Citizenship after reentry

[Meers 0]

We have a valid Green card. It has been 4 years since we got it. Due to a family circumstance, we need to live in our original home country outsie USA for the next 18 months. Hence we are going to apply reentry permit. When we come back after 18 months, should we wait for another 4 years to apply for citizenship or is it sufficient to serve just the remaining period prior to leaving the USA...

[Brazil_Nashville 1]

have continuously resided in the US for five years after becoming a US permanent resident (three years if married to a US citizen);

at least half of the permanent residency time must have been spent physically in the US;

the applicant must have lived for at least three months in the jurisdiction where the application will be filed.

How did you obtain your green card? through marriage? if not, yes, You will have to wait FIVE years.

Aside from how you got your Green Card, every one applying for citizenship MUST QUALIFY themselves in order to get it.

As part of the qualification process, maintaining continuous residency in the U.S. is one of them.

If you fail to establish continuous residency, you wont qualify. This is part of the basic requirements in obtaining citizenship.

Depending on the reason you stay abroad for 18 months, they may grant you reentry, However you will have to wait until you have resided in America the necessary time in order to apply for citizenship.

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Keep in MIND:

The only way to guarantee you will forever have the right to remain in the US is to naturalize. US permanent residents are always at risk of losing their green cards if they spend long periods of time outside the US. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, this has become a serious problem and more and more people are losing their residency status because they are deemed by port of entry officers as having abandoned their permanent residency in the US.

If you are not sure about anything, consult a lawyer before you leave the country, he will assist you and back you up if needed when you try to come back.

I've heard of people having a hard time at the port of entry when returning from long trips, even with a reentry approval letter.

hope this helped!

Good luck and God Bless you!!!!

[jhm3 15]

It isn't the physical presence requirement per se that would prevent you from naturalizing after returning from 18 months in your home country -- after all, if you have spent anything close to the rest of the 3.5 years prior to filing your naturalization application in the US, you will meet that requirement. The trouble is that any single absence from the United States of more than a year will definitively break the continuity of your residency for naturalization purposes (this is true except in a limited set of circumstances; e.g., someone temporarily working for the US government or a US company abroad can apply to preserve residency for naturalization purposes if he or she will be overseas for over a year, though they would still have to meet the physical presence requirement). The re-entry permit (possibly in conjunction with other evidence that you have retained ties to the US) will show that you have not abandoned your Permanent Resident status and that you should therefore be readmitted as an LPR after an extended absence, but if have been abroad for more than a year, you will at that point have to wait another 4 years and 1 day to apply for naturalization (as explained in the official regulations on residency for naturalization purposes,8 CFR 316.5©(1)(ii)).

Of course, if you can come back to the US once or twice during the next 18 months and make the case that you maintained your primary residence in the country during your temporary absence abroad, you might be able to naturalize sooner -- if USCIS can be convinced that the continuity of your US residence was not interrupted by your time away.

Good luck!

[warlord 73]

Of course, if you can come back to the US once or twice during the next 18 months and make the case that you maintained your primary residence in the country during your temporary absence abroad, you might be able to naturalize sooner -- if USCIS can be convinced that the continuity of your US residence was not interrupted by your time away.

Of course you would have to return for a good length of time to show that you were actually residing in the US. A simple trip back to the US will do nothing unless you can prove you were maintaining a residence and actually spending a good deal of time in the US when they come back. People seem to think a 2 week trip to the US will satisfy the residency rules which it won't. The IO's are well aware of this tactic and would be easily be able to prove that residency was indeed broken unless you have undeniable proof you were working/living etc in the US for a decent amount of time between trips...