continuous permanent residence

[arif74 0]

Hi,

My question is to understand the date of starting my “continuous permanent residence”. I obtained PR in October, 2014. My wife is US citizen and she was living with me abroad. August, 2015 I moved her to US and rented an apartment. May, 2016 I permanently moved to US.

Before that I made many trips to US,

 

my time line are as follows:

 

 

 

October  2014  Obtained PR through my US citizen spouse

10/2014 – 05/2016 – made several visits to US, each visit within 6months and for two weeks

August 2015 – moved family to US and rented an apartment

May 2016 – moved to US

 

Please help me to:

1.   Understand when my “continuous permanent residence” started.

2.   If I go by 3 years rule;  I have lived 603 days physically in US. Can I apply N-400 or I need to wait.

 

Thank you. 

[aleful 1,905]

no

 

you haven't lived in the US long enough, you will need to start counting since you moved to the US,

 

you said it yourself, you visited the US, not lived here. you used the GC as a tourist visa, living in your country, only coming to the US for 2 weeks at a time

 

so you will need to start counting from 2016

 

 

[arif74 0]

Thank you for Reply. 

I agree with you but, is there any possibility to claim residency since i rented apartment as permanent residence in US. as lease and all  utilities are under my name.   

[milimelo 4,503]

No as you weren't physically there. File in 2019 and save yourself a headache early filing would bring. 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

Never a good idea to play the system by living overseas and visiting the US on a green card. Not only does it delay US citizenship eligibility, CBP could see it as abandonment of US resident status. 

[afrocraft 313]

On 12/26/2017 at 1:53 AM, arif74 said:

October  2014  Obtained PR through my US citizen spouse

10/2014 – 05/2016 – made several visits to US, each visit within 6months and for two weeks

August 2015 – moved family to US and rented an apartment

May 2016 – moved to US

 

Please help me to:

1.   Understand when my “continuous permanent residence” started.

2.   If I go by 3 years rule;  I have lived 603 days physically in US. Can I apply N-400 or I need to wait.

 

Thank you. 

There are really 3 separate "residence" requirements, counting back from the date of filing the N-400:

• Physical presence - you only need to show you were physically present in the US  for 18 months from the present to three years before. You meet this requirement.
• Residence in the state where the USCIS office you are applying to has jurisdiction for 3 months. Unless you've changed address recently, you meet this requirement.
• Continuous residence - you need to show that you maintained a US home continuously for 3 years. Assuming you apply today, the 3-year period is Jan 2015 - date, and the relevant question is whether you maintained a US abode from Jan 2015 to May 2016.

Since each of your absences from the US (stop saying visits to the US!) is less than 6 months, you are presumed to have maintained continuous residence in the US. However, the facts and circumstances are what actually decide the case, and a diligent immigration service officer seeing your numerous trips could demand that you show that you still maintained a US home while you were abroad. You can do so by providing multiple evidence covering the entire period being disputed, like:

• a lease AND utilities in your name, showing that you had free access to a US abode
• tax returns that show you paid US taxes during the period and did not claim non-resident status in your tax returns
• evidence of US employment
• your written letter to USCIS explaining the absences and credible testimony from yourself and your spouse at the interview.

So should you still put in an N-400 application? It depends. Do you have the evidence above? If yes, apply. If not, you can still apply; you might get lucky and be given the benefit of the doubt by a less scrupulous reviewer.

[arif74 0]

Thank you, for your detailed reply. 

 

I am gathering evidence to apply.