"Days out of US" Question

[j&js 0]

My husband is about to file for citizenship based on the 3 year exception for spouses of American citizens. On the form it asks how many days you have spent outside the US in the last 5 years. I know (think) that they really mean since becoming a resident, but that isn't how it's worded. We just wanted to know how other people handled that part of the application.

We were thinking of putting the total number of days including the 1st 2 years residence in Ireland and then in the chart below writing 'N/A' for Date Left US; the date he moved for Date Entered US; leaving the check marks blank for did the trip last more than 6 months ; writing 'Still residing in Ireland' for Countries Visited

Did anyone else do that the same way? Differently? What were the results?

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Remember - the form was written for people that have to wait 5 years to apply for citizenship. Married to USC lowers that to 3yr's

Your plan looks good. I am sure they can figure out when the person was eligible or not.

[J&D 0]

I'm sending my N-400 today and I just listed my days out of the US within the past 3 years.

[jsnearline 2]

We listed the total days outside US for the past five years. We then listed the trips outside US since becoming permanent resident. We then attached an explanation listing how many days in the past five years were those spent outside US prior to first arrival on K1.

[motu 5]

Easy. I crossed out 'five' and wrote 'three' on the form and then listed the days out in the last 3 years. Good Luck

[lucyrich 19]

I've cut and pasted the following reply from my post in the sticky "general information on naturalzation" thread at the top of this forum:

I'm applying based on three years of permanent residence, but the N-400 asks in part 6 about residence and employment for the past five years, and in part 7 it asks about days and trips outside the US for the past five years. What do I do?

The law only cares about the past three years, but the form very clearly asks about five. You can take the questions literally and answer them for the past five years. You won't be denied or delayed for showing a bunch of time outside the US if you do this. People have also reported success by striking out the word "five" and writing "three", and answering the questions for the past three years. Whatever you do, don't lie or mislead. At your interview, expect the officer to go over the N-400 and get the information that they really need about the past three years, regardless of how you interpret those written questions. Note that question 7C asks about trips "since becoming a lawful permanent resident", without saying anything about any particular time period, so answer it as written.

[j&js 0]

Thanks everyone!