Continuous Residence

Whether you can be naturalized at this time depends upon whether you are married to a US citizen and whether you also applied for an application to preserve residence for naturalization purposes, form N– 407. The reentry permit by itself may allow you to keep the green card, but would not keep your eligibility for naturalization. If you have had a very lengthy absences from the US during the six-year period, a U.S.C.I.S. examiner would likely inform you in the absence of an approved N– 407 that you filed early. The question is how early. If married to a US citizen with a three-year residence requirement, you would likely be filing a month early since the law also allows you to claim 364 days of the year once you finally return to reside permanently in the States on your first day. Please note that you may have a problem with an immigration examiner who is not aware of the rule. Your physical residence requirement of half of the required three years has already been met by your 23 months. Your continuous residence is not broken by an absence of one month. In the event that you are not married to a US citizen, you would have to meet a 30 month physical residence requirement and a 60 month regular residence requirement. On the regular residence requirement, you would again be allowed to claim 364 days of the year since the date that you finally returned permanently to the States on your first day.Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.