Naturalization and Covid19

[ros88 12]

Dear all,

 

I hope someone can suggest me something about my situation.

 

I am a 10 years green cald holder and I was supposed to apply for naturalization this coming october.

 

In the last 5 years I have been travelling a lot around the world for work and to take care of my family, but knowing that for naturalization purposed I couldn’t  be outside for 30 months.

 

Unfortunately, I got stuck in Europe during the pandemic, I was not able to go back home in the US, I am planning to finally fly back end of september.

 

Because of the Covid 19 situation, I ve been out of the country for more than 30 months.

 

Should I still apply for naturalization? There is a forgiveness for people that stayed overseas because of the virus!?

 

Can I still apply and be forgiven for the months that I spent stuck in europe!?

 

I hope you can bring me good news!

 

Thank you!

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

The virus hasn’t been going on for 30 months So why you are using that as an excuse is beyond me..and sad for those really affected.I will assume you have obtained multiple reentry permits during this time frame. If you don’t meet the naturalization requirements then obviously you can’t apply. (Well you can if you want to donate money to the US government and get denied) You have to have been physically present in the US (not out of the US..) for 30 months in 5 years to apply to meet the residency requirement https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/citizenship-and-naturalization/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-for-naturalization For my own knowledge which European country have you been stuck in the at the US didn’t offer any repatriation flights?

Edited August 11, 2020 by Luckycuds

[Dashinka 23,234]

I agree with @Luckycuds, nothing really to forgive here.  You easily could have come back from Europe as an LPR, flights have not completely gone away and there are no entry restrictions other than the request to self-quarantine upon return.  A friend of mine just escorted her mother back to Romania a month ago, and had no issues finding flights, and when she came back into the US she self-quarantined for 2 weeks.  As to naturalization, I would wait until you meet the requirements.

 

Good Luck!

[ros88 12]

2 hours ago, Luckycuds said:

The virus hasn’t been going on for 30 months So why you are using that as an excuse is beyond me..and sad for those really affected.I will assume you have obtained multiple reentry permits during this time frame. If you don’t meet the naturalization requirements then obviously you can’t apply. (Well you can if you want to donate money to the US government and get denied) You have to have been physically present in the US (not out of the US..) for 30 months in 5 years to apply to meet the residency requirement https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/citizenship-and-naturalization/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-for-naturalization For my own knowledge which European country have you been stuck in the at the US didn’t offer any repatriation flights?

No excuse!

as I said in my post, I ve been traveling for work, then find myself in Italy during the pandemic, I choose to respect a serious lockdown in the country where I was.

What we have lived here for 3 months was not the lockdown you did in the US.

we literally could not leave our home, Only to go to the pharmacy or grocery store with a written autocertificazio everytime you went out for essential things.

The police stopped me everytime I went out to check if I had a autocertification to justify me going out.

After 3 months like that, we finally saw the light.

While in the US the situation was still scared.

 

I just decided to respect for the good of the community a very intense lockdown.

 

I agree with you all, I will apply when the time will be right.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

3 minutes ago, ros88 said:

No excuse!

as I said in my post, I ve been traveling for work, then find myself in Italy during the pandemic, I choose to respect a serious lockdown in the country where I was.

What we have lived here for 3 months was not the lockdown you did in the US.

we literally could not leave our home, Only to go to the pharmacy or grocery store with a written autocertificazio everytime you went out for essential things.

The police stopped me everytime I went out to check if I had a autocertification to justify me going out.

After 3 months like that, we finally saw the light.

While in the US the situation was still scared.

 

I just decided to respect for the good of the community a very intense lockdown.

 

I agree with you all, I will apply when the time will be right.

Thank you for clarifying a bit and I respect your situation in Italy. Make sure you also don’t jeopardize your permanent residency in the US by being out of the country for too long. Once you have the time in the US and are able to naturalize you can then freely travel and not have to worry about residency requirements, etc. Good luck and stay safe.

[Ontarkie 13,913]

~~Moved to US Citizenship General Discussion, form Covid 19 - the OP is asking about Naturalization with a 30 month abroad gap.~~

[xyz12345 260]

10 hours ago, ros88 said:

No excuse!

as I said in my post, I ve been traveling for work, then find myself in Italy during the pandemic, I choose to respect a serious lockdown in the country where I was.

What we have lived here for 3 months was not the lockdown you did in the US.

we literally could not leave our home, Only to go to the pharmacy or grocery store with a written autocertificazio everytime you went out for essential things.

The police stopped me everytime I went out to check if I had a autocertification to justify me going out.

After 3 months like that, we finally saw the light.

While in the US the situation was still scared.

 

I just decided to respect for the good of the community a very intense lockdown.

 

I agree with you all, I will apply when the time will be right.

I'm not sure if I understood your questions but here goes...

 

How many months beyond 30 months are we talking about? The physical presence requirement is easier to overcome. If you only need 1month to reach 30 months, then you delay your application by 1 month.

 

Were you at any time, out of the US for 6 months straight? Due to COVID lockdown, were you outside the US for more than 6 months? That particular break of the continuous residence requirement is harder to overcome. If there's a break, it will take at least 4 years, 6 months and 1 day after return to the US to apply for citizenship -- unless you can prove otherwise.

 

 

[xyz12345 260]

For what it's worth, DOS repatriation flight statistics shows only 11 (!) Americans repatriated from  Italy with only 1 flight completed. If you left Italy on the very next available flight, other proofs etc and are willing to part with the naturalization fee... just my opinion, anyway.

 

https://www.state.gov/coronavirus/repatriation/

[walter99 40]

Many people judge...  it is not your problem why she could not come back/did not want to come back.

She asked something else! 

[Demise 1,093]

I don't believe there's any exception applicable here. Instead you'll have to come back to US and wait until you've been in US for at least 2.5 years in the past 5. You can file up to 90 days before you meet that requirement but you have to meet it when you actually do your naturalization (meaning no more travel).

 

After you naturalize you can travel to your heart's content.