Am I eligible to apply for citizenship?

[benchic]

In the last five years I've been outside of the united stated twice for over 6 months but made sure it would be under 1 year.
According to the guidelines on the USCIS website it says "During the last five years, I have not been out of the United States for 30 months or more" - which is true.
It also says "During the last five years (or the last three years if I qualify under Attachment A), I have not taken a trip out of the United States that lasted one year or more." - which is also true

It doesn't say anything about staying for over 6 months to a year even though i see a lot of places say it might break continuous residence. Where is this from are people just making it up?

The reason for the prolonged "trips" was mandatory military service in my home country that was forced on me when I originally went to visit my family.

Am I eligible to apply under the 30 months, under 1 year rule?

Link to the official guideline: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...PDFs/M-480.pdf

[arezo]

Hello ,
I have the same situation, Did you find the answer?

[tufa4311]

5 year rule

The 5 year rule is not black and white when it comes to absences outside the U.S. for 6-12 months. Being absent for a period of 6-12 months is considered a disruption to the continuity of presence but that does not by default show you have broken the rule. The law states:

https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-11261/0-0-0-30960/0-0-0-31016.html#0-0-0-19579

(c) Disruption of continuity of residence
(1) Absence from the United States.
(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. This finding remains valid even if the applicant did not apply for or otherwise request a nonresident classification for tax purposes, did not document an abandonment of lawful permanent resident status, and is still considered a lawful permanent resident under immigration laws. The types of documentation which may establish that the applicant did not disrupt the continuity of his or her residence in the United States during an extended absence include, but are not limited to, evidence that during the absence: (Amended 9/24/93; 58 FR 49913)
(A) The applicant did not terminate his or her employment in the United States;
(B) The applicant's immediate family remained in the United States;
(C) The applicant retained full access to his or her United States abode; or
(D) The applicant did not obtain employment while abroad.

The law clearly states: this absence "SHALL DISRUPT the continuity of such residence for purposes of this part unless the applicant can establish otherwise to the satisfaction of the Service". The grey areas comes in because the law also states "unless the applicant can establish otherwise to the satisfaction of the Service". It provides 4 examples of how you can establish that satisfaction but also states those are not the only ways to do it. So....during your periods of absence did you:
1. terminate your employment in the US
2. did any family you have in the US remain there
3. did you retain access to your home in the US
4. did you gain employment outside of the US
If you went against any of these 4 things chances are it will be viewed that you did break your continuity of residence.

[broue]

I think you are still eligible, but you want to bring documentation to your interview that says why you were out over 6 months. My wife was gone for longer than 6 months but less than 1 year on a research project (she was gathering data from her dissertation). We brought documents from the university that said she was a student, said she was going abroad to do dissertation work, and that she was still a student the entire time. We also brought the deed to our house to show that we owned property while she was gone.

[VNK]

In the last five years I've been outside of the united stated twice for over 6 months but made sure it would be under 1 year.
According to the guidelines on the USCIS website it says "During the last five years, I have not been out of the United States for 30 months or more" - which is true.
It also says "During the last five years (or the last three years if I qualify under Attachment A), I have not taken a trip out of the United States that lasted one year or more." - which is also true

It doesn't say anything about staying for over 6 months to a year even though i see a lot of places say it might break continuous residence. Where is this from are people just making it up?

The reason for the prolonged "trips" was mandatory military service in my home country that was forced on me when I originally went to visit my family.

Am I eligible to apply under the 30 months, under 1 year rule?

Link to the official guideline: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...PDFs/M-480.pdf

People are not making this up.

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html

You must maintain US residency for the 5 years (or 3 years if filing under that rule) in the years before filing for US citizenship. Trips longer than 6 months outside the US triggers the presumption that there was a break in residency. The presumption is rebuttable; meaning you can prove with evidence that you did maintain your residency when you were gone. You will need to provide proof that you maintain residency during these trips.