N-400 Naturalization, travelled abroad for over 6 months, N-400

[arken 4,197]

1 hour ago, tamcloud said:

If you're filing online, it will ask for the dates of your trips and do the calculations. You'll know then whether or not you're eligible, and won't have to send a payment to find out. Good luck! 

I doubt it’ll say that. A real person has to review the evidence if continuous residency is questioned. No way it can do that online at least at present.

[nyj215 103]

2 hours ago, tamcloud said:

If you're filing online, it will ask for the dates of your trips and do the calculations. You'll know then whether or not you're eligible, and won't have to send a payment to find out. Good luck! 

I think it calculates physical presence.

 

Continuous residence is a combination of objective (6 months+ is presumed to break) and subjective (there are of course ways to rebut it, but many stories online of people who were denied because of trips of 180 days+).

[geowrian 22,336]

The continuous residency component is the question here. There is a presumption that it was broken. You will have to overcome that. Just being admitted as an LPR doesn’t mean it wasn’t broken. Nobody can know what the IO will decide as it is a judgement call. Many had success. Many have been denied and had to reapply later in similar situations. The burden will be on you to show that continuous residency wasn’t broken during your extended trip abroad.

 

Good luck.

[AI135 27]

37 minutes ago, geowrian said:

The continuous residency component is the question here. There is a presumption that it was broken. You will have to overcome that. Just being admitted as an LPR doesn’t mean it wasn’t broken. Nobody can know what the IO will decide as it is a judgement call. Many had success. Many have been denied and had to reapply later in similar situations. The burden will be on you to show that continuous residency wasn’t broken during your extended trip abroad.

 

Good luck.

 

11 hours ago, nyj215 said:

I think it calculates physical presence.

 

Continuous residence is a combination of objective (6 months+ is presumed to break) and subjective (there are of course ways to rebut it, but many stories online of people who were denied because of trips of 180 days+).

 

Thank you guys for the insights! I do know that being admitted as an LPR doesn't mean my 180+day absence won't affect my naturalization, however, I had ties to my residency here (my wife, our leased apartment, my credit card bills and etc). My 180+day trip was the first one I took almost 7 years after I moved to the US and I had a lot of stuff to take care of while I was visiting. I was wondering if I send all the documents I have for the period of my absence (tax returns, bills, lease and bank account transaction history where it clearly shows payments towards my credit cards) would that be enough or would it depend on the mood of an IO at the moment of the decision?

[nyj215 103]

Hi @AI135I definitely don't want to hold myself out as an expert on the best way to overcome the (rebuttable) presumption but I think what you are talking about preparing sounds good.  That said, mood of the IO is always going to be a factor in this process.  Obviously people have different views on this, but for me if the case is potentially not straightforward I think investment in a good lawyer is worth considering.  I wish you the very best of luck in the process.

[AI135 27]

23 minutes ago, nyj215 said:

Hi @AI135I definitely don't want to hold myself out as an expert on the best way to overcome the (rebuttable) presumption but I think what you are talking about preparing sounds good.  That said, mood of the IO is always going to be a factor in this process.  Obviously people have different views on this, but for me if the case is potentially not straightforward I think investment in a good lawyer is worth considering.  I wish you the very best of luck in the process.

Thank you so much! I understand that it is not the perfect situation and frustration will drive me crazy (just went through stress recently with our i-751) so not eager to go through that again  but there is nothing to do. Might as well get it over with. 

[geowrian 22,336]

14 hours ago, AI135 said:

would that be enough or would it depend on the mood of an IO at the moment of the decision?

Maybe, maybe not. It's a judgement call and I'm not the IO that will make that decision.

It sounds good, but I've seen it go either way.