Citizenship questions

[Vmgradler 0]

I came in the States January of 2011, but 3 weeks later we left states and went to mexico for a 2 year contract of my husband's work. I received my conditional visa from the address I used upon entering. My in laws sent it to me. We were told that to avoid jeopardizing my status, I should not leave the states for more than a year and if I would like to file for my citizenship I shoud not leave for more than 6 months. So every before 6 months I re-entered the states. It is usually every 5 months then stayed for 3 weeks. The timeline is like:

Left - re-enter

Feb 2011 - July 2011

Nov 2011 - feb 2012 = I got pregnant then delivered my son on March so I stayed longer..

April 2012 - sept 2012 = My last travel and stayed for good.

My question is:

Is it too early to file for citizenship ? Someone told that it's okay since I'm presently residing here in the states for half of the 3 years. I am just not comfortable to file yet for I don't want to lose the fees if I will get denied.

[Sebas&Lily 3]

I would recommend reading this: http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html

My wife was denied citizenship for being outside of the country for 11months in 2011, we returned to the US in Jan 2012, applied for Citizenship in December 2013. We should have waited until January 2014 and then apply but we didn't know it would affect us. Basically if you apply for citizenship based on 3 year rule, then you can apply 2 years and 1 day after the last day you returned from your trip. At least that's how I understand it.

[Sebas&Lily 3]

Sorry, meant to say we applied for citizenship in January 2014, more than 2 years and 1 day later, yet we still got denied. Gotta love rules, right?

[Vmgradler 0]

Did the 11 months happen in one trip? Or it's like in and out of the country? What I heard was like coming back every 6 months so they will not look at it abandonment of home country specially if you are still in a conditional status. Did you have to go through the whole process of waiting just to let you know that you're denied? And how did they tell you? By mail or during the interview?

[Sebas&Lily 3]

The 11months was in one whole trip, in 2011. Me and my wife returned together in January 22, 2012 then applied for citizenship on January 28, 2014. This alone should qualify for USCIS rule that you can re-apply after being denied, based on the 3yr rule, after 2 years and 1 day, which we did but still got denied. We went to the interview, I waited in the waiting room, they only wanted her inside, she passed the test without any issues, waited almost a month and no ceremony invite, instead we receive the denial letter explaining their decision. $700 down the drain.

[Vmgradler 0]

The 11months was in one whole trip, in 2011. Me and my wife returned together in January 22, 2012 then applied for citizenship on January 28, 2014. This alone should qualify for USCIS rule that you can re-apply after being denied, based on the 3yr rule, after 2 years and 1 day, which we did but still got denied. We went to the interview, I waited in the waiting room, they only wanted her inside, she passed the test without any issues, waited almost a month and no ceremony invite, instead we receive the denial letter explaining their decision. $700 down the drain.

That is what Im afraid of losing the 700$ in a snap. Anyways, are you going to apply for this year?

[JimmyHou 613]

The 2 years plus 1 day rule (or 4 years plus 1 day rule if not applying based on marriage) only applies if USCIS determines that your trip broke your continuous residency. It is very unlikely (although possible) that a trip under 6 months will break continuous residency.

[Vmgradler 0]

The 2 years plus 1 day rule (or 4 years plus 1 day rule if not applying based on marriage) only applies if USCIS determines that your trip broke your continuous residency. It is very unlikely (although possible) that a trip under 6 months will break continuous residency.

[Vmgradler 0]

The 2 years plus 1 day rule (or 4 years plus 1 day rule if not applying based on marriage) only applies if USCIS determines that your trip broke your continuous residency. It is very unlikely (although possible) that a trip under 6 months will break continuous residency.

i made this computation in excel to count the days i have gone from a 3 year period and my up to date;

up to date within the 3 year period rule got in 12-Jan-11 20.00 got in 12-Jan-11 20.00 left 01-Feb-11 143.00 left 01-Feb-11 4.77 came in 24-Jun-11 17.00 came in 24-Jun-11 17.00 left 11-Jul-11 131.00 left 11-Jul-11 4.37 came in 19-Nov-11 15.00 came in 19-Nov-11 15.00 left 04-Dec-11 69.00 left 04-Dec-11 2.30 came in 11-Feb-12 78.00 came in 11-Feb-12 78.00 left 29-Apr-12 141.00 left 29-Apr-12 4.70 came in 17-Sep-12 869.00 came in 17-Sep-12 482.00 resided since 03-Feb-15 resided since 12-Jan-14 484.00 999.00 33.3 16.13 612.00 20.4 days days months months days months out of the country spent inside the states out of the country spent inside the states

please let me know what you think if i can start applying for my naturalization; my goal is for this month the 15th. I am just gathering docs to support my 3 year rule of marriage. thank you..

[Sebas&Lily 3]

That is what Im afraid of losing the 700$ in a snap. Anyways, are you going to apply for this year?

Yes, we are gathering the documents needed and will re-apply.

The 2 years plus 1 day rule (or 4 years plus 1 day rule if not applying based on marriage) only applies if USCIS determines that your trip broke your continuous residency. It is very unlikely (although possible) that a trip under 6 months will break continuous residency.

So what you're saying is, in my case, since our application got denied based on breaking the continuous residency, we can re-apply after 2 years and 1 day from us returning to the US, which was January 2012, am I understanding this right?

[JimmyHou 613]

Yes, we are gathering the documents needed and will re-apply.

So what you're saying is, in my case, since our application got denied based on breaking the continuous residency, we can re-apply after 2 years and 1 day from us returning to the US, which was January 2012, am I understanding this right?

I don't know the details of your case, but if you have a break in continuous residency AND you are applying based on marriage to US citizen AND you have lived in the US for a full year before breaking your continuous residency AND you were not considered to have abandoned your green card, then you can apply 2 years and 1 day after your return to the US. You still have to meet all other conditions.

But since you say that you returned in January 2012, this does not really apply to you because you've already been here for a full three years So if you meet all the other conditions, it sounds like you're already eligible to apply based on three years of marriage to a US citizen.

[Sebas&Lily 3]

I don't know the details of your case, but if you have a break in continuous residency AND you are applying based on marriage to US citizen AND you have lived in the US for a full year before breaking your continuous residency AND you were not considered to have abandoned your green card, then you can apply 2 years and 1 day after your return to the US. You still have to meet all other conditions.

But since you say that you returned in January 2012, this does not really apply to you because you've already been here for a full three years So if you meet all the other conditions, it sounds like you're already eligible to apply based on three years of marriage to a US citizen.

Right, me and my wife, both returned in January 2012, we haven't left the country since but when we apply, we still have to mention that trip because it falls within the last 5 years, the period in which they want to know if you've left the country and for how long But like you said, it should not affect us this time around because in the last three years, we did not break continuous residency.