Physical Presence Question- plain and simple

[Logan5 1]

Hi,

Next year, I will be eligible to apply for US Citizenship. I will have been married to a US Citizen since before the day I became a US Permanent Resident, i.e. > 3 years.

Question: we were traveling for 117 consecutive days last year before moving to another state. Does this constitute an interruption of my physical presence in the United States?

IF SO, our travels happened (or ended) 550 days before I will have been a Permanent Resident for 3 years, so > 18 months and no problem, but only 459 days before I can apply for US Citizenship, so < 18 months. Which date matters? Date of eligibility to apply for or eligibility to become a US Citizen?

Thanks for helping out!

Numbers:
Married on 1/11/2014

Permanent Resident since 5/21/2014

Eligible to apply for US Citizenship on 2/20/2017

Eligible to become US Citizen on 5/21/2017

[JimmyHou 614]

Physical presence and continuous residence are two different requirements.

There is no requirement to have uninterrupted physical presence. Even a 3 day trip interrupts physical presence because all full days outside the U.S. are deducted from the physical presence requirement. Since you are applying based on marriage, you need to have been inside the U.S. for 18 months out of the 3 years prior to applying. That's all that's needed for this requirement; so you can forget about how many days out of the last 18 months you were here. What matters is 18 months out of 3 years.

The second requirement is continuos residence. This can be interrupted by long trips. But generally trips under 6 months are not a concern unless you can't show that the trip was temporary in nature. If you still had your home, car, bills, etc in the U.S., you'll be fine.

So it sounds like you're ok.

Just remember that while you're allowed to apply 90 days earlier than your green card anniversary, you have to be married for 3 full years and your spouse has to have been a U.S. Citizen for three full years on the day you apply.

[Logan5 1]

There is no requirement to have uninterrupted physical presence.

I understand, they mean 18 months combined physical presence, not continuous.

Thanks for clarifying.

And yes, our 3rd wedding anniversary is 40 days before I am eligible to apply for Citizenship, so no problem!