N400 Application with GC Expiring and More than 180 days Single Visit Abroad

[Hochi 0]

Hello,

 

My spouse was naturalized as a USC in 2007 and my marriage based GC was issued in early 2008 based on our pre-existing marriage at the time. My GC expires in under two months and I wish to submit N400 for naturalization. In addition to several brief visits out of the country, I do have one single extended stay of about 190 days out of the country within the past 3 years. As a tenured academic this extended visit was to further my research goals while on a faculty fellowship sabbatical approved by my employer, a large public university. There was no intent to abandon LPR status or disrupt continuity of residence and I can provide substantiating documents (letter from employer of continued employment, continued home ownership, tax filing, paid bills, etc) to this effect and hopefully it will not be grounds for denial.

 

Under these circumstances, is it suggested that I:

a.       File N400 application without renewing my GC? If so my GC will likely expire before my citizenship interview.

b.       Renew GC first and then submit N400

c.       Wait a few weeks to play safe and fIle N400 using the 2 year and 1 day rule for my extended visit outside the US for over 180 days. However this will mean applying for N400 just one day before my GC expires – will this timeline be acceptable?

 

Thank you in advance for your input.

[mindthegap 2,667]

Even if your permanent resident card expires, your status does not.

 

The card is proof of status and not the status itself, hence why you are (for example) permitted to board a carrier back to the US with an expired 10 year permanent resident card.

[Khallaf 650]

29 minutes ago, Hochi said:

Hello,

 

My spouse was naturalized as a USC in 2007 and my marriage based GC was issued in early 2008 based on our pre-existing marriage at the time. My GC expires in under two months and I wish to submit N400 for naturalization. In addition to several brief visits out of the country, I do have one single extended stay of about 190 days out of the country within the past 3 years. As a tenured academic this extended visit was to further my research goals while on a faculty fellowship sabbatical approved by my employer, a large public university. There was no intent to abandon LPR status or disrupt continuity of residence and I can provide substantiating documents (letter from employer of continued employment, continued home ownership, tax filing, paid bills, etc) to this effect and hopefully it will not be grounds for denial.

 

Under these circumstances, is it suggested that I:

a.       File N400 application without renewing my GC? If so my GC will likely expire before my citizenship interview.

b.       Renew GC first and then submit N400

c.       Wait a few weeks to play safe and fIle N400 using the 2 year and 1 day rule for my extended visit outside the US for over 180 days. However this will mean applying for N400 just one day before my GC expires – will this timeline be acceptable?

 

Thank you in advance for your input.

you can file the N-400 even if your green card is set to expire, the chances you will be rejected are slim.

[Hochi 0]

1 minute ago, Khallaf said:

you can file the N-400 even if your green card is set to expire, the chances you will be rejected are slim.

Thank you for your quick response. Will time away from the country be acceptable based on examples of the supporting evidence I mentioned in my original post?

 

Thank you.

6 minutes ago, mindthegap said:

Even if your permanent resident card expires, your status does not.

 

The card is proof of status and not the status itself, hence why you are (for example) permitted to board a carrier back to the US with an expired 10 year permanent resident card.

Thank you for your quick response confirming that my LPR status stays intact even if the physical GC expires. Appreciate it.

[Khallaf 650]

14 minutes ago, Hochi said:

Thank you for your quick response. Will time away from the country be acceptable based on examples of the supporting evidence I mentioned in my original post?

 

Thank you.

Thank you for your quick response confirming that my LPR status stays intact even if the physical GC expires. Appreciate it.

it isn't a matter of how long you were gone they just want the number of trips you have taken, since you do have one that was longer, and I know you are worried about that you should not be,since the stay out of the US was not more than 1 year. Each time did you apply for a re-entry permit? 

[Hochi 0]

16 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

it isn't a matter of how long you were gone they just want the number of trips you have taken, since you do have one that was longer, and I know you are worried about that you should not be,since the stay out of the US was not more than 1 year. Each time did you apply for a re-entry permit? 

I saw several sites including these ones:  https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html and https://immigrationworkvisa.wordpress.com/2017/01/25/citizenship-residence-presence-requirements/- regarding continuous residence guidelines. Just trying to understand if valid circumstances of extended absence - as in my case - can be explained and whether they are stringently enforced while reviewing N400 applications. N400 pointedly asks if any of the visits abroad were in excess of 180 days and that certainly causes some concern. I did not apply for a re-entry permit since my absence was just a little over 6 months and my assumption was that re-entry permit should be sought only if one was planning to be away longer than 12 months. Appreciate your input.

[Khallaf 650]

13 minutes ago, Hochi said:

I saw several sites including these ones:  https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html and https://immigrationworkvisa.wordpress.com/2017/01/25/citizenship-residence-presence-requirements/- regarding continuous residence guidelines. Just trying to understand if valid circumstances of extended absence - as in my case - can be explained and whether they are stringently enforced while reviewing N400 applications. N400 pointedly asks if any of the visits abroad were in excess of 180 days and that certainly causes some concern. I did not apply for a re-entry permit since my absence was just a little over 6 months and my assumption was that re-entry permit should be sought only if one was planning to be away longer than 12 months. Appreciate your input.

no cause for concern, they are just asking if you did go out what the reason was and if you have documentation to support the reason, and since it was approved by your employer, and you have proof that your employer approved it, ask to see if you can get someone at the university that you work for to give a letter explaining this.

[Hochi 0]

2 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

no cause for concern, they are just asking if you did go out what the reason was and if you have documentation to support the reason, and since it was approved by your employer, and you have proof that your employer approved it, ask to see if you can get someone at the university that you work for to give a letter explaining this.

Thank you so much. I have requested  a letter from my employer and will be submitting along with N400

[afrocraft 314]

On 1/22/2018 at 2:00 PM, Khallaf said:

no cause for concern, they are just asking if you did go out what the reason was and if you have documentation to support the reason, and since it was approved by your employer, and you have proof that your employer approved it, ask to see if you can get someone at the university that you work for to give a letter explaining this.

I'm not so sure I agree. Travel outside the US of six months or longer per trip in the period before you file the N400 raises the presumption that you have broken the continuous residency requirement for naturalization. That presumption can be rebutted, though, but the burden is yours to show that you maintained a US abode during your absence. You're on the right track with some of your documentation. Ideally, you want to show that you:

• Did not terminate your job in the US
• Had your immediate family stay behind
• Retained full and open access to your US home (mortgage/lease agreements, utility bills, bank statements, etc.)
• Did not obtain employment while abroad
   

[Khallaf 650]

3 hours ago, afrocraft said:

I'm not so sure I agree. Travel outside the US of six months or longer per trip in the period before you file the N400 raises the presumption that you have broken the continuous residency requirement for naturalization. That presumption can be rebutted, though, but the burden is yours to show that you maintained a US abode during your absence. You're on the right track with some of your documentation. Ideally, you want to show that you:

• Did not terminate your job in the US
• Had your immediate family stay behind
• Retained full and open access to your US home (mortgage/lease agreements, utility bills, bank statements, etc.)
• Did not obtain employment while abroad
   

it was mentioned that they were out for the extended period for which was furthering research goals, this was approved by his employer, with that being said, all that is needed is a letter from the employer at the time what he was away for and that there was no job loss, as well as a letter explaining that there was no intent to abandon residency,

[Hochi 0]

Appreciate everyone's input. I have gone ahead and submitted the N400 application providing an abundance of information from my employers including letters stating I remained and continue to remain an employee of my educational institution, letters of approval and letters of support for my faculty fellowship research proposals, continuing payslips during and after the leave period, summary of salary records for the past 10 years, home ownership records, mortgage payment records, property tax records, utility bills, 3 years IRS tax transcripts, etc.to establish there was no break in continuity of residence. Of course I do also understand it is still up to the reviewing officer, so right now it is a wait and see situation. I'll post again to update the outcome.

[afrocraft 314]

4 hours ago, Khallaf said:

it was mentioned that they were out for the extended period for which was furthering research goals, this was approved by his employer, with that being said, all that is needed is a letter from the employer at the time what he was away for and that there was no job loss, as well as a letter explaining that there was no intent to abandon residency,

I don't think you appreciate the importance of this. The regulation states that anyone who departs for 6 months or more should be presumed to have broken continuous residency. That's like saying guilty until found innocent. Just saying your employer sent you isn't enough to rebut this presumption -- unless your employer is the USG or an allowed organization.

 

2 hours ago, Hochi said:

Appreciate everyone's input. I have gone ahead and submitted the N400 application providing an abundance of information from my employers including letters stating I remained and continue to remain an employee of my educational institution, letters of approval and letters of support for my faculty fellowship research proposals, continuing payslips during and after the leave period, summary of salary records for the past 10 years, home ownership records, mortgage payment records, property tax records, utility bills, 3 years IRS tax transcripts, etc.to establish there was no break in continuity of residence. Of course I do also understand it is still up to the reviewing officer, so right now it is a wait and see situation. I'll post again to update the outcome.

Nicely done.

Edited January 29, 2018 by afrocraft

[Khallaf 650]

9 minutes ago, afrocraft said:

I don't think you appreciate the importance of this. The regulation states that anyone who departs for 6 months or more should be presumed to have broken continuous residency. Just saying your employer sent you isn't enough to rebut this presumption -- unless your employer is the USG or an allowed organization.

 

I have been through the same experience with my ex husband who went through the N-400, so I very much appreciate the importance.

[afrocraft 314]

17 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

I have been through the same experience with my ex husband who went through the N-400, so I very much appreciate the importance.

Great. Then you would know better than me that the legal standard for rebutting the presumption that you've broken continuity of residence is medium-high -- the preponderance of the evidence -- and that an explanation for the absence alone is unlikely to meet that standard.

[Khallaf 650]

4 minutes ago, afrocraft said:

Great. Then you would know better than me that the legal standard for rebutting the presumption that you've broken continuity of residence is medium-high -- the preponderance of the evidence -- and that an explanation for the absence alone is unlikely to meet that standard.

correct, but there is a whole list as you know in the N-400 instructions that explains this I was simply letting OP know that there is nothing to be concerned about.