4 years 1 day rule

[vetinari 1]

Is there anyone on this forum that followed the 4 years and 1day rule to resume their broken continuous residency and were approved?

I went out of the US for more than 6 months and less than 12 months. I consulted my situation with an emigration layer and he told me the all I need to do is to wait 4 years and 1 day, after my return to the US to apply for citizenship. 
I did that and in a few weeks, I will have an interview. I wonder if I should mention that 4yr 1 day rule to the IO.

 

I search the forum and found a few similar threads but none was completed. No one ever wrote if they were approved under the 4 years and 1 day rule.

[designguy 1,179]

Have you tried a calculator like this? https://www.***removed***/us-citizenship-eligibility-calculator/

 

 

[vetinari 1]

thanks @designguy but actually I am not asking if I qualify for a citizenship. 

I talked to a layer who told me that I do qualify.

 

I just asked if anyone had an experience on approval based on the 4 year 1 day rule.

[bmqsg5h3 12]

USCIS  Policy Manual
Chapter 3 - Continuous Residence
https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3

Quote

3. Eligibility after Break in Residence

An applicant who is required to establish continuous residence for at least 5 years [15] and whose application for naturalization is denied for an absence of one year or longer, may apply for naturalization four years and one day after returning to the United States to resume permanent residence. An applicant who is subject to the three-year continuous residence requirement [16] may apply two years and one day after returning to the United States to resume permanent residence. [17]

You are qualified in terms of "Continuous Residence" and then won't be denied on that ground.

 

Edited August 21, 2019 by t-ten

[vetinari 1]

thanks, @t-ten but this wouldn't make any sense. If you left US for a 1 or longer you can apply for citizenship after 4 years and 1 day but when you left the US for 6 months to 1 year you need to apply after 5 years.

 

As my layer explained to me, the 4 years and 1 day rule is a general rule for resume the residency. When you are outside of the US for more than a year you automatically break your continuous residency that's why you need to wait 4 years and 1 day to resume it.

When you left for 6 months to a year, you are not automatically breaking the residency. You can prove that you didn't break it by showing your ties to the US (like bills, rental agreement, etc.). If you can not prove that, USCIS assume that you broke your continuous residency and before you can apply for citizenship you need to resume it by following the 4 years 1-day rule.

[ponyo_rocks 7]

I've read up extensively on this rule and was eligible to apply based on it (had a 1+ year absence) but chose not to, since it doesnt seem to have a consistent rate of success.

 

From what I've read on other forums, its advisable to mention it under 'other' when asked under what rule you are applying. (5yr/3yr/Other). In your case, you can simply tell the IO that you are applying 4 yrs and 1 day after returning from your long trip.

 

The successes I have read are from years ago, haven't seen anything recent. Please report back after your interview! Good luck!

[xyz12345 260]

8 hours ago, vetinari said:

thanks, @t-ten but this wouldn't make any sense. If you left US for a 1 or longer you can apply for citizenship after 4 years and 1 day but when you left the US for 6 months to 1 year you need to apply after 5 years.

 

As my layer explained to me, the 4 years and 1 day rule is a general rule for resume the residency. When you are outside of the US for more than a year you automatically break your continuous residency that's why you need to wait 4 years and 1 day to resume it.

When you left for 6 months to a year, you are not automatically breaking the residency. You can prove that you didn't break it by showing your ties to the US (like bills, rental agreement, etc.). If you can not prove that, USCIS assume that you broke your continuous residency and before you can apply for citizenship you need to resume it by following the 4 years 1-day rule.

 

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/546372-denied-do-to-lack-of-continuity-of-residence-split/

 

You should read the thread above. It's a little bit old but it can answer some of your questions regarding continuous residence. It seems that the 4 years+1 day rule applies if you have had at least 1 year US residency as an LPR. So if you did not complete your first year as an LPR before leaving for more than 1 year, then the 4 years+1 day rule does not apply. You have to wait for 5 years. Seems to me that break or no break in continuous residence, you have to have at least 5 years US residency (or 3 years if marriage-based) as an LPR before applying for naturalization.

 

 

[vetinari 1]

thanks for all your help. I just scheduled another appointment with the immigration lawyer to confirm all what I heart from the first one.

 

@ponyo_rocks  I will let you know how it went after my interview.

 

@xyz12345 thanks for that link.

[Zaidba 39]

On 8/21/2019 at 12:51 PM, vetinari said:

Is there anyone on this forum that followed the 4 years and 1day rule to resume their broken continuous residency and were approved?

I went out of the US for more than 6 months and less than 12 months. I consulted my situation with an emigration layer and he told me the all I need to do is to wait 4 years and 1 day, after my return to the US to apply for citizenship. 
I did that and in a few weeks, I will have an interview. I wonder if I should mention that 4yr 1 day rule to the IO.

 

I search the forum and found a few similar threads but none was completed. No one ever wrote if they were approved under the 4 years and 1 day rule.

I am glad you are writing this post and hope to get your experience after your interview. I am in the same situation and was never able to get a definite conclusion either from the forum or from lawyers. I have consulted three different lawyers and they had different opinion in this issue so I decided not to apply. I can tell you the lawyers contradicting opinions, but you have already applied and wanted somebody who has been through the experience to give you a feed back. Unfortunately, I do not have a feedback but can give the lawyers opinions if you want so.

Please let us know the outcome of your interview. Wish you the best

[vetinari 1]

Thanks @Zaidba. 

I would really appreciate if you can share the lawyers opinions that you got.

My interview is on Sep 12th. I will let you know how it went.

[Zaidba 39]

On 8/23/2019 at 8:49 AM, vetinari said:

Thanks @Zaidba. 

I would really appreciate if you can share the lawyers opinions that you got.

My interview is on Sep 12th. I will let you know how it went.

Hi Vetinari

After consulting three lawyers about this specific issue of being out of the US for more than 6 months but less than one year, I found that lawyers don't have one understanding or opinion about handling such situation. I will explain points of agreements and points of differences.

1. All three lawyers agreed that staying out for more than 6 months but less than one year presumably break continuous residency but can be overcome with proper evidence that you kept a job in US, or kept a residence....Etc, the same points in the USCIS manual. They also agreed that a good part of the decision depends on the officer evaluation of the situation. Therefore, the safest decision was not to apply with a 9 months outside the US in the middle.

Based on that, I told each one of them that I decided to take the safest approach and wait. I asked  each of them about the time I should submit my application, and here comes the differences:

2. The 4 years plus 1 day was interpreted differently by lawyers where one said that this applies only to those who have spent more than one year outside the US, and have applied and were denied, then they can use the 4 years and 1 day rule. Another lawyer said that if this rule applies to those who stayed out for more than 1 year, then it should be applied to those who have been out for less than one year.

3. As a result of this came the idea of waiting until the 9 months becomes less than 6 months, fro example: if you got your green card in July 2013 and left the US in Sep 2014 and came back in May 2015 (9 months). You will be eligible to apply  in July 2018, but to avoid the 9 months break of residency, and avoid the 4 years plus 1 day rule, you may apply in January 2020 (because from January to May is only 5 moths and doesn't break the residency. OK, is this 100% safe? NO.

The challenge that appeared is the question in the application that asks about the date you left the US. Therefore, even though the time spent outside the US will be 5 months, the date you left will show that you actyally spent 9 months. This depends on the officer evaluation and may take you back to the position in #1 where you have to provide an evidence that you did not break your continuous residency. There are cases where people have been trapped in this situation and cases where people where approved without a problem.

Based on all that, I decided to wait 5 full years from my last return to the US.

You are in a different situation since you have already applied, and I think you should only concern yourself with collecting evidence that you have not interrupted your residency. This is everything that connected you to the US during your travel like residence, family in the US, bank account, tax return...etc.

You may benefit from a lawyer attending the interview with you.

Best luck

[vetinari 1]

Hi,

Just to update you guys. I went to interview and got approval.

IO asked me about that long trip and told me that this is an issue but he was very friendly and helpful. He just asked me a reason for it, I told him reasonable reason. When you travel outside for that long you always have some reason. He also asked if I had a re-entry permit, which I didn't have. Then he just told me that he needs to ask his supervisor but first we will continue my application (tests and the application review).

After that, he went out of office for a few minutes (to ask his supervisor). And when he came back he just told me that I got an approval, print me a paper with approval and told me that he will schedule the Oath.

 

[xyz12345 260]

2 hours ago, vetinari said:

Hi,

Just to update you guys. I went to interview and got approval.

IO asked me about that long trip and told me that this is an issue but he was very friendly and helpful. He just asked me a reason for it, I told him reasonable reason. When you travel outside for that long you always have some reason. He also asked if I had a re-entry permit, which I didn't have. Then he just told me that he needs to ask his supervisor but first we will continue my application (tests and the application review).

After that, he went out of office for a few minutes (to ask his supervisor). And when he came back he just told me that I got an approval, print me a paper with approval and told me that he will schedule the Oath.

 

congratulations!!!!

[nyj215 103]

congrats @vetinariand thank you for coming back on here to post the outcome, which will definitely be helpful for future applicants.

 

FWIW I also believe that lawyers are not consistent with their advice about when the 4 yr + 1 day rule should be relied on.  I think field office plays a material role in this (I know it shouldn't).  For example my understanding is that the NYC field office generally can get over ONE trip over 6 months if there is a good reason, but if there are two then there is a major problem.  Other field offices may have a more rigid practice around it.

[Zaidba 39]

6 hours ago, vetinari said:

Hi,

Just to update you guys. I went to interview and got approval.

IO asked me about that long trip and told me that this is an issue but he was very friendly and helpful. He just asked me a reason for it, I told him reasonable reason. When you travel outside for that long you always have some reason. He also asked if I had a re-entry permit, which I didn't have. Then he just told me that he needs to ask his supervisor but first we will continue my application (tests and the application review).

After that, he went out of office for a few minutes (to ask his supervisor). And when he came back he just told me that I got an approval, print me a paper with approval and told me that he will schedule the Oath.

 

Congratulations.