Eligibility for Citizenship

[Smita_S]

Hello All,
I went through the eligibility requirements for citizenship. One of the requirements is that the person should be physically present in the US for 30 months in the last 5 years.

Do they check this requirement at the time of applying for the citizeship? Or at the time of interview or oath?

Could someone please clarify?

Thanks.

[knowledgeable]

They check the eligibility after you apply and they process the application. However, if they don't catch the error and continue processing the same, you may be refused at a later stage.

The period is a total calculation of all the days you're present in the country.

Good luck.

[Smita_S]

Thanks for your reply.

What I wanted to ask was whether the "number of days present in the US" are calculated as of the day of filing the application or as of the day of interview/oath. For example, if someone has been present in the US for more than 30 months in the last 5 years, files the application and then leaves the US for some time. If at the date of interview, he is not found to be physically present in the US for more than 30 months in the last 5 years (as of the date of interview), will that be a problem?

Could you please clarify?

[knowledgeable]

The number of days are calculated as of the day of filing, but there is a break here as you can file 90 days before the five year period.

The calculation is surely not as of the interview, that's almost the last step by which the application has already been processed.

Specific answer to your quesion will be YES.

The question I would ask is why do you want to take such chances, especially since in such a case you may not get your application money refunded and lose all that precious time too.

Take care.