8

This has 2 questions that I felt were sufficiently related to be together in one posting. I have marked the questions in bold text.

According to the information here at uscis.gov, a person may qualify for US citizenship if:

  1. they have been a legal permanent resident for at least 3 years, AND
  2. they have been married to a US citizen for at least 3 years, AND
  3. during the last 3 years, they have not been out of the country for 18 months or more

Being that I have been a green card holder for about 20 years, been married to the same wonderful lady for about that time, and have lived in USA for the last 4+ years, I thought that I would go ahead and submit the N-400 application.

My question is about the fact that if I go back in time before the 4 years, I have sometimes been living abroad for more than a year. This was for work reasons (I had found work in another country) and during these times I lived abroad with my wife and we filed our US tax returns from abroad.

Although the N-400 form allows a person to select the basis for the qualification for naturalization, as shown below...

N-400 Information About Your Eligibility

...it later asks for the residential information for the last 5 years, as shown below:

N-400 Information About Your Residence

Here the question I wanted to ask is, does a person need to disclose residential information for 5 years even when applying on the basis of the 3-year rule?

The other, related, question is about this part from the "Document Checklist, Current Fees, Naturalization Eligibility Worksheet".

Workflow for determining eligibility

If I follow the workflow on the document, I eventually get to the point shown in above screen shot. That seems to give the impression that if I have ever been out of the country for more than 1 year without submitting form N-470, I would not be eligible for naturalization.

The question here is that, when a person is applying based on the 3-year rule, does the government care if a person lived 2 years abroad 15 years ago, without submitting the N-470 form?

5
  • How did you get to Attachment C? Jul 26, 2016 at 17:23
  • Hi @PatriciaShanahan, (sorry for a late reply) "Attachment C" is actually just a section on bottom of the second to the last page in that "Document Checklist, Current Fees, Naturalization Eligibility Worksheet" PDF linked in my question.
    – user4849
    Aug 8, 2016 at 13:33
  • The point is that you are supposed to be following a flow from the start of the document. I tried following it applying what I understand of your situation, and never reached Attachment C. I think you may be jumping ahead to something that does not apply to you, rather than following the flow step-by-step. Aug 8, 2016 at 13:38
  • Hi @PatriciaShanahan, the flow from the start of the document to Attachment C is all on the first page of the document. In my case I have been a PR for 5 years or more, I just have not always lived in USA during that time. Thus I am directed to Attachment C by point #5 on the first page.
    – user4849
    Aug 8, 2016 at 13:44
  • Which specific question took you to Attachment C? Aug 8, 2016 at 14:24

1 Answer 1

5

If you qualify for both the 3-year rule and 5-year rule, it is always preferable to use the 5-year rule, because there won't need to be scrutiny about your marriage, etc.

Under the 5-year rule, if you broke continuous presence with a trip of more than 1 year, then you are eligible to apply for naturalization 4 years and 1 day after you come back from that trip. Since you have been back for 4+ years, you qualify under the 5-year rule.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.