Naturalization requirements 6 month rule?

[ext]

Hi everyone, it's my first post here.

I was hoping to apply for citizenship, but had a few questions I needed answered. So I started reading online, post messages, even went to an immigration lawyer's office.

What were my questions?

Well, first of, I have lots of stays abroad, I made sure though none of my trips abroad was longer than 6 months. So my first question was, even though I will meet the 30 month time period spent in the US within last 5 years, and never taken trips longer than 6 months, can I get my citizenship with so many long trips abroad?

From what I read, and what I found out from the nice online community, I came to the conclusion that yes, as long as I met both requirements (913 days, no 6+ months trips), I could get my citizenship. So I went to see a lawyer to see exactly when I could apply, ask few questions. That visit confused me even more. She said that the 2 requirements above are not sufficient, but I would also have to:

1) In each given year I have to spend 6 months in the US.
For example, say last year, 2013, if I arrived in the US February 10th, stayed in the US until March 10th (1 month stay in the US), went abroad until August 25th (5 month and a half abroad, did not breach the 6 month requirement), and came back to the US and stayed 3 months, then left again until February 10th, 2014, that means that with the year between February 10th, 2013 and February 10th, 2014, I have spent within the US only 4 months, and was abroad for 8 months, meaning that that year would not count for my 913 day period.

2) I need to have filed income every year - but I did not make any or make very little, so I did not every year.

So reading all this, what do you think, can I get my citizenship?

Big thanks to all of you.

[rayb]

There is no specific requirement that one must have been in the U.S. at least 6 months of each year. The stipulation is that time spent outside the U.S. cannot exceed half the required "continuous residency" time (30 months in a five-year period). The attorney is "over-interpreting," but USCIS reviewers have the authority to decide whether you had been outside of the U.S. enough time to have "abandoned your domicile" and not satisfied the "continuous residency" requirement, EVEN IF YOU DID NOT EXCEED 30 MONTHS OUTSIDE THE U.S. AND HAD NO STAY MORE THAN 6 MONTHS.

There is no specific requirement that one must have filed income tax returns for every year, but only for those years in which one had reportable income.

While not outright wrong, your attorney's advice is "over-cautious.

--Ray B

Hi everyone, it's my first post here.

I was hoping to apply for citizenship, but had a few questions I needed answered. So I started reading online, post messages, even went to an immigration lawyer's office.

What were my questions?

Well, first of, I have lots of stays abroad, I made sure though none of my trips abroad was longer than 6 months. So my first question was, even though I will meet the 30 month time period spent in the US within last 5 years, and never taken trips longer than 6 months, can I get my citizenship with so many long trips abroad?

From what I read, and what I found out from the nice online community, I came to the conclusion that yes, as long as I met both requirements (913 days, no 6+ months trips), I could get my citizenship. So I went to see a lawyer to see exactly when I could apply, ask few questions. That visit confused me even more. She said that the 2 requirements above are not sufficient, but I would also have to:

1) In each given year I have to spend 6 months in the US.
For example, say last year, 2013, if I arrived in the US February 10th, stayed in the US until March 10th (1 month stay in the US), went abroad until August 25th (5 month and a half abroad, did not breach the 6 month requirement), and came back to the US and stayed 3 months, then left again until February 10th, 2014, that means that with the year between February 10th, 2013 and February 10th, 2014, I have spent within the US only 4 months, and was abroad for 8 months, meaning that that year would not count for my 913 day period.

2) I need to have filed income every year - but I did not make any or make very little, so I did not every year.

So reading all this, what do you think, can I get my citizenship?

Big thanks to all of you.