US Citizenship

[ravinderpm]

I understand that one of the requirements of filing for citizenship is a physical presence in the US for half the time, from the date of getting a permanent residentship through the date of filing for citizenship.

Is there a requirement that we have to be physically present in the US for half the time, from the date of filing for citizenship through Oath taking? In otherwords, I will be satisfying the 2 1/2 yrs in US out of 5 yr rule when I apply for citizenship, but will not be qualifying when I go for Citizenship interview/Oath ceremony. This is because it takes around 1 1/4 yrs to get an interview date from the date you apply and I will be travelling back and forth with not enough time spent in US.
Thanks very much

[JoeF]

US Citizenship

INA 316:
"No person, except as otherwise provided in this title, shall be naturalized, unless such applicant, (1) immediately preceding the date of filing his application for naturalization has resided continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, within the United States for at least five years and during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing his application has been physically present therein for periods totaling at least half of that time, and who has resided within the State or within the district of the Service in the United States in which the applicant filed the application for at least three months, (2) has resided continuously within the United States from the date of the application up to the time of admission to citizenship, (3) during all the periods referred to in this subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States."

So you have to fulfill the requirements at the time of filing (except that you can apply up to 90 days before fulfilling the continuous residency requirements.)
And you have to continuously reside in the US until you become a citizen, but there is no requirement to be physically present in the US all the time between application and oath (the continuous residency requirement means that you have to be in the US at least for some time.)

[vr2000]

continuous residency requirements

As the guide to US naturalization says on page 22 that some part of out of country time does count towards meeting cont resd. requirement. My question is does that time of country has to be more than one year and less than 2 years or in my case i stayed for 11 months outside the country. Can I count these 11 months towards meeting my cont. residency requirements?

I'll appreciate any comments on this please. Thanks

[JoeF]

Re: continuous residency requirements

The continuous residency requirement is usually broken if a trip abroad is longer than 6 months.

[vr2000]

US immigration

yes stay beyond 6 months will break the cont residency but then again page 22 of the Guide to US naturalization says that some time outside of US is still counted towards meeting continous residency requirements. It continues that if you come back within 2 years, 364 days out of US will count towards meeting the cont. residency requirement.

I was infact pointing to this statement in the guide. In my case I was out of US for about 11 months so I am wondering if those 11 months will be counted towards the cont. residency requirement. I know time prior to that won't count though.

[JoeF]

Re: US immigration

No, your 11 months don't count.
The rule you quote is a special rule that only applies if a person is abroad for over 1year.
Absences between 6 months and 1 year usually break the continuous residency requirements unless you can show otherwise.
From 8CFR316.5(c)(1):
"(i) For continuous periods of between six (6) months and one (1) year. Absences from the United States for continuous periods of between six (6) months and one (1) year during the periods for which continuous residence is required under Sec. 316.2(a)(3) and (a)(6) shall disrupt the continuity of such residence for purposes of this part unless the applicant can establish otherwise to the satisfaction of the Service.[...]
The types of documentation which may establish that the applicant did not disrupt the continuity of his or her residence in the United States during an extended absence include, but are not limited to, evidence that during the absence:
(A) The applicant did not terminate his or her employment in the United States;
(B) The applicant's immediate family remained in the United States;
(C) The applicant retained full access to his or her United States abode; or
(D) The applicant did not obtain employment while abroad.

(ii) For period in excess of one (1) year. Unless an applicant applies for benefits in accordance with Sec. 316.5(d), absences from the United States for a continuous period of one (1) year or more during the period for which continuous residence is required under Sec. 316.2(a)(3) and (a)(5) shall disrupt the continuity of the applicant's residence. An applicant described in this paragraph who must satisfy a five-year statutory residence period may file an application for naturalization four years and one day following the date of the applicant's return to the United States to resume permanent residence."
uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll...cfrsec3165

[vr2000]

US citizenship

Thank you JoeF for your detailed reply. Now I got it. One more thing that I wanna ask is that when we came back after our 11 month trip (it was a international project that I was sent by my employer), after we passed immigration desk and went to customs that's where I noticed that INS inspector forgot to stamp mine and my wife's passport (probably he just forgot). He did stamp our kids passports though. Kids are US citizens. Should I make anything out of it? I think he just forgot to stamp 2 passports out of 4 that we presented to him.

Now when filling out N400 trips outside US section would that be a problem. Our passports are expired so we will get new passports too. I don't know if INS keeps electronic track of permanent resident's entry and exits. I know talking to other friends that for US naturalization interview INS do ask applicants to bring all their old passports.

[JoeF]

Re: US citizenship

Sometimes they stamp the passports, sometimes they don't. It doesn't matter, because they also swipe the GC, and they have the passenger manifest from the airline. All this information is in their computers.
If you are concerned, you can keep the boarding passes to show when you traveled, but they usually don't care.
The same with old passports. The explanation that you had to get new ones because the old ones expired is good enough. Again, if you are concerned, you may ask the passport-issuing authority to give you back the old invalidated one (I had to do that because my old passport had my H1 visa in it, so I showed both when I traveled while I was still on H1.)

[vr2000]

US citizenship

I understand that since we stayed outside US for 11 months or so we broke the cont. residency however N-400 checklist says that "if you have taken a trip of more than 6 months since becoming a PR, send evidence that you or family continued to live, work or keep ties in the US such 1. IRS tax returns for the last 5 years, 2. pay stubs, rents or mortgage

My question is how much this evidence (like tax returns for last 5 years, pay stubs, bank statements) is really fruitful for the immigration officer who is reviewing our N-400 application. The worst will be that immigration will still say that no this evidence is not complete and you donot meet the naturali. conditions, stay another one more year and then file N-400.

I just want to get your view point on this that how much weight immigration gives to this submitted evidence if they do consider these sort of evidence at all? I'll appreciate your comments. Thanks

[JoeF]

Re: US citizenship

There have been reports that in the last year or so, they got really strict, and almost always rejected cases that tried to argue that the residence wasn't broken.
So, in my opinion you would be wasting time and money to even go that route.

[bigheart23]

help please

I have a friend who is wanting to become a U.S. citizen but nothing really tells either one of us what to do. Can someone please give us the information on how he can obtain a U.S. citizenship?