N-400 Application - question on travel outside the US

[TB44 7]

So, the question in the N-400 application is "Have you taken a trip outside of the United States in the last 5 years?", and then you have to list all your trips outside the US.  I assume this question was written for those who are applying on the basis of 5 years of permanent residency, and it hasn't been adjusted to take account of the fact that people (like me) are eligible to apply for citizenship after only 3 years of residency.  I think the question is probably intended to ask "have you taken a trip outside the United States since you became a lawful permanent resident"...

 

So, if applying for citizenship on the basis of 3 years' permanent residency, do you answer this question: (a) with 3 years of travel history (which doesn't strictly answer the question as-written, but answers it in terms of travel taken since becoming a lawful permanent resident), or (b) 5 years of travel history (which will include 2 years when I wasn't living in the US)?!

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Scandi 3,975]

Yes it's asking about travels since you became an LPR (or the 5 last years as an LPR if you have been an LPR longer than 5 years). Only time being an LPR counts towards citizenship, whatever visa or other type of status you had prior to becoming an LPR doesn't mean anything. 

 

When filing under the 3 year rule you mention all travels you've taken since you became an LPR. Personally I would also write down all travels I took BEFORE becoming an LPR just in case, if you for instance came here on a K-1 visa (most of us K-1ers lived in the US for a year or more before becoming LPRs, so I personally would add any travels I had taken during that period as well. This is just my personal opinion). 

 

You don't write down time you spent outside the US before you moved to the US.

 

For work/school and address history I wrote down for 5 years to get rid of the warnings in the online form. That included my foreign address and work place.

[TB44 7]

Scandi - thanks so much!  That makes total sense and is really helpful.  I did come here on a K1, but my AOS was approved pretty quickly (only 9 months from arriving until I got my permanent residence), so yeah - I'm no where close to the 5 year mark.

[El Escocés 217]

Although I applied via 3-years marriage, I added 5-years worth of travel - just so I completed against the question asked "Have you taken a trip outside of the United States in the last 5 years?".

I ended up confusing the AO at yesterday's interview "but you are applying under the 3 year law...why did you add 5 years worth of travel. Okay let's go through all of them and then delete what we don't need" 

[SMK 89 61]

On 6/11/2021 at 7:01 PM, El Escocés said:

Although I applied via 3-years marriage, I added 5-years worth of travel - just so I completed against the question asked "Have you taken a trip outside of the United States in the last 5 years?".

I ended up confusing the AO at yesterday's interview "but you are applying under the 3 year law...why did you add 5 years worth of travel. Okay let's go through all of them and then delete what we don't need" 

Hey there -- planning to do the same as your on the app im going to submit next week. The main thing i was worried about was whether or not the system would flag it since at this point i have 200+ days outside of the U.S. with the 5-year question since i came on a K1 and wasnt even legally allowed to move to the U.S. until 2018 lol. I cant believe after all this time they havent updated the question since you said the AO was even confused!