N400 with 364 days break in continuous residence

[aomega]

I am planning to file N400. Six months ago I returned from abroad after 364 days of continuous stay. I had to stay for so long away from the US because of COVID-19 waves and some issues with my health.

During this period I maintained full-time employment with my US employer of 14+ years ("remote working") and maintained my rented US apartment with utilities of 14+ years during this period. I have rent and utility bills, pay stubs, and employer's letter. I do not have any family member in the US.

I am planning to file the N400 myself but is it advisable to avail attorney service to file the N400?

[aomega]

I received a good immigration attorney's opinion on this. As per them, availing an attorney's service will not provide any extra value.

[okccanary]

The only issue I see and something you might want to check with an attorney if you are applying soon is whether you actually meet the residence requirements part of it (See policy at the bottom of this post). It sounds like you have plenty of evidence to make your case but if it was me I would reset my resident period to the point I came back after my 364 days away. So if you are doing it via marriage (3 years) or Work (5 years) from that point..

Also just want to double check that it was definitely 364 days. If they count days of travel as a break and you left on August 23 and returned on August 22 that would be 365 days and August 21 would be 364 days.

I'm a cautious guy so feel free to ignore the advise on when to submit your n-400 application. If you were filing it without your 364 day issue then I absolutely would recommend filing yourself as it is super easy to do. While you have plenty of evidence to establish that you didn't break your residence I am not sure I would want to fight that battle alone if you have a bad officer who becomes fixated on that! However, it is also very possible that another officer doesn't bring it up or is happy with the evidence that you provided and its a non issue. It basically comes down to are you comfortable with risking it.

According to their policy (https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/...rt-d-chapter-3)

C. Breaks in Continuous Residence


An applicant for naturalization has the burden of establishing that he or she has complied with the continuous residence requirement, if applicable. Generally, there are two ways outlined in the statute in which the continuity of residence can be broken:^[9]

• The applicant is absent from the United States for more than 6 months but less than 1 year; or
• The applicant is absent from the United States for 1 year or more.

[aomega]

okccanary Thanks for the comments. For the trip in question, 27 Feb 2021 was my last day in US (departing flight) and I landed in US on 26 Feb 2022, so 363 days as per USCIS Policy Manual vol 12, part D, chapter 4: USCIS will count the day that an applicant departs from the United States and the day he or she returns as days of physical presence within the United States for naturalization purposes.

I have no control over who gets to review my application, so the only thing I can worry about is having a lot of supportive documents. Also, I have no impending urgency to get naturalization completed right now but it is something to be done. If the application gets rejected, I will just appeal.

[okccanary]

okccanary Thanks for the comments. For the trip in question, 27 Feb 2021 was my last day in US (departing flight) and I landed in US on 26 Feb 2022, so 363 days as per USCIS Policy Manual vol 12, part D, chapter 4: USCIS will count the day that an applicant departs from the United States and the day he or she returns as days of physical presence within the United States for naturalization purposes.

I have no control over who gets to review my application, so the only thing I can worry about is having a lot of supportive documents. Also, I have no impending urgency to get naturalization completed right now but it is something to be done. If the application gets rejected, I will just appeal.

Sounds like you have done everything you possibly can your side and not doing this lightly so fingers crossed you have no issues or problems!! Wish you luck and a smooth process!!! All the best!