Determine my eligiblity to apply for USA Citizenship.

[mdesai33]

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I have been on USA Green card resident since Jan  2011. This coming Jan 2016 I will complete 5 years on GC. I have tried to maintain 180 day stay each year in USA. However in year 2013 I was required to travel to India multiple times and fell short of 40 days to complete 180 day stay due to reasons below. All documented evidence is available.

 

1> court summons in india due to divorce case file there by spouse (also USA GC resident ).

2> For Medical treatment due to loss of job and insurance in 2013 in USA.

 

My stay in USA on GC since Jan 2011 sums up as below.

2011 362 days

2012 365 days

2013 141 days

2014 365 days

2015 195 days and ongoing presence in USA.

 

My question is am I eligible to apply for USA citizenship this coming Jan 2016 ?

I would be very much obliged if advised.

Thanking You

Regards

M. Desai

 

 

[JoeF]

There is no "180 days in a year" rule.

There is a rule that each individual trip abroad can not be over 180 days.

[pontevecchio]

Since you stayed abroad for more than 6 months and less than one year you may be asked to provide valid reasons or they may not bother. Worst case is to wait for 5 years from 2013 if they do not accept your reason. I suspect you will be fine. Maybe cover your back with a consultation with a Lawyer to give you chances?

[JoeF]

Since you stayed abroad for more than 6 months and less than one year you may be asked to provide valid reasons or they may not bother. Worst case is to wait for 5 years from 2013 if they do not accept your reason. I suspect you will be fine. Maybe cover your back with a consultation with a Lawyer to give you chances?

 

It is 180 days per trip. And it is not per calendar year. The OP said he did several trips. If each trip was less than 180 days, there shouldn't be any issue.

[pontevecchio]

If you read the OP again, he stayed more than 6 months abroad in 2013. That is more than 180 days and there still may not be an issue. As you are fully aware stays more than one year break the continuity and stays less than 6 months abroad are OK and stays of 6 months to one year abroad MAY lead to a rebuttable presumption of abandonment of the GC.

[JoeF]

If you read the OP again, he stayed more than 6 months abroad in 2013. That is more than 180 days and there still may not be an issue. As you are fully aware stays more than one year break the continuity and stays less than 6 months abroad are OK and stays of 6 months to one year abroad MAY lead to a rebuttable presumption of abandonment of the GC.

 

But not 180 days in ONE trip. That's the only thing that matters.

The continuous residence is only broken if a SINGLE trip is over 180 days.

[JoeF]

The OP didn't say he had any single trip over 180 days. That is the thing that matters, not the cumulative time abroad in a calendar year.

[mdesai33]

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Thank you for your response and advice. To be exact my stay break up in 2013 is as under.

Jan 01 2013 - Mar 20 2013  in india = 78 days.

Mar 20 2013 - June 08 2013 in USA = 80 days

June 09 2013 - Oct 31 2013 in India = 132 days

Oct 31 2013 - Dec 31 2013  in USA = 61 days.

 

Further concerns is would my eligibility still be met if I continue to stay as a paying guest due to a contract job I have taken up till Dec of this year. would I still be ok to apply this Jan 2016 for citizenship.?

Please guide /advice.

 

Thanking You

With Regards

Milind Desai

[JoeF]

The rules are all available on the USCIS website. They also have a handy web application to check if you qualify for naturalization.

If no single stay abroad was over 180 days, you haven't broken the continuous residency requirement.

There are a couple of requirements, e.g., physical presence, and time in the district where the application is filed. Check the USCIS website.

[pontevecchio]

The OP clearly mentions he was only in the USA for 141 days in the Year 2013. It is clearly evident that 224 days spent outside the USA is more than 6 months.

[JoeF]

The OP clearly mentions he was only in the USA for 141 days in the Year 2013. It is clearly evident that 224 days spent outside the USA is more than 6 months.

 

Sigh. The 180 days is about a SINGLE trip. The OP has no single trip over 180 days.

Please read 8 CFR 316.5©(1)(i):

"(i) For continuous periods of between six (6) months and one (1) year. Absences from the United States for continuous periods of between six (6) months and one (1) year during the periods for which continuous residence is required under § 316.2(a)(3) and (a)(6) shall disrupt the continuity of such residence for purposes of this part unless the applicant can establish otherwise to the satisfaction of the Service."

 

Note the "for continuous periods". That means a single trip abroad over 6 months breaks the continuous residence.

The OP doesn't have a single trip abroad over 6 months.

[JoeF]

The OP clearly mentions he was only in the USA for 141 days in the Year 2013. It is clearly evident that 224 days spent outside the USA is more than 6 months.

 

Did you read my answers?

"The OP didn't say he had any single trip over 180 days. That is the thing that matters, not the cumulative time abroad in a calendar year."

224 days spent outside in a year is more than 6 months, but that is irrelevant. No single trip was over 6 months, so the continuous residence did not break, despite the OP being out of the country for a long time.

It really isn't rocket science.

 

Essentially, a person could be abroad for 5 months, be in the US for a month, then abroad for 5 months again. It doesn't break the continuous residence.

It may result in suspicion of having abandoned the GC, but that's a different issue, and could even happen with a single day abroad, if the person abandoned his or her home in the US.

[pontevecchio]

As usual you are correct.

[tekkie4]

Please advise on my Eligibility:

 

GC Approved: Sep 09, 2009

 

Applied Reentry Permit, 

completed finger prints and left the country without approval. 

It is approved after a month. when i was in India

 

Left Country:  Nov 11, 2009

 

Spent 1 year 10 Months 25 Days Out side USA

 

Re-Entry to USA: Oct 05, 2011   using Re Entry Permit

 

after that Never Left the County not even a day.

 

Notes: 

Filed Zero Taxes as Resident using Friend Home Address when i am out of Country

 

 

So Question:

1:

Can i use 4 year 1 Day Rule if so When

 

2: 

if not eligibility date?