Oath ceremony cancelled on the spot

[olbap248]

Hello,

I got my oath ceremony scheduled for April 20th. When I was turning in the check-in paper with the various questions, the officer asked to explain why I had marked the "travel out of USA" question as a YES.
I explained to him that a few months after I submitted the N400 application (submitted in May 2021), my wife (US citizen) and I moved to live in Europe in August 2021 and since then, I have been traveling to the USA to attend the naturalization steps as well as visiting my wife's relatives. Once I told him, he made a phone call and he pulled me out of the line. He stated that the main reason was my long absence from the USA over the last half year.

Today, I have received a motion to reopen letter and I will need to attend a second interview at the USCIS office (G-56).

I do know about the hard requirements regarding residency that must be met prior to submitting the naturalization application.
Are there hard requirements in terms of residency after the application is submitted? I would appreciate if somebody can share some info if there are, because I have not been able to find them yet online.

I feel quite stupid because I was one checkbox away of picking up my naturalization certificate, had I been dishonest.

Also, if there are any suggestions on how to approach this G-56 interview, I would greatly appreciate them.

[Donald_Trump]

Yes, you have to maintain residency requirements until you become a citizen that is until your oath ceremony is over. Meeting residency requirements only until application is not enough.

[olbap248]

Thanks for the feedback. I will check with an immigration attorney if there are any decent chances to rebut it and what sorts of documents I should present, otherwise I will let it go.

[flyingron]

There's nothing to "rebut." The law says you must maintain continuous presence from the time you file your application up until the oath. This should have been made clear to you. You've got no recourse but to wait until you are elgible and start over.

[stuff2447]

Looks like you may be right. According to USCIS, the Continuous Residence and Physical Presence requirements are only up until you applied. However, since you say you actually moved to Europe, you may now have to convince them that you haven't actually abandoned your permanent residence altogether. You definitely need a lawyer to help you sort through this situation. Here is a link to the USCIS requirements concerning physical presence and continuous residence:

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-for-naturalization

[Donald_Trump]

That's not correct. The continuous residence and physical presence rule is applied up until you become a citizen that is until you take the oath. Hence there are questions on travel on oath paperwork. If it was required only until application, then there won't be any questions on travel in oath paperwork.

Looks like you may be right. According to USCIS, the Continuous Residence and Physical Presence requirements are only up until you applied.

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/co...naturalization