General Naturalization Requirements

[nigel 7]

This is what ive Read....

Can somebody tell me the word Disrupt please..

Physical Presence Is Important!

"An applicant is eligible to file if, immediately preceding the filing of the application, he or she:

-has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence

-has resided continuously as a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. for at least 5 years prior to filing with no single absence from the United States of more than one year;

-has been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the previous five years (absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period)

-has resided within a state or district for at least three months"

(for spouses of US Citizens filing under the "3 year" exception rule, change all "5 year" notes to 3 years)

Now my Question is.....If somebody was out for say 7 mths then there continuity of residence will be Disrupted unless he/she can prove did not abandon there residence during such period...

So do that mean the "7"mths would have to be turned back to be replaced? or just 1 month as he or she did overun by one month....hence Disrupted?

I Prob know the answer, i just thought how others read this.

Ok My next Q....If filing under the 3yr rule married to a usc i notice on the i400.... it ask for the last 5 yrs for Employment history, and also time outside the us.

Do a applicant who files under the 3 yr ..fill out employment history and trips history for just the 3 yrs or have you got to still fill in the history for 5 yrs.?

My last Qs....the civics test....how often do the uscis change the 100 civic test..?

Also....The cost to file....how often do the price go up once a year?

Thanks

Edited January 3, 2010 by nigel

[nigel 7]

soz..ive just read that the civics test gets changed every oct.

[NickD 203]

soz..ive just read that the civics test gets changed every oct.

"Ok My next Q....If filing under the 3yr rule married to a usc i notice on the i400.... it ask for the last 5 yrs for Employment history, and also time outside the us.

Do a applicant who files under the 3 yr ..fill out employment history and trips history for just the 3 yrs or have you got to still fill in the history for 5 yrs.?"

I will skip the resident requirement, too much for my brain this early. According to my wife's IO, they are only interested in the time you have been a LPR or at least three years before your oath ceremony can take place. But they don't ask that, they say for the last five years. But we had no delays in filling it out for the full five year period like the form asks. Even though she was outside of the country for something like 430 days. If they want to know how many days you were out of the country since becoming a LPR, they should ask that instead.

Believe the civics test was changed a year ago before the last October, the first time in years they changed the civics test. We had the option before that date of either taking the old or the new test and elected to take the old test. Believe the date change occurred Oct 1, 2008.

I did compare the new N-400 with one I downloaded about five years ago, same old nebulous questions, I did find and download the USC before all this Homeland Security confusion started, no problems with the questions on that form. But I deleted that off my HD, had too much stuff in it. Thought Obama and the new director of the USCIS would make these age old questions go away, but not really seeing any change. The new test was like the old test as well, except some of the more redundant old questions were removed and replaced with some geographic questions, like the longest river in this country. Whatever.

[nigel 7]

Thanks NickD..

yep your correct they do seem to change the civic test every oct 1st, well.....they mix them up anyways.

No the real word i wanted to know is.."disrupt" continuity of residence, with my sample above post.

I know that if married to a usc then you must meet the Physical Presence inside the usa of the min of "18" mths, under the 3 yr rule, & if you apply for usc under the 5 year rule, then you must have been Physical Present in the us for "30" mths...

As for somebody who his married to a usc most of the form ask over a period of 5yrs.....i just wonder if say P/R applicants who's living and working here for 3 yrs go the extra mile and put down on there 400 form the 2 yrs of travel & Employment before they came to live & work in the us.

Yep i guess they are only interested in the time spent in the us in that 3/5 yrs anyway.

The fees is important to me of when they cha-ching me, as more often changes are made around at the start/end of the tax year mostly.and it be luck as ill be looking to file myself around that time....so my time to file must be spot on in a few different area's & try and save myself a few $$$$ as i looked up one form i filled some 3 yrs ago and have gone up $205.

NickD...i did want to ask you tho, when you said that your spouse was outside the us for about 430 days, was that over the period of 5 yrs?

[NickD 203]

Thanks NickD..

yep your correct they do seem to change the civic test every oct 1st, well.....they mix them up anyways.

No the real word i wanted to know is.."disrupt" continuity of residence, with my sample above post.

I know that if married to a usc then you must meet the Physical Presence inside the usa of the min of "18" mths, under the 3 yr rule, & if you apply for usc under the 5 year rule, then you must have been Physical Present in the us for "30" mths...

As for somebody who his married to a usc most of the form ask over a period of 5yrs.....i just wonder if say P/R applicants who's living and working here for 3 yrs go the extra mile and put down on there 400 form the 2 yrs of travel & Employment before they came to live & work in the us.

Yep i guess they are only interested in the time spent in the us in that 3/5 yrs anyway.

The fees is important to me of when they cha-ching me, as more often changes are made around at the start/end of the tax year mostly.and it be luck as ill be looking to file myself around that time....so my time to file must be spot on in a few different area's & try and save myself a few $$ as i looked up one form i filled some 3 yrs ago and have gone up $205.

NickD...i did want to ask you tho, when you said that your spouse was outside the us for about 430 days, was that over the period of 5 yrs?

That was the question, how many days were you out of the country in the last five years? Use the days between dates calculator for that, but right under that crazy question is where you list your trips outside of the USA since you became a LPR. They could put down the totals of days outside of the USA under that table and just drop that crazy question. Wife's IO wanted that total in the above question, but wife said, that is not what that question asked.

Did you also look up the price increase of the I-485? That's really outrageous. M-476 does cover days outside of the country, can download that, just type in, Download the M-476. That was one manual I wish the USCIS would print, but that and the N-400 instructions, plus reading any new stuff under the N-400 form tells you all you need to know.

[antda 13]

Hi Nigel,

In answer to your questions:

1) I'm not sure what you mean by "disrupt" here. But I do know that if you are more than 6 months outside of the USA (without a re-entry permit) as a permanent resident, regardless of if you are applying for citizenship or not, your residency status could be in jeopardy here for being outside of the USA for too many days. So in that sense, that might make you ineligible to stay in the country, let alone apply for US Citizenship...You might want to consult a lawyer or someone like that about this....

2) If it makes you feel any better, when I filled out my N-400 form, I filled out the employment/school part for the last 5 years, just like it says so on the form...."better safe than sorry", I think. Heck, I've had 0 paid jobs (but only a few volunteer jobs and am a homemaker/stay-at-home mom) since I've been here in the USA, and I was a student in my former country (Canada)...but still wrote all that down anyways....

After all, if you list all of your jobs/education for the last 5 years, they can't say that you didn't include such, and/or say that you lied about such...Better to tell the truth and include everything, than omit stuff...

Besides, it makes for good conversation if the Immigration Officer ever asks..."So what did you do in your former country, and here in the USA?"...lol..

Overall, it doesn't make a difference as to what job or how many jobs you have now or had before, as it doesn't affect it in terms of a person's qualifications for applying for citizenship (that would be discriminatory anways..as citizenship should be available for all, regardless of one's employment and/or education). In my opinion, they just want to see what you've been doing since you've been in the USA that's all (and to see if you've been paying taxes if you need to)....no harm in mentioning all your jobs/education...nothing to be ashamed of...

Now for the travel part (dates out of the country), that matters....Too many days out of the country can make one ineligible..lol...

So for that section, I just crossed out the word "five" and wrote "three-applying based on marriage to a US Citizen" instead. And from there, I just listed the dates I was outside of the USA for the last 3 years, and they had no problems with that.

3) You get the "Learn about the United States: Quick Civics Lessons for the New Naturalization test” Booklet and Audio CD, needed for the test, when you get your biometrics/fingerprints done. In the meantime, you can have a "sneak peak" at the study materials, by downloading and looking at the official questions and answers here from the USCIS website:

Study Materials for the Naturalization Test

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...000b92ca60aRCRD

The last updated version of the test was in October 2008. They haven't changed the test since then. So you can just study these materials in the meantime, unless otherwise indicated.

4) The current fee, as of 2010, for Naturalization is $675...Gasp! (It went up from $400 or so since 2007..But there have been no other increases since then). Yes, immigration fees have risen over the years! And unreasonably so too, not keeping pace with inflation. What's the justtification for such a high increase? I don't know. And yet you have to expect the same poor quality service in the meantime too! Very unfair indeed!

I did point this out when I applied for citizenship to which I mentioned in my cover letter:

"On a personal note, I would like to become a US Citizen through Naturalization for the following reasons:

-(Reasons #1-3….Personal reasons…good thoughts here though…)

-4) Immigration fees are high and frequently increase, which will be more hardship if I apply later

-5) I want to end on a good experience with the USCIS, despite having unreasonable delays before"

I'm not sure if they got the message or not, but yeah...I really did have to point that out. I'm not made of money! And yes, I'm still in debt because of these immigration fees added up over the years that I've had to deal with the USCIS. Lol..The journey is over for me, but I still have the "USCIS debt" to pay off...Sigh....

If I were you, I would apply for US Citizenship as soon as can possible. This way you are "locked in" to the best rate as possible (gee, I sound like a bank here...lol..). Who knows when they will increase the fees again..Tomorrow, a few months later, many years later.....etc...But why wait and go even more into debt, when you can get it done sooner, asap?

Hope this helps. Good luck on the rest of your journey too.

Ant

This is what ive Read....

Can somebody tell me the word Disrupt please..

Physical Presence Is Important!

"An applicant is eligible to file if, immediately preceding the filing of the application, he or she:

-has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence

-has resided continuously as a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. for at least 5 years prior to filing with no single absence from the United States of more than one year;

-has been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the previous five years (absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period)

-has resided within a state or district for at least three months"

(for spouses of US Citizens filing under the "3 year" exception rule, change all "5 year" notes to 3 years)

Now my Question is.....If somebody was out for say 7 mths then there continuity of residence will be Disrupted unless he/she can prove did not abandon there residence during such period...

So do that mean the "7"mths would have to be turned back to be replaced? or just 1 month as he or she did overun by one month....hence Disrupted?

I Prob know the answer, i just thought how others read this.

Ok My next Q....If filing under the 3yr rule married to a usc i notice on the i400.... it ask for the last 5 yrs for Employment history, and also time outside the us.

Do a applicant who files under the 3 yr ..fill out employment history and trips history for just the 3 yrs or have you got to still fill in the history for 5 yrs.?

My last Qs....the civics test....how often do the uscis change the 100 civic test..?

Also....The cost to file....how often do the price go up once a year?

Thanks

[nigel 7]

Hi & Thanks..Ant+D+BabyA

Yep I Know most of what you say, but on one hand you filled in with a 5 yr work history and the other part for the travel outside you just crossed out the word "five" and wrote "three-applying based on marriage to a US Citizen" instead. And from there, I just listed the dates I was outside of the USA for the last 3 years...so you did one and not the other.....hmmm

Anyway....im still trying to get real immigration law of the word they use "disrupt" ..what im trying to say is... if a P/R was married to a usc and still was outside the us for say 7mths and came back to the us and still married and picking up where he/she left off, then that P/r being still in a married to a usc should be fine and showed he/she have not given up the P/R....such as bills, bank statement, tax returns ect..

So maybe that word "disrupt" covers any grey area for the uscis(maybe) which "may" or may not be used for a future P/R wanting to become usc..

God i sound like one of them now....LOL

do you get me?...

Don't you just love the lingo the immigration uses? such as......the words like Disrupt, May....could... ect..

wonder people hire Lawyer's ? say no more..

Yep...I can apply this year Man that sounds Good, & hope to apply this side of the year...now if i can sneak in before they want to cha-ching again then all the better...im all for saving some $$$$ also...

Thank You..

Edited January 3, 2010 by nigel

[antda 13]

Hi Nigel,

Yes, for the employment/work section...I listed the five years....No harm in doing such there....

But for the travel section, I listed three years....Reason being, that I haven't been in the USA for 5 years..And to count time outside of the USA since then doesn't make sense, since I wasn't here in the first place for 5 years to begin with....and if I would have listed the days outside of the country for 5 years..then counting those days, from a literal level, I would have listed too many days out of the country and would been ineligible for citizenship (which is not true)...Do you get what I'm saying here?

Needless to say, I had no problems during my immigration interview regarding that....

But yeah, I know what you mean about their forms and the lingo used in them....Way too confusing, indeed!...(and that coming from a person whose first language is English..I imagine how hard it would be for a non-native English language person to fill out those forms..oh my....)

As for the residency requirements, yes, I know what you mean there when you say "disrupt". Again, you will have to be very cautious about this, since as a permanent resident, you are not really supposed to be out of the USA for more than 6 months/180 days, without a re-entry permit. On the N-400 form too, you have to specifically state how many days, and the dates that you were outside of the USA. And anything more than 6 months would be a cause for concern for residency, and for citizenship.....So be careful there....

Good luck with the rest of your journey and with your citizenship applicaiton this year too.

Ant

Hi & Thanks..Ant+D+BabyA

Yep I Know most of what you say, but on one hand you filled in with a 5 yr work history and the other part for the travel outside you just crossed out the word "five" and wrote "three-applying based on marriage to a US Citizen" instead. And from there, I just listed the dates I was outside of the USA for the last 3 years...so you did one and not the other.....hmmm

Anyway....im still trying to get real immigration law of the word they use "disrupt" ..what im trying to say is... if a P/R was married to a usc and still was outside the us for say 7mths and came back to the us and still married and picking up where he/she left off, then that P/r being still in a married to a usc should be fine and showed he/she have not given up the P/R....such as bills, bank statement, tax returns ect..

So maybe that word "disrupt" covers any grey area for the uscis(maybe) which "may" or may not be used for a future P/R wanting to become usc..

God i sound like one of them now....LOL

do you get me?...

Don't you just love the lingo the immigration uses? such as......the words like Disrupt, May....could... ect..

wonder people hire Lawyer's ? say no more..

Yep...I can apply this year Man that sounds Good, & hope to apply this side of the year...now if i can sneak in before they want to cha-ching again then all the better...im all for saving some $$$$ also...

Thank You..