Continuous Residency Question

[bob1975]

Hello,

I searched the forum for information related to Continuous residency for cases similar to mine but could not find an answer so am posting the question here. Any help if greatly appreciated.

1. I got my Greencard on 1 May 2008.
2. I did not leave USA till 1 June 2011 (so stayed in USA for about 3 years).
3. I had to go to my native country on 2nd June 2011 and returned back on 25th November 2011 (out of USA for about 175 days. Less than 180 days so that I can maintain my continuous residency)
4. I left for my home country on 7th January 2012.
5. I plan to come back to USA on 30th June 2012.

How long do I have to stay in USA after 30th June so that I can maintain my continuous residency. Can I leave USA on 25th July 2012 and still maintain continuous residency?

I have been reading about not being out of country for more than 6 month at a stretch to maintain continuous residency. But am not able to find any information on minimum stay required between two out of country stays of less than 6 months to maintain continuous residency.

Please help.

Thanks

[immihelp]

For maintaining the green card status, all you need is that any one stay outside of the U.S. should not be more than 6 months. There is no minimum period required to be in the U.S. before going again.

However, for the naturalization eligibility purposes, there are physical residence requirements. Please look at https://www.immihelp.com/us-naturalization-eligibility/ for information.

[bob1975]

Thanks for the reply.

I went through the link that you shared. I fall under the first row in the table (90% fall in this category).

I have already finished 30 months of physical presence (since I was in country for more than 3 years between May 2008 and June 2011 and then for about 6 weeks between November 2011 to Jan 2012).

From you reply, it looks like

1. I can come back to USA on 25 June 2012 (Out of country for about 169 days).
2. Leave USA for on about 6th July (In USA for about 14 days) .
3. Come back to USA on about 20th Decmeber 2012 (Out of country for about 170 days).
4. Become eligible and file for Citizenship on 20th February 2013 (so that I will be in USA for about 3 months and will be done with my 4 years 9 month requirement since I got my green card in May 2008).

Can I do above?

Is there a requirement that I have to stay in USA for 6 month in one calendar year (2012) to fulfill physical presence/continuous residency requirement. Reason I ask this question is because my company's lawyer is saying that I have to have a physical presence of atleast 6 months per calendar year for continuous residency and I have not been able to verify his statement on USCIS or immihelp website.

Thanks again.

[nwctzn]

Thanks for the reply.

I went through the link that you shared. I fall under the first row in the table (90% fall in this category).

I have already finished 30 months of physical presence (since I was in country for more than 3 years between May 2008 and June 2011 and then for about 6 weeks between November 2011 to Jan 2012).

From you reply, it looks like

1. I can come back to USA on 25 June 2012 (Out of country for about 169 days).
2. Leave USA for on about 6th July (In USA for about 14 days) .
3. Come back to USA on about 20th Decmeber 2012 (Out of country for about 170 days).
4. Become eligible and file for Citizenship on 20th February 2013 (so that I will be in USA for about 3 months and will be done with my 4 years 9 month requirement since I got my green card in May 2008).

Can I do above?

Is there a requirement that I have to stay in USA for 6 month in one calendar year (2012) to fulfill physical presence/continuous residency requirement. Reason I ask this question is because my company's lawyer is saying that I have to have a physical presence of at least 6 months per calendar year for continuous residency and I have not been able to verify his statement on USCIS or immihelp website.

Thanks again.

I did not hear about the physical presence of at least 6 months per calendar year requirement before, so you need to double-check that. I had a friend who recently naturalized, and he did not meet such a requirement. But as I said, it is always good to double-check.

Furthermore, although you will meet the continuous residence and physical presence requirements, be prepared to explain why you have multiple trips close to 180 days since the officer might question your ties to the US and why you have those long absences. Are those job or study related? If they are job related and you are working for a company overseas, that might indeed create a problem.