Staying Outside U.S. for more than 6 Months - N400 Application

[alex_fox]

Dear friends,

My girlfriend has filed her N-400 on May 25th 2016 and application was received at USCIS on June 2nd 2016. She has an interview scheduled for March 14 2017.

She entered U.S. for the first time at August 20th. 2010.

Among her trips, She has one from 3/24/2012 to 10/20/2012 which is more than 6 months (6 months and 20 days).

My questions is will this trip cause her a problem during the interview?

The point is, at the time She filed her n400 application (May 2016) this trip was within the 5-year windows at which you should not have a trip more than 6 months outside U.S., but at the time of the interview (March 2017), this trip is earlier than 5 years ago.

Do you think the officer would scrutinize this? Would he consider this trip outside or inside the 5-year window at which you should be in the U.S.?

Thanks in advance for your response!

[JoeF]

A trip of more than 6 months not necessarily disrupts the continuous residence. It really depends on the nature of the trip, and that she maintained a home in the US, etc.

She may want to discuss this with an immigration lawyer.

 

[alex_fox]

19 hours ago, JoeF said:

A trip of more than 6 months not necessarily disrupts the continuous residence. It really depends on the nature of the trip, and that she maintained a home in the US, etc.

She may want to discuss this with an immigration lawyer.

 

Thanks for your response Joe. It was a trip because of her parents medical conditions. Unfortunately, she does not have tax returns/lease document to show her residency (she lived wit her sister during that time). Do you think maybe an affidavit of residence from her sister would make up for it?

My other (and main) question is officer counts the dates from "application date" or the "interview date"? Because if you count from "interview date", she established full residency during last  5 years. 

Thanks again!

[JoeF]

At the time of filing the application, all requirements have to be fulfilled, except that it is possible to file up to 90 days before the 5-year continuous residency is fulfilled. Date of interview doesn't even come into the picture.