Maxtrack

Hello I have been living and working in the USA since 2002 and a GC holder since 2014. In 2017 I needed to suddenly return to the UK to help my mother with illness. In march 2019 my wife (US Citizen) and I were to be back in the US but that did not happen due to Covid. I have not been outside the US for any longer than 11 months but from Oct 17 to August 18 I was out for exactly 11 months. We now plan be back in the US from March 2021. My question is will I be successful if I was to file for US Citizenship through marriage after being back in the US for say 12 months plus unbroken, I will have been working in a new job in the US upon my return, I Own my own home, filed taxes, renewed state DL and maintained bank accounts etc.
At that point will I have done enough to appease the Citizenship interviewer that I had no intention to break my residence in the US. If anyone has been through this scenario recently or knows of an applicant that went through simlar let me know.

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

My (limited) understanding is that any trip outside the US of more than 6 months usually breaks the 'continuous residence' requirement so you'll have to start from scratch unless you come under one of the exemptions (military abroad etc). But a forum search should bring up more info, I'm sure it's been discussed quite a few times before so hopefully you'll find some relevant threads. This may also help - https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3

Am I reading your post right though, you've been living in the UK since 2017? So would you meet the physical presence requirement anyway?

SanDiegogirl

So you are not in the US at the moment? Where are you and how long have you been out of the country again?

S Folinsky

Any absence of a year or longer conclusively breaks continuity of presence. An absence of of more than six months but less than a year presumptively breaks continuity; an explanation has to be made and accepted to avoid a break.

Note that a break in physical presence is not the same as a break in residence. As a corollary of this, if one lands after a year or more absence there is 364 days on the continuity clock. In other words, a new period for continuity starts with, not zero but 364 days on the clock.

A further point, CIS will not allow provision of the law allowing 90 “early” filing. (I think they are wrong, but nothing to be done)

Maxtrack

It is my understanding that the time is counted back from the date of application, not over all time spent in the US. The longer you are out of the US you essentially lose the time you have banked.

Maxtrack

No currently in the UK. Was last in US Nov 2020

Nutmegger

If you have had a green card since 2014 you are not filing based on marriage to a USC. You can file on your own behalf.

SanDiegogirl

You dates are somwhat confusing.... you left the US in 2017... you were supposed to be back in the US in March 2019 but did not do so due to Covid. Covid did not make an appearance until December 2019 and restrictions to travel due to Covid did not come in until March 2020.
You say you were out of the country from October 2017 to August 2018.(?) where were you from August 2018 to March 2019 then? (Your dates imply you were out of the country from 2017 to sometime in 2019? a period of 2 years)
You then left again for the UK in November 2020 and are still there.

Maxtrack

A typo, my mistake. So to summarize Left USA Oct 2017 first return not until August 2018 with two trips from the UK to US in both 2019 and 2020. My wife and I were to return to US in March 2020 but due to Covid-19 we were unable.

SanDiegogirl

Nothing to stop you returning to US in March 2020.... US citizens and spouses were always able to return throughout the pandemic.

Maxtrack

Technically yes but my mother had just fully recovered from her illness and I did not want to leave her on her own with the pandemic breaking out. And at the early days of the pandemic we were unsure how safe it was travel.

Noorah101

Have you looked at the USCIS Guide to Naturalization at www.uscis.gov? They have charts that can help you determine your eligibility.

Rene

S Folinsky

In addition to the interruption of continuity, there is an additional provision requiring 50% of time in the US.

BTW, the on-line forms do NOT reflect he law that BOTH the date of departure and the date of return are considered to be “in” the US. If that is important, an attorney might be a good idea.

petitefrancaise

this is OP's issue from the dates he's given.
needs to have been physically present in the USA for either 18 months out of the last 3 years if applying as spouse or 30 months out of the last 5 years if applying on his own.

Maxtrack

Thank you all for the input, my plan now based on all the information that I have researched myself and immigration lawyer advise is to return to the US wait for 15 months and then submit my N-400 application, as I don't have enough days in the US going back three years to apply at this point.