Extended trip home post n400 filing

[Trying21 12]

Question for anyone that might know:

I understand you can’t be gone for more than 6 months at a time as a green card holder (we will be filing for N400 in early October). We are planning on going home for 5.5 months right after I file. We travel a lot though, and will have been out of the US for say, 6 weeks of the year of 2021 before we leave for our long holiday to aus while my citizenship is pending. 

I will have been in the us for far more than 50% of the prior 3 years, but my question is, do I have to have been in the US for more than 6 months and 1 day of the year in which my n400 is pending? I am a US resident/aussie citizen and my  husband is a dual aus US citizen and we plan to live between the two countries (7 months USA 5 months AUS as an example). I am BEYOND ready to be home for an extended trip. We are going for 5 weeks in July, and then would be home from say, November 2021 to April 2022. I understand we will need to be ready to book my flight to aus very quickly for my citizenship interview and oath.

Does anyone have experience with this? I would be working as a 1099 for my US employer, husband would be remote for his US company, and our primary residence would remain in the US, basically just a long holiday.

Thanks for your advice! I wouldn’t want to get all this way and it up at the last step 😂

[Mike E 11,740]

14 minutes ago, mb112 said:

I will have been in the us for far more than 50% of the prior 3 years,

What does "far more" mean? Perhaps give us precision down to a whole percentage point versus 10 percentage points of precision.

 

14 minutes ago, mb112 said:

 

but my question is, do I have to have been in the US for more than 6 months and 1 day of the year in which my n400 is pending?

A continuous absence of 181 days or more breaks your residency and generally makes you ineligible to naturalize. Your November to April plan is dangerous. 

 

Despite what you might have read on official USCIS web sites, it is not 6 months. See https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3 :

Quote

Absence of More than 6 Months (but Less than 1 Year)

 

An absence of more than 6 months (more than 180 days) but less than 1 year (less than 365 days) during the period for which continuous residence is required (also called “the statutory period”) is presumed to break the continuity of such residence

 

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Are you sure you only want to give yourself two weeks grace for not breaking continuous residence at this late stage in your process? Especially after you’ve seen this past year how Australia has little hesitation in shutting down airspace? Even without that, things happen. Weather, Iceland volcanoes, whatever, stuff happens that cancels flights and doesn’t always allow for a quick rebooking. If I were you I’d plan on a slightly shorter holiday. The continuous residence requirement is in place right up until the day you take your oath.

 

 

[Trying21 12]

49 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Are you sure you only want to give yourself two weeks grace for not breaking continuous residence at this late stage in your process? Especially after you’ve seen this past year how Australia has little hesitation in shutting down airspace? Even without that, things happen. Weather, Iceland volcanoes, whatever, stuff happens that cancels flights and doesn’t always allow for a quick rebooking. If I were you I’d plan on a slightly shorter holiday. The continuous residence requirement is in place right up until the day you take your oath.

 

 

You’re right! We talked about it and we’re going to go for four months and we won’t leave until I get confirmation of biometric reuse/appointment. Thanks for the reality check! 4 months will still be great and I can be grateful for that, plus, we can go for 2 or 3 months later if my n400 is still pending. Then it’s one or 2 short trips and there’s no risk to my continuous residence. 
 

20 hours ago, Mike E said:

What does "far more" mean? Perhaps give us precision down to a whole percentage point versus 10 percentage points of precision.

 

A continuous absence of 181 days or more breaks your residency and generally makes you ineligible to naturalize. Your November to April plan is dangerous. 

 

Despite what you might have read on official USCIS web sites, it is not 6 months. See https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3 :

 

 

 

Good points here. We talked about it and we’ll go for for months post biometric reuse or appointment. that way if my n400 does take 18 months, we can pop back and forth for shorter trips after the long one. Thanks for the realistic info!