Travel that started more than 5 years ago but ended within 5 years before N400 appl

[Jordan878]

Hi folks,

I am preparing my citizenship application, and am facing the following question, for which I wasn't able to find any answer. Any help based on your knowledge or personal experience is very much appreciated.

In the travel history section, it asks to list all trips outside the US for the last 5 years. I have a trip that started 5 and half years ago, and I returned back to US 4 years and 9 months ago (so the trip lasted 8 months). I have two questions:

1. What do I list for this trip in the travel history? As the start date is earlier than 5 years ago, do I list December 2012 to August 19 2013? Or as the start date is outside the 5 year window, I list, say, May 23 2013 (today's date 5 years ago) to August 19 2013?

2. My understanding is that the 4 year and 1 day rule should apply in my case, and even if not, the 4 year and 9 months rule should apply, as it has been more than 4 years and 9 months since I returned back to USA and had no major trip since then. Have you had experiences that show that this is NOT the case?

Thanks in advance.

[newacct]

Hi folks,

I am preparing my citizenship application, and am facing the following question, for which I wasn't able to find any answer. Any help based on your knowledge or personal experience is very much appreciated.

In the travel history section, it asks to list all trips outside the US for the last 5 years. I have a trip that started 5 and half years ago, and I returned back to US 4 years and 9 months ago (so the trip lasted 8 months). I have two questions:

1. What do I list for this trip in the travel history? As the start date is earlier than 5 years ago, do I list December 2012 to August 19 2013? Or as the start date is outside the 5 year window, I list, say, May 23 2013 (today's date 5 years ago) to August 19 2013?

The actual date you left.

2. My understanding is that the 4 year and 1 day rule should apply in my case, and even if not, the 4 year and 9 months rule should apply, as it has been more than 4 years and 9 months since I returned back to USA and had no major trip since then. Have you had experiences that show that this is NOT the case?

There is some question as to whether the 4 year + 1 day rule applies to absences of between 6 months and 1 year. But it is moot since you already qualify to apply under the 5-year rule.

[Jordan878]

Thank you, newacct, much appreciated.

One more question on this topic -- in the document checklist, it specifies that:

"If you have taken any trip outside the United States that lasted six months or more since becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident, send evidence that you (and your family) continued to live, work, and/or keep ties to the United States such as:

* An IRX tax return transcript or an IRX-certified tax return listing tax information for the last 5 years ...
* Rent or mortgage payments and pay stubs"

Would I need to provide anything for my trip that completed 4 years and 9 months ago? If I am not using the time/duration of my trip towards my continuous residency requirement for my naturalization application, according to my understanding I wouldn't need to provide those documents for that trip. Any comments would be appreciated.

[newacct]

Thank you, newacct, much appreciated.

One more question on this topic -- in the document checklist, it specifies that:

"If you have taken any trip outside the United States that lasted six months or more since becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident, send evidence that you (and your family) continued to live, work, and/or keep ties to the United States such as:

* An IRX tax return transcript or an IRX-certified tax return listing tax information for the last 5 years ...
* Rent or mortgage payments and pay stubs"

Would I need to provide anything for my trip that completed 4 years and 9 months ago? If I am not using the time/duration of my trip towards my continuous residency requirement for my naturalization application, according to my understanding I wouldn't need to provide those documents for that trip. Any comments would be appreciated.

In my opinion you don't need to provide that

[pmf123]

Silly question - why not wait 3 months so it was more than 5 years ago and a non-issue?