Applying for citizenship but spend 6 months out of the country

[jjbrien 1]

OK so at the moment im going though the I751 to remove my conditions on residency. I originally entered the states on 12/23/13. I know as of 09/23/16 I can apply for citizenship as ill be 90 days out as im still married to my wife who is a united states citizen. I had to leave the country for 6 months in 2014 as my mother had health problems I needed to be there for. I know i am allowed leave for less than a year, more than a year I would have had to apply for advanced parole. Will I still be ok to apply for citizenship as I didn't abandon my residency?

[Cathi 5,609]

You can only apply 90 days in advance, not 3 months. 9/23 is more than 90 days

[gregcrs2 1,777]

You will be OK to apply for citizenship.

[JimmyHou 610]

1) Take note of the 90 day vs 3 month issue mentioned above. It's very important.

2) It's 90 days before the anniversary of the Resident Since date your your card, not the date you entered the country (as mentioned in your opening post).

3) If you've only been out for 6 months or so, then you clearly meet the Physical Presence requirement. The issue is the Continuous Residence requirement. While you don't have to apply for advanced parole in order to maintain your green card for trips under a year, such trips can affect your naturalization eligibility. If Continuous Residence is broken you have to start your naturalization clock over (with some exceptions). The USCIS policy manual states that trips over a year will break CR, trips between 6 months and 12 months may break CR, and trips under 6 months may break CR in special circumstances. What they mean is that if you're away for more than 6 months, you may have to prove that you were still a US resident and that the trip was temporary. There's a good chance you won't be asked for anything at all, but if you are, you should have evidence that you maintained residency here in the US. Bills, lease documents, insurance and car payments all help. Anything showing that your trip was temporary also helps (an explanation of the cause of the trip, a hospital bill, etc. Again, you may not need any of this, but best to be prepared. You can't be approved unless they determine that you did not break your continuous residence. Some applicants have been asked for such evidence for trips between 6 and 12 months, but it most are not. It'll be up to you to decide how much preparation effort to put in before the interview.

[jjbrien 1]

1) Take note of the 90 day vs 3 month issue mentioned above. It's very important.

2) It's 90 days before the anniversary of the Resident Since date your your card, not the date you entered the country (as mentioned in your opening post).

3) If you've only been out for 6 months or so, then you clearly meet the Physical Presence requirement. The issue is the Continuous Residence requirement. While you don't have to apply for advanced parole in order to maintain your green card for trips under a year, such trips can affect your naturalization eligibility. If Continuous Residence is broken you have to start your naturalization clock over (with some exceptions). The USCIS policy manual states that trips over a year will break CR, trips between 6 months and 12 months may break CR, and trips under 6 months may break CR in special circumstances. What they mean is that if you're away for more than 6 months, you may have to prove that you were still a US resident and that the trip was temporary. There's a good chance you won't be asked for anything at all, but if you are, you should have evidence that you maintained residency here in the US. Bills, lease documents, insurance and car payments all help. Anything showing that your trip was temporary also helps (an explanation of the cause of the trip, a hospital bill, etc. Again, you may not need any of this, but best to be prepared. You can't be approved unless they determine that you did not break your continuous residence. Some applicants have been asked for such evidence for trips between 6 and 12 months, but it most are not. It'll be up to you to decide how much preparation effort to put in before the interview.

On my Green card the start date of my residency is 12-23 so I am guessing i am ok then to file on 9/24 as that is exactly 90 days.