Concernedresident

3 hours ago, Calikitkat said:

What you could do is make an InfoPass Appointment and see what they advise you to do in this case. You can also call a tier 2 officer. These would be free of charge options. 

 

There is also the option to consult an immigration attorney. But that might be costly. I have never dealt with one but attorneys always sound pricey.

 

You could apply now and explain the situation in a cover letter. While providing all the supporting evidence you have. Do you have receipt from your brother's medical procedures to show? If they are in a different languange, you need a notarized translation of them. Was your spouse away with you? I think that proves bona fide marriage. 

 

I think you just have to prove you had good reasons to be away from your residence in the US.

 

Or you have the option to wait more time until you really have 3 consecutive years here in the US so you don't have to worry about your application getting denied and you losing the application fee.

 

Best of luck with what you decide to do. Let us know how it went.

Thank you calikitkat, that is actually very helpful. Yes i have the receipts and documentation related to my brothers procedure. If i write a cover letter or infopass appointment it might be creating an issue out of a non-issue (as I am hoping the interviewer will overlook it). The matter of the fact is I left my job as i was no longer residing in my home country and i didnt have a residence in my home country either (no home ownership or rental), for the interviewer to assume I was residing in my home country rather than the USA would not make much sense either.

For the time being I am planning to apply as soon under the 3 yr rule. Lets see what happens (fingers crossed). Will surely keep everyone posted and thanks for all the help from everyone!

If anyone else has a similar situation of absences just under six months kindly keep us posted here as well.

Goodluck to everyone!

10 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Did you get your green card through marriage? If so why were you staying at relatives between long periods abroad - Where was your spouse? If not I don’t see how you’re eligible to apply for naturalization in 2018.

 

Not wanting to be over suspicious but it does seem that the absences were carefully calculated to be less than 6 months.

Yes applying through marriage. My family was with me in both the trips. And yes the first trip was calculated to be less than 6 months, but the second one was circumstantial as stated in my original post.

As for staying at a relatives, why should that make a difference? They have spare space and were willing to share it with us, even when we came to the US later on we stayed there for 6 months before getting our own place.

2 hours ago, gregcrs2 said:

So does your bank account show you paying any bills at all pertaining to residing in USA?

 

Don't think any of this will count.

 

Unfortunately no.

The USCIS Policy manual states:

"An applicant may overcome the presumption of loss of his or her continuity of residence by providing evidence to establish that the applicant did not disrupt his or her residence. The evidence may include, but is not limited to, documentation that during the absence: ^[12] 

•The applicant did not terminate his or her employment in the United States or obtain employment while abroad.

•The applicant’s immediate family remained in the United States.

•The applicant retained full access to his or her United States abode."

So dont you think the proof is as follows:

The applicant did not terminate his or her employment in the United States or obtain employment while abroad.

1) no employment abroad (left my job as soon as i got residency)

4) job applications in US (i was applying online even when i was abroad)

The applicant retained full access to his or her United States abode.

3) letter from relative that i was residing at their house and had full access in my absence

2) active bank account (not many transactions)

2 hours ago, Hypnos said:

#4 might help you.... maybe.

 

That's not especially strong proof of maintaining your US residency though.

 

Worst case scenario you have to wait an extra year or so to naturalise.

I know any input is very much appreciated, and these are alot of questions to ask. But sharing it with fellow travellers is kind of a stress reliever.

1) So you are saying they might not count my first year in my continuous residence. Since i never left the US since 05/01/16 do you think the 2 year plus 1 day rule will apply and hence i can apply on 05/02/18?

2) if the rule will apply and I submit my application early and get the interview after 05/02/18 will they take 2 yr and 1 day rule into account.

Well right now i am thinking abt all the possible options and outcomes.

any help is welcome

2 minutes ago, gregcrs2 said:

160 days for a medical emergency????  

 Yes, my brother had a surgery and needed my help finding a good doctor and after care.

7 minutes ago, Hypnos said:

Because I don't think they would look at two weeks of being in the US as actual continuous residence for that year.

 

I mean, it's possible they will see it your way, but I wouldn't consider it a guarantee. Do you have any proof that you maintained your US residency during that year that you were overseas?

The proof I have is:

1) no employment abroad (left my job as soon as i got residency)

2) active bank account (not many transactions)

3) letter from relative that i was residing at their house and had full access in my absence

4) job applications in US (i was applying online even when i was abroad)

Dono how much of this will count

8 minutes ago, Hypnos said:

You were out of the country almost a year, so yes, I would think it likely USCIS would consider that you broke your continuous residence with those two trips combined.

 Well thats the thing, i was never out of the US for more than six months. I came to the US in between for about 20 days and was to return the next month as well but couldnt because of a family emergency(medical). So that trip also lasted arnd 160 days (less than 6 months).

PS. Why would they combine those trips?

On 11/14/2017 at 8:21 AM, SusieQQQ said:

It’s a while away but I want to be prepared so... a question here. It’s kind of a simple question but with a long description- giving  full background to try get complete answer first off.... because I’ve seen how threads go on VJ with brief incomplete original posts

 

we got our green cards through the diversity visa program. As is typical of DV (where everything generally happens much faster than other cases) we entered the US to activate our immigrant visas, and planned to return within 6 months for good. Stuff happened (elderly in-law parents taking a significant turn for the worse, needing to change their living and care arrangements etc) which kept us out longer than planned. I managed to make a trip back to the US before 6 months was up, but it was just for a week (but I did things like open bank accounts etc ahead of final move). In the meanwhile, we kept working back in home country. Made the final move over eventually another 5 months later.  Since then we have been totally properly resident in the US - vacations abroad yes but not more than 3-4 weeks per year. So the last 4 years of the 5-year period are absolutely no issue, but I’m worried about the first year re filling N400. I know I haven’t violated the presumption of breaking continuous residences by keeping my absence to less than 6 months in the first year, but I’m not sure what to put down when they ask for addresses to be listed. My father lives in the US and his address was used for all official correspondence etc during that year, but at the same time our tax returns to the irs for that year obviously declare the income from home country so it’s also obvious we weren’t actually living at the US address. So the basic simple question is: what do we put down? Our US address or our home country address? Is the former misrepresentation? If the latter will they deny the N400? I’d be inclined to just wait another 6-12 months to get that dilemma out the way, but the “rush” is that we have a child turning 18 during that time and the earlier date will get her citizenship automatically when we get ours vs having to pay and go through the hassle of a whole separate application for her. (Of course if the N400 is denied that would happen anyway.) 

 

insights welcome and thanks for your patience in reading all the above

I totally understand your situation. I am almost in the same situation and am thinking of filing under the 3 year rule (Marriage to US citizen)

I received my green card on 03/15/15. I took a trip outside the US 2 months later, which lasted for 175 days. Out of these 175 days I spent 25 days in one country and the rest (150 days) in my home country to visit family. I came to the US in November and stayed for 15 days and left again with the intention of coming back the next month but couldn’t because of a family emergency (medical). So this trip lasted around 160 days. I finally came back on 05/01/16 and have been in the USA since then. I will be eligible to apply next month. Just wanted an opinion if my two successive trips broke continuous residence?

I was living at my relatives at that time so I dont have rent payments or a car lease etc. I have my bank account to show, and a letter from my relatives stating i had full access to the residence. I had no employment in this time frame as well, neither in the US or abroad. I have my employment termination letter from my home country dated 03/01/15.

Now that i have described my situation, SusieQQQ, from what I have read you might have a problem. The problem is that you retained your employment abroad and when they will see this they might consider that as you resising in your home country rather than the US. Just my thoughts after reading about this ALOT!

P.S. Thank you for clarifying to others about the meaning of Home Country (What else would one call the country they were raised up in! )

Hi. I received my green card on 03/15/15. I took a trip outside the US 2 months later, which lasted for 175 days. Out of these 175 days I spent 25 days in one country and the rest (150 days) in my home country to visit family. I came to the US in November and stayed for 15 days and left again with the intention of coming back the next month but couldn’t because of a family emergency (medical). So this trip lasted around 160 days. I finally came back on 05/01/16 and have been in the USA since then. I will be eligible to apply next month. Just wanted an opinion if my two successive trips broke continuous residence?

I was living at my relatives at that time so I dont have rent payments or a car lease etc. I have my bank account to show, and a letter from my relatives stating i had full access to the residence. I had no employment in this time frame as well, neither in the US or abroad. I have my employment termination letter from my home country dated 03/01/15.

Any help will be appreciated.