Continuous residence

[mramee]

Hi,
I got my permanent residence status in 01/2004. Since then there has been one period when I was outside the US for exactly 1 year + 1 day. Do you think I could get by without having to wait another 4 years? I can easily prove that I did not mean to abandon residency. I owned a home in the US during my absence and also paid income taxes for my foriegn income during that period.

thanks
Ramesh

[saint_usa]

since you've stayed more than 180 days abroad. this will change your eligibility for naturalization. you have to wait another 4 yrs & 9 months since your last re-entry before you can apply for N-400. trips taken abroad for less than 180 days will not be accounted for. you can also check USCIS web site for detail information.

[mohitbansal]

continuous residence

It would depend when you went out of country since none of the time you were in the United States before you left the country counts toward your time in continuous residence. If you left this year only, then you have to start your time from beginning.

You can reach the details at M-476 guide-page 22, time to be counted when you are out of country, it states

"What if I was outside the United States for 1 year or longer?"

If you return within 2 years, some of your time out of the country does count. In fact, the last 364 days of your time out of the country (1 year minus 1 day) counts toward meeting your continuous residence requirement"
It is also illustrated with example on page-23 for 1 year and 3 months outside.

Go through this example and you will find your answer.