dpmusic

Thanks, both.  No problem with physical presence, and also for continuous residence (it was more than 6 months, less than a year -- we don't believe there was a break but waited two years before applying in any event to be sure that residence was reestablished).  The concern is rather with the officer determining that there was an abandonment of LPR status.  She has all of the evidence of non-abandonment pulled together -- is there anything that a lawyer can do to make sure that all favorable facts come out if the officer appears to be going in the direction of abandonment?

Hello,

My wife has a naturalization interview coming up.  My understanding is that I'm not normally allowed to accompany her -- is that correct?

I also wanted to see what people thought about having legal representation during the interview.  There are some tricky questions about time we've spent out of the country (which can be adequately explained), so I'm leaning towards it to make sure there are no misunderstandings.

Finally, I happen to be an attorney myself and could technically represent her via a G-28 -- I wanted to see whether people thought that would be a good idea.

Thanks for the advice!

Thanks, unfortunately we're already on vacation and had a friend checking our mail in case the appointment notice arrived. Not sure whether it's worth cutting out plans short -- if rescheduling the biometrics appt will delay the process significantly, we'll consider it.

I suppose I should add that we live in Brooklyn, NY. Thanks!

Hi all,

My wife just got her biometrics appointment for her n400 application, and unfortunately it's right in the middle of our vacation plans this summer. We're pretty eager to get on with the naturalization process and were wondering whether rescheduling the biometrics appointment will have any appreciable effect on the overall timeline of the naturalization process.

Thanks!

Hello,

My wife (LPR) and I (US Citizen) have been moving around quite a bit over the last few years, as she's been following me from school to school, and then from internship to internship. We have extended period (namely, most years May through September) where we have no real address at all, as we are just moving from place to place, with our things on our backs (and what we can't carry left for the long term at our parents' houses). Any advice on how to fill out our list of previous residences for N-400 purposes?

One period, for example, is the following: after a brief internship in The Hague, ending on May 31, we went to stay with my wife's family in Poland for a month, then flew to New York and went apartment hunting for a few weeks (staying on a friend's couch), then took a vacation in New Jersey, then returned to my wife's family's place in Poland for another month (waiting for our New York apartment to open up), and then returned back to New York to move into our apartment in mid-October. Do we put all these addresses and try to recreate the dates that we were in each place? Or do we just put my parents' address in California, where we continued to receive our mail (even though we weren't physically present there -- we were just in extended transit between The Hague and New York)?

Thanks for your help.

Thanks, Brother. Those were my inclinations, but it's good to hear them backed up.

Hello,

My wife (a Polish national with a CR-1 living in America) and I are preparing a joint I-751 to remove the conditions on her green card and have two questions about supporting documents.

1) I studied for a semester abroad in the UK and she accompanied me. The total time we were away was slightly over six months. I know that absences from the US on a green card are permitted for up to a year, but that we have the burden of proving that she did not abandon residency because she was gone for over six months. Is now the proper time to submit an explanation of that absence, or does that wait until she applies for citizenship next year? If we should explain it now, what should we say?

2) The second question regards what the meaning of "to reside" is for the purpose of the question asking "Have you resided at any other address since you became a permanent resident?" I know that in many federal laws, the term "residence" is defined so that it has has a meaning equivalent to that of "legal domicile," i.e., living somewhere with the intent to remain there indefinitely. The reason why it makes a difference to us is that we have moved about a dozen times over the past two years to take short-term internships and education opportunities. Since all of those moves were for short-term purposes, they would not constitute a change of residence in the sense of legal domicile; we've maintained a single legal domicile, where we receive bills and bank statements, pay taxes, where I vote, etc., and have never had the requesite intent to change residences through our various moves. So, have we had "resided" in one place or many? My inclination is that it is only one residence, but don't want to get into problems later on if we check the box saying so.

Thanks for your help!

Hello all,

I've read a number of articles on this topic, but haven't seen any clear answers yet. Our story is this: my wife's CR-1 is set to expire at the end of May, which means that we will be applying for renewal from our home in California at the end of February (90 days beforehand). We have two questions:

1) I have an internship abroad that lasts from April-August. What issues are we likely to face if she comes with me? I've read about the possibility of having to come back for biometrics or an interview. How long after application are those normally scheduled for? Also, if she has not been approved by the time we plan to return in August, will that mean that she will have to stay out of the country (since he GC expires in May) until she is approved?

2) We spent nine months abroad during these first two years (with, of course, a visit back to the States in the middle to maintain status). The reason was that I was studying abroad, and she came with me. Does this effect the sort of evidence or cover letter that we need to submit with our ROC application?

Thanks so much for your help! This has always been a bit tricky, since I am pursuing a career in international development, which requires a lot of time studying and working at various places around the world.

i would not put 'present' there - I'd put, instead - the expiration date of the I-94, OR the return ticket date - whichever is sooner.

That ds-230, don't forget, is to be reviewed (as well) by the ConOff in Poland - so just what does 'present' mean to them, on interview day?

Think about it, ah?

Good point. Will put the expected return date.

Thanks all!

Hi all,

We screwed up the order of a lot of things for immigration, and it turned out that, although my wife was in the US on a tourist visa, we decided with a lawyer that our best option was to apply for an immigrant visa, have her go back to Poland when her 6-month tourist stay expired, and interview for an immigrant visa there before reentering on that visa. She's still in the US on her 6 month stay as a tourist, but the immigration application process has gotten to the point that it's time for us to send in a DS-230.

One of the questions on the DS-230 asks about the starting and ending dates of previous stays in the US. Since she's in the middle of one of those stays, what do we say? Do we leave the ending date blank, fill it in with her expected ending date, or just write "present" in the box?

Thanks so much!