Confused - 4 years and 1 day rule - When should I apply?

[EBBSic]

Hello everyone,

I am looking into applying for the US citizenship. However, I am not sure when I can apply due to my situation explained below. I have discussed my case with a few lawyers and they all contradicted each other. I am confused as I have seen the 4 years and 1 day rule as well as the 4 years and 6 months rule. I understand that it is often based on the office and officer where your application is sent to. I guess I am looking for viewpoints based on your past experience or maybe your understanding of the different rules.

Here is my situation:

I moved to the USA in June 2014. I received my conditional Green Card on 08/29/2015. In the summer 2017, I was sent by my US employer to work in Europe without an N-470. I was in the middle of a divorce proceeding when I left the USA. Therefore, I could not apply for the permanent residence at that time. I applied for the adjustment of status in February 2018 when I got the divorce decree. The Green Card was approved in April 2019 for a period of 10 years.

I left the US on 08/12/2017 and moved back to the USA on 05/31/2019. I lived overseas for over 21 months (643 days) but never stayed more than a year without visiting the USA:

- From 08/12/2017 to 04/02/2018 (233 days or 7 months and 21 days)
- From 04/07/2018 to 02/21/2019 (320 days or 10 months and 14 days)
- From 03/02/2019 to 05/31/2019 (90 days or 2 months and 29 days)

Any idea when I should send my application?

Thank you.

[Sdollar4real]

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/learn-about-citizenship/naturalization-eligibility

maybe this can help

[newacct]

Read 12 USCIS-PM D.3 regarding the continuous residence requirement, and how long you have to wait after a break in continuous residence before you can apply for naturalization.

Basically, for an absence of between 6 months and 1 year, it is presumed to break continuous residence, but this presumption can be overcome with strong evidence. If the presumption is overcome, then there is no interruption in continuous residence. If the presumption is not overcome, you have to wait 4 years and 6 months after you come back from your absence to apply for naturalization.

For an absence of more than 1 year, continuous residence is definitely interrupted. How long you have to wait to naturalize depends on whether you can overcome the presumption of interrupting continuous residence in the last year of your absence. If you can overcome the presumption, you have to wait 4 years and 1 day after you come back from your absence to apply for naturalization. If you cannot overcome the presumption, you have to wait 4 years and 6 months.

length of absence	overcome presumption	do not overcome presumption
between 6 months and 1 year	no break	wait 4 years + 6 months
more than 1 year	wait 4 years + 1 day	wait 4 years + 6 months

There are several unknowns in your situation. Your first two absences were between 6 months and 1 year, and the third absence was less than 6 months. For each of your absences of between 6 months and 1 year, we don't know whether you would be able to overcome the presumption of interrupting continuous residence. Also, since the absences were separated by just a brief visit to the US, we don't know if they might decide to group two or three of the absences together as one big absence of more than 1 year.