Conditional LPR, spouse of U.S. citizen working abroad

[DariusS 0]

I am confused and I would appreciate is someone could advice on my situation. I am LPR on conditional basis. My conditional status was approved 09/05/2016. I am married to U.S. citizen since 07/28/2015. A six month after approval of my conditional status we left U.S. for Guatemala because my wife got a job there. On the way out I did not submit any application. I expected to submit N 400 on 07/15/2017 a year when my wife would be working here in Guatemala. The company (American) she works for is a contractor of USAID.

 

Now I am out of U.S. for over 9 month.  I am not sure if I have had to fill in any application leaving, or not. I am also not sure if the company my wife works for will qualify for any category (I hope it would match - American firm or corporation engaged in whole or in part in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States, or a subsidiary thereof;).

What should I do now?

P.S. Not sure if that helps, but I have been working on my master’s degree in U.S. University (online 100%) since 09/21/2015.

 

Thanks for any advice in advance.

[Unlockable 7,315]

I believe you have to make up the time that you are out of the US. The clock stops if you leave the US for long periods of time. 

 

Also, you can't apply for citizenship if you are not living in the US.

 

 

[DariusS 0]

6 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

I believe you have to make up the time that you are out of the US. The clock stops if you leave the US for long periods of time. 

 

Also, you can't apply for citizenship if you are not living in the US.

 

 

The spouse of a U.S. citizen who is “regularly stationed abroad” in qualifying employment may be eligible for naturalization on the basis of their marriage. ^[1] Spouses otherwise eligible under this provision are exempt from the continuous residence and physical presence requirements for naturalization.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter4.html#footnote-13 

[DariusS 0]

9 minutes ago, Dee elle said:

There are several issues I think for you....

 

If you are a conditional  Green card holder, the first step is removal of conditions after 2 years of permanent residency.. On what basis are you  planning to apply for N400 ? Naturalization comes after 3 years of LPR if married to USC or 5 years if applying on your own. It  would normally follow ROC. If you do not apply for ROC you will be out of status and ineligible for residency in the US. 

 

Secondly, GC is for residency in the US and you could easily be determined as already having abandoned your permanent residency . The time to consider if your wifes job was with  complying company was before you left the US. 

 

Returning to the US now may be a wise idea, in order to ensure  you are bona-fide in maintaining residency. Once back in the US you can apply for a re entry permit which gives you 2 years overseas and can be renewed once. This absence wil push back your Naturalization date. Once you apply and have the biometrics  you can request the permit to be sent to an overseas consulate for you to pick up, so you could then rejoin your wife.

 

I may have not understood your situation  correctly, but that is my thoughts  on what you have stated. 

 

 

Tanks for your response. I agree, I had to do this earlier. 

I plan to apply for N 400 based on INA: ACT 319 (b)

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter4.html#footnote-13

https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-29/0-0-0-9934.html