)
3. Spouse broke the residency requirement and has a REP. Kids are US citizens, but living outside the US.
4. I was out of the US to take care of family health worries, for 5 months & 20 days. No issues at Immigration when I entered US.
5. Dont own a house in US. Still have a car, driving license, auto insurance, car registration, bank accts, 401k, stock options, mailing address (unchanged), pay some utilility bills, etc in the US
6. Not on US payroll, since the past 6 months. My company is based in US but has operations in other countries. Employee in another country.
7. Will file 2008 taxes as resident

What are my chances? For every 2 months I spend in the US now, if I stay away for a month, will that look suspicious? How important is a US job?
 
So your wife is living outside the US with your kids and you're working outside the US without a filed N-470?
What do you mean by REP ?
Are you paying rent in US?
 
Bobsmyth said:
So your wife is living outside the US with your kids and you're working outside the US without a filed N-470?
What do you mean by REP ?
Are you paying rent in US?
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Yes, we live outside the US with kids and I dont have a N470.
Wife has a Re-entry permit.
I shared a big rented home in the US with my brother and can claim paying some rent.
 
You will have a difficult time to prove US residential ties since your immediate family(wife and kids) live outside the US, you have taken a job outside US without n-470,and have a pattern of back and forth travel; all of which weigh negatively against you in proving US residential ties .
 
sh1996 said:
You say that you're working for a US company. If you already have the 30 months physical residency (e.g., if you were pretty much continously in the US since you got your greencard), look into whether you can file an N-470 to preserve your time in the US for purposes of continuous residency requirement (look on the USCIS website for N-470). Also, if you don't have the 30 months, once you're back you'll be able to count the previous time (i.e., USCIS won't consider the time abroad to have been a break in continous residency).
Click to expand...

Just to add to what SH1996 has to say about N-470, please keep in mind that you should have stayed physically for 1 continuous year sometime "after" you got your green card and "before" you apply N-470. Even a single day-trip to Canada breaks this rule
 
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