N400 travel history

[DFG 5]

Hello!

I am starting the process of filing my n400 online and have reached the travel history section. It asks for every trip longer than 24 hours outside the US for the past 5 years. I live close to the border with Canada and often would cross for weekends pre pandemic or even randomly during the week. How am I supposed to remember every single weekend or trip to see my parents that may have lasted even slightly longer than 24 hours??

[Barbara99 3]

If you don t remember, don t write it.

And you just crossed an imaginary line. Basically it is the same land :). Tell them that you don t believe in borders and limitations.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

10 minutes ago, Barbara99 said:

If you don t remember, don t write it.

And you just crossed an imaginary line. Basically it is the same land :). Tell them that you don t believe in borders and limitations.

Seriously? Way to get denied. Your “imaginary line” is pretty important to everyone in uscis, DoS, CBP and dhs in general.
 

OP, make your best efforts to remember. Did you not for example put in your calendar the weekends you traveled? Otherwise just be honest with the IO and say you traveled a number of times, estimate x weekends but cannot remember exact dates. It shouldn’t be enough time out the country to cause a problem even if you went every weekend assuming  you didn’t spend months out the US otherwise.  
For others reading this - remember this is a question that comes up and make an effort to record your trips. 
 

 

[Barbara99 3]

That's what I also said....if you remember put it, if not not.

And it was a joke...the second part. Too bad you did not understand it.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Barbara99

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

3 minutes ago, Barbara99 said:

That's what I also said....if you remember put it, if not not.

And it was a joke...the second part. Too bad you did not understand it.

No, you just said if you don't remember it ignore it entirely. That is not at all the same thing.

I understand perfectly that telling people nonsense about immigration leads to bad results. Please remember the purpose of this forum is to provide constructive help to people.

 

 

[Barbara99 3]

If he does not remember, what can he do, guess 40 dates or more ? He said he had many short visits. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

I've already answered that.

[nastra30 2,288]

In addition to what SusieQQQ has adviced. Also, make sure to record any trips after submitting your N400. You'll be asked at the interview if you've taken additional trips since submitting your application.

[xyz12345 260]

6 hours ago, DFG said:

Hello!

I am starting the process of filing my n400 online and have reached the travel history section. It asks for every trip longer than 24 hours outside the US for the past 5 years. I live close to the border with Canada and often would cross for weekends pre pandemic or even randomly during the week. How am I supposed to remember every single weekend or trip to see my parents that may have lasted even slightly longer than 24 hours??

The form is talking about 24-hr days. If you left the US on Saturday (any time) and came back Sunday (any time), you won't need to include that in your travel history. Now if you left on a Friday (any time) and came back Sunday (any time), you need to include 1 day in your travel history. You can roughly estimate the total number of travel days from your routine.

 

The total number of days only become very important if you're close to breaking the continuous residence and physical presence requirements.

Edited September 20, 2021 by xyz12345

[DFG 5]

2 hours ago, xyz12345 said:

The form is talking about 24-hr days. If you left the US on Saturday (any time) and came back Sunday (any time), you won't need to include that in your travel history. Now if you left on a Friday (any time) and came back Sunday (any time), you need to include 1 day in your travel history. You can roughly estimate the total number of travel days from your routine.

 

The total number of days only become very important if you're close to breaking the continuous residence and physical presence requirements.

Thank you so much for your reply!! I’ve only lived in the USA for 3 years though and am applying now as the spouse of a us citizen.  So for 2 out of the past 5 years I didn’t reside here. Should I be starting the travel history only from when I became a PR?

[bing10 114]

11 hours ago, DFG said:

Hello!

I am starting the process of filing my n400 online and have reached the travel history section. It asks for every trip longer than 24 hours outside the US for the past 5 years. I live close to the border with Canada and often would cross for weekends pre pandemic or even randomly during the week. How am I supposed to remember every single weekend or trip to see my parents that may have lasted even slightly longer than 24 hours??

 

As others have said, make your best efforts to enter the correct date, but they aren't going to deny you over a small error here.

 

Also, if you had your phone with you, Google Map Location History probably has a record of all your movements, and could be useful for finding out this information:

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-i-see-my-google-location-history

 

 

[xyz12345 260]

8 hours ago, DFG said:

Thank you so much for your reply!! I’ve only lived in the USA for 3 years though and am applying now as the spouse of a us citizen.  So for 2 out of the past 5 years I didn’t reside here. Should I be starting the travel history only from when I became a PR?

Have you had your 3rd year LPR anniversary? If so, yes.

 

If you are doing the 90-day (not 3-month) early filing, you can include up to 90 days prior to being an LPR. However, to be on the safe side, include up to 87-89 days only to avoid the issue of getting denied for filing earlier than 90 days. Filing at exactly 90 days is not good because of the time zone that USCIS uses to stamp your application. Submitting your application 1-3 days after eligibility will be much less stressful.

 

Good luck!

[Demise 1,296]

You could submit a FOIA request with CBP or/and an Access to Information Act request with Canadian Border Services Agency to get your travel history. Personally I wouldn't recommend omitting or guesstimating your trips.

[DFG 5]

10 hours ago, Demise said:

You could submit a FOIA request with CBP or/and an Access to Information Act request with Canadian Border Services Agency to get your travel history. Personally I wouldn't recommend omitting or guesstimating your trips.

Thank you for this tip - super helpful! Do you have any insight as to when I should start my travel history since I’m applying based on 3 year residency and not 5 so for 2 out of the past 5 years, I resides in Canada. 
 

should I start my travel history from the date I became a PR, 3 years ago?

[happytree 19]

@DFG I was in the same situation as you. I knew how many times I had crossed the border and I was able to figure out exact dates using:

1. Travel records (hotel confirmations, car rentals agreements, ferry confirmation emails, etc.)
2. Phone pictures. chances are you had a smartphone with you and took pictures during your trips. 

 

Check your email for travel confirmations and your photo library. You'll be amazed how much  you can figure out just by doing that. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by happytree