Question about continuous residence

[Physics87]

I have been a permanent resident since September 2015 as a spouse of a US citizen.
I resided in the US until September 2017, when I left for a job (a fixed 2 year position)
in Europe. Of course, I acquired the re-entry permit before I left. I came back to the US
for Christmas on December 15, 2017 and stayed until January 7, 2018. I then went back to Europe,
again I came back to the US on June 26, 2018 and left on July 14, then again I was back in the
US on Dec 2, 2018 and left on Jan 14, 2019. I will be back for good on June 22nd this year.
During all this time, my wife lived in the US in our rented apartment which is in both our
names and and worked her job. Also, both our cars are on both our names and in addition some
of the utilities are on my name. We of course filed for taxes jointly last year and will also
do so this year and pretty much did everything that a regular long distance couple would do.
From the dates, it's clear that I slightly exceeded 6 months my trip abroad two times by a few
days. While I can clearly establish that my spouse stayed back in the US and I had strong ties,
my concern is that I was employed abroad although for a fixed term. Based on this when is the earliest
that I should be able to apply for citizenship?

[suziq38]

You are welcome to apply and do anything you wish, including consulting a lawyer about this.

IMHO, you have not maintained continuous residence. You have lived in Europe for the last two years and "vacationed" in the United States.
It is a plus that you maintained your apartment and your wife lives there, but YOU did not live there much during that time. You had an overstay of greater than 6 months not once, but TWICE. I think is is a "red flag" at the very least. I think the officer will say something like this: "Why did you live more months in Europe rather than the U.S.?" "Do you want to live in the U.S. permanently, or Europe?"

You will definitely have some explaining to do. That being said, anything is possible.

Good luck.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

[Physics87]

I agree

You are welcome to apply and do anything you wish, including consulting a lawyer about this.

IMHO, you have not maintained continuous residence. You have lived in Europe for the last two years and "vacationed" in the United States.
It is a plus that you maintained your apartment and your wife lives there, but YOU did not live there much during that time. You had an overstay of greater than 6 months not once, but TWICE. I think is is a "red flag" at the very least. I think the officer will say something like this: "Why did you live more months in Europe rather than the U.S.?" "Do you want to live in the U.S. permanently, or Europe?"

You will definitely have some explaining to do. That being said, anything is possible.

Good luck.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

Yes, I agree with you. I have been reading around the USCIS website and all and I think the most practical thing to do is reestablish my residence in the US based on the 24 months + 1 day rule and then file N400.

[ember]

Yes, I agree with you. I have been reading around the USCIS website and all and I think the most practical thing to do is reestablish my residence in the US based on the 24 months + 1 day rule and then file N400.

Just be aware that the rule is statutorily for applicants with an absence of more than one year.
Technically, you are not in that category.

Also, the rule does not have clear USCIS guidelines.

If you apply under that rule, you should probably talk to a lawyer first.

[ember]

I have been a permanent resident since September 2015 as a spouse of a US citizen.
I resided in the US until September 2017, when I left for a job (a fixed 2 year position)
in Europe. Of course, I acquired the re-entry permit before I left. I came back to the US
for Christmas on December 15, 2017 and stayed until January 7, 2018. I then went back to Europe,
again I came back to the US on June 26, 2018 and left on July 14, then again I was back in the
US on Dec 2, 2018 and left on Jan 14, 2019. I will be back for good on June 22nd this year.
During all this time, my wife lived in the US in our rented apartment which is in both our
names and and worked her job. Also, both our cars are on both our names and in addition some
of the utilities are on my name. We of course filed for taxes jointly last year and will also
do so this year and pretty much did everything that a regular long distance couple would do.
From the dates, it's clear that I slightly exceeded 6 months my trip abroad two times by a few
days. While I can clearly establish that my spouse stayed back in the US and I had strong ties,
my concern is that I was employed abroad although for a fixed term. Based on this when is the earliest
that I should be able to apply for citizenship?

Also, remember that you need at least 1.5 of the previous years in the US when you apply. So for example, you might not be able to apply right when you come back anyway because it looks like between June 22, 2016 and June 22, 2019 (when you return), you'll be right on that line.

If I were you, I would apply in December of 2021. Two years, six months, and one day after you return. To get rid of the six month issue.

But that's just me. I like to play it safe. I think you should prob talk to a lawyer.