If I filed for Returning Resident Visa, can I still file for Citizenship?

[Lam]

Hi,
Thank you for putting up this forum.
I have a question about eligibility that I can't find in the uscis website or other site/forum.
Here's my situation:
I got to America with an immigrant visa when I was 17 (2005).
It says in my greencard- Resident Since: 05/27/05
I went back to S.E.Asia with a Travel Document/Re-entry Permit, to go to college - from October 2005 - April 2007.
Went back to US on May 2007 - June 2007 and went back to S.E.Asia to continue my college from July 2007 - March 2009, this time without a Travel Document/Re-entry Permit.

So, when I planned to come back to US on April 2009, I had to get a Returning Resident Visa because I stayed outside USA for more than a year.
So I filed, and got through it.
I got my visa and I went back to USA on April 2009 - June 2009, then back to S.E.Asia to finish my college from July 2009 - October 2009.
I have been in USA now since November 2009.

On Dec 2009, I filed a name change and it got through. I now have a new green card with my new legal name. The "Resident Since" date is still the same, but the expiration date has been moved from 2015 to 2020.

Now my questions are:

1) Do I still qualify for the 5 year resident rule?
2) Will my name change cause any problem in acquiring citizenship?
3) I filed a Returning Resident Visa to return legally to USA as an immigrant, did that change my residency status?
I know it says 2005 on my greencard but the immigration officer on the airport said that I was a categorized as someone who had been in the USA for the first time - he coined it "first timer".
3.1) When I filed a Returning Resident Visa, did that cut my status as a resident? and I have to start the 5 year count from when uscis approved my returning resident visa?

I hope this is not confusing.
Here is a summary of my trips:

IN USA
May 2005 - October 2005
May 2007 - June 2007 ............ legally returned with re-entry permit
April 2009 - June 2009 ............ legally Returned with Returning Resident Visa
November 2009 - present ............ legally returned without re-entry permit

Outside USA (my country in s.e.asia)
November 2005 - April 2007 .................. with travel document
July 2007 - March 2009 ................... without travel document
July 2009 - October 2009 .................. without travel document


Thank you for your time.

[BigJoe5]

Sit still in US for awhile

Lam,

You broke your continuous residence by being gone so long. You should wait 4 years and one day from your last entry before applying for naturalization. The whole 5 years rule thing is to give you time to become a part of American Society. You can't do that from so far away. (In Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos?)

The whole residency requirement concept has been a legal prerequisite to naturalization since 1790.

Wait it out, don't waste your money on an application that would surely be denied.

With all that education you've got hopefully it will lead to a good job and you'll be able to afford a good immigration lawyer when the time comes for applying for naturalization.

Take Care,

x