HOW OFTEN can a GC holder leave the U.S.?

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Well done.

[pushbrk 12,127]

Just to add a little to the discussion and understanding, let's say, for instance, that the green card holder lives in Buffalo, or Detroit and has a sales or IT consulting job that takes them to Canada often. It's quite possible they might spend more time in Canada than the USA, because that's where they need to be for work. But, they come home most weekends to their home and family in the US. While those folks may well have a hard time accounting for each and every entry and departure from the USA on an N400 form, they are unlikely to ever have any issues with re-entering the USA after a business trip.

[CitizenJ 5]

I'm not sure where people get the six month idea but my thought is that people have simply carried on a myth. If you want citizenship as soon as possible, you don't want to leave for more than six months at a time. People remember there's something bad associated with being gone for more than six months but don't know or remember what, when they tell people not to do it. This myth then perpetuates and grows.

Live in the USA and visit other countries for less than a year but not too frequently and most folks are fine. Start spending enough time outside the USA to give the impression you don't really live here anymore and you'll be in trouble.

In 2006, because of CBP screw-ups when my wife and daughter entered, I had several conversations with a CBP station chief (don't know if that's the actual title). As an aside, I mentioned our future plan of spending half our time in China. He told me that would endanger my wife's status, and it would be best if she Naturalized prior to implementing such a plan.

You say that you're not sure where people get the six month threshold from then in your very next sentence you say "if you want citizenship as soon as possible, you don't want to leave for more than six months at a time". So six months is the threshold? I'm not sure what you meant.

[CitizenJ 5]

Also, I heard a rumor that ANY time a GC holder spends out of the US will pause his/her "citizenship clock". Is this true?

I understand that there is no clear cut rule for when LPR is viewed as abandoned but there must be a clear cut rule pertaining to under what circumstances the citizenship clock is paused.

Edited March 30, 2014 by CitizenJ

[Boiler 43,510]

There is.

[pushbrk 12,127]

You say that you're not sure where people get the six month threshold from then in your very next sentence you say "if you want citizenship as soon as possible, you don't want to leave for more than six months at a time". So six months is the threshold? I'm not sure what you meant.

The assertion I was responding to was that a six months absence was the threshold for losing permanent resident status. It isn't. It IS, however, the length of absence that restarts the clock on eligibility for citizenship.

I'm saying people are confusing one issue with the other.

[pushbrk 12,127]

Also, I heard a rumor that ANY time a GC holder spends out of the US will pause his/her "citizenship clock". Is this true?

I understand that there is no clear cut rule for when LPR is viewed as abandoned but there must be a clear cut rule pertaining to under what circumstances the citizenship clock is paused.

It's not a rumor. If an LPR leaves the US for more than 180 days, their citizenship eligibility clock does not "pause". It restarts at zero when they return. For shorter absences, each day you are gone counts against you. For example, if you are on a five year clock, and leave for a month each of those five years, you will then be eligible to Naturalize 65 months after gaining LPR status. So, that equates to a pause anytime you leave. Leaving for more than 180 days does not trigger a pause. It triggers a restart from zero.

[CitizenJ 5]

It's not a rumor. If an LPR leaves the US for more than 180 days, their citizenship eligibility clock does not "pause". It restarts at zero when they return. For shorter absences, each day you are gone counts against you. For example, if you are on a five year clock, and leave for a month each of those five years, you will then be eligible to Naturalize 65 months after gaining LPR status. So, that equates to a pause anytime you leave. Leaving for more than 180 days does not trigger a pause. It triggers a restart from zero.

I see what you're saying. I've never read anything on the official website about the clock "pausing" - no matter how hard I've searched so what you're saying makes sense. The second part of what you're saying contradicts what the official website says though...I know I just asked yesterday but that's because I couldn't find the specific information I was searching for on the website. I've recently been able to find it.

Applicants are required to show that they were physically present in the U.S. for eighteen months within the three year period before applying for naturalization

^For anyone else reading this with the same question that I had

Edited March 31, 2014 by CitizenJ

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You'll find what you're looking for in the qualifications for citizenship. After you read the tag line in my signature, take a look at the M-480 Eligibility Worksheet and the N400.