Applying for Naturalization after exceeding 180 days outside of the US

[emilyjs 0]

Hey all! I'm in a bit of a predicament and would love some advice/insight from anyone who has ever been in a similar position. 
 

I finally became eligible for naturalization in October of last year. Sadly, like many things, COVID has made reaching this point and maintaining eligibility to actually apply extremely difficult. In March (2020), I made the difficult decision to leave LA on a whim before Australian borders shut as a parent was diagnosed with a terminal illness. In order to maintain my continuous residency and eligibility, I flew back to LA in August solely to cross the border before I reached 180 days outside of the US. I returned back to Aus the same month as I was informed I would not be brought back to work in 2020. 
I am now nearing 180 days since my last trip to LA, and having to make the difficult decision of whether to board my flight in Feb or not. Given the current climate of the city (1 in 5 people in LA have COVID?!), I am extremely anxious about returning, especially to no work prospects. Is there anyone in this group who has exceeded the 180 days outside of the US cut-off (but returned before 12 months) and still been successful with getting naturalized? I have looked into this heavily myself, and have read on the USCIS website that an applicant may overcome the presumption of a break in the continuity of residence by providing evidence that said residency was not disrupted...

A few things...

1)    Before 2020, I had only been outside of the U.S for short trips to Australia once or twice a year. 

2)    I had a complete loss of US income in July 2020, and my company expects our furlough to last through to July or September of this year. I am still employed by the company however.

3)    I went home solely to take care of a sick parent

4)    I have continued paying for my apartment, car lease, etc. in LA during this whole duration

5)    Whilst I am exempt from having to apply to leave Australia, I only expect things to get harder with the announcement of requiring a negative test and a 10 day quarantine for arrivals into the US now too.

Thanks all!

[aaron2020 11,651]

Being outside the US for 6 months, you will be presumed to have broken the continuous residence requirement.  It will be hard for you to rebut that given that you were outside the US for almost 6 months, then briefly came back to the US for a few weeks, and then left the US for over 6 months.  An officer can look at multiple absences even if a person is outside the US for less than 6 months each time to determine if the continuous residency requirement is met.  
 

[emilyjs 0]

8 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

Being outside the US for 6 months, you will be presumed to have broken the continuous residence requirement.  It will be hard for you to rebut that given that you were outside the US for almost 6 months, then briefly came back to the US for a few weeks, and then left the US for over 6 months.  An officer can look at multiple absences even if a person is outside the US for less than 6 months each time to determine if the continuous residency requirement is met.  
 

Hi! Yes you are correct, however my circumstances for being outside of the US were not due to not wanting to live there... I have continued paying for my apartment lease among many other expenses, and also remained employed by a US company during my absence. It is my understanding that this could be grounds to rebut the “break” in continuous residency. I am hoping to hear from someone who has been successful in overcoming the presumption of breaking residency due to similar exemptions. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

8 hours ago, emilyjs said:

Hi! Yes you are correct, however my circumstances for being outside of the US were not due to not wanting to live there... I have continued paying for my apartment lease among many other expenses, and also remained employed by a US company during my absence. It is my understanding that this could be grounds to rebut the “break” in continuous residency. I am hoping to hear from someone who has been successful in overcoming the presumption of breaking residency due to similar exemptions. 

That is understood, but i think Aaron is correct. The manual is specific that “An applicant’s intent is not relevant in determining the location of his or her residence. The length of the period of absence from the United States is the defining factor in determining whether the applicant is presumed to have disrupted the continuity of his or her residence.“ Keeping your lease etc is an argument in favor, but it is by no means guaranteed. I think you might have had some success doing this for one period of longer than 6 months but unless I am misunderstanding you, you will actually be present in Australia somewhat longer than a year with one or two touchdowns in the US during that period which will make the argument more difficult. That said, if you are willing to give it a chance and don’t mind risking the $700-odd fee for doing so (if you’re paying for an apartment you’re not living in for so long I guess that amount won’t be a dealbreaker), you do at least have some evidence to present. When do you actually expect to return permanently? I have seen one or two people report successfully rebutting the presumption, one of which was a student whose family etc all remained in the US. One I recall was kind of similar to your circumstance but I think they had one 7 or 8 month absence then returned for good. Most people seem to play it safe until they know they meet the requirements. 

 

 

[BBlueB 35]

You may try, but I think that you have broken the continuity