Need Help Please!

[sthiiru18]

My wife and daughter went to India on a visit and were unable to leave India on time because the flights were cancelled. They had filed for their N400 naturalization in July 2019. While they were there, they got interview letters for the citizenship. Soon after that, USCIS cancelled their interviews on account of the COVID 19.

So far so good. My daughter is still within the 6 month limit, assuming that she returns to the US on 5th May.

As far as my wife's case goes, when she reached the US on 5th May, she would have crossed the 6 month limit. If she had left India as planned, she would still have returned within the 6 month limit.

Does anyone here have any information as to how this absence over 6 months would be treated - especially because they had interviews that were not conducted on account of the COVID-19?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

[newacct]

The issue here is the "continuous residence" requirement for naturalization, where an absence of between 6 months and 1 year is presumed to interrupt continuous residence, but it is possible to overcome it with evidence that you did maintain ties to the US. In this case, I think there is a good chance that she will be able to overcome the presumption of interrupting continuous residence.

[ronmony]

Did they filed N400 in July 2019 while they were India? Did they have bio-metrics? When did they leave US? Are you a USC and did you stay in US while they traveled to India? How old is your daughter? I believe USCIS will be very flexible due to corona pandemic but they need evidence for reason of long time trip even when it is less than 6 months.