N-400 Form

For the selected basis of eligibility, the applicant must have been continuously residing in the United States for the past 5 years. This means that the applicant must have maintained a permanent dwelling place in the United States. Although it’s acceptable to take trips outside the United States, the applicant’s intent must be to always return to the U.S. because it is a primary home.

An absence from the U.S. of more than 6 months but less than 1 year during the period for which continuous residence is required is presumed to disrupt the continuous residence requirement. An absence of 1 year or more will disrupt the continuous residence requirement.

Exceptions
There are provisions for certain types of employment that will not break the continuous residence requirement. You may be able to count your time abroad just like time spent in the United States if you were engaged in one of the following types of employment:

• You served on a vessel operated by the United States or vessel registered in the U.S. and owned by U.S. citizens or a U.S. corporation; or
• You are an employee or an individual under contract to the U.S. government (including the U.S. military); or
• You are a person who performs ministerial or priestly functions for a religious denomination or an interdenominational organization with a valid presence in the United States; or
• You are employed by one of the following:
  • An American institution of research recognized by the Attorney General; or
  • An American-owned firm or corporation engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce for the United States; or
  • A public international organization of which the United States is a Member by law or treaty (if the employment began after you became a permanent resident).

You may keep your continuous residence if you have had at least 1 year of unbroken continuous residence since becoming a permanent resident and obtain an approved Form N-470 (Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes) at the time of filing the N-400 application.

If the above exceptions do not apply to you and you have taken any trips outside the U.S. that lasted 6 months or more over the last 5 years, CitizenPath encourages you to speak to an immigration attorney before filing Form N-400.

Source: USCIS

• Learn more about Continuous Residence

An applicant for naturalization is generally required to have been physically present in the United States for at least half the time for which his or her continuous residence is required.

Based on your five years of continuous residence, it’s necessary that you have been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the past five years. Unless you have traveled extensively, most people meet this requirement.

If you have taken any trips outside the U.S., each full day that you are absent counts against your physical presence. If you spent more than 912 days (30 months) outside the U.S., you most likely do not meet the physical presence requirement.

If you spent time abroad working for the U.S. government, a recognized American institution of research or a recognized public international organization, or other qualifying employer, you may count this as time spent in the U.S. However, it’s necessary to have an approved Form N-470.

Source: USCIS

• Learn more about Physical Presence

If you have an approved Form N-470 (Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes), qualified absences of one year or more to engage in qualifying employment abroad may not break your residence continuity.

Certain applicants may seek to preserve their residence for an absence of one year or more to engage in qualifying employment abroad. Generally eligible applicants are U.S. government employees, contractors, or employees of other specified organizations. Such applicants must file a Form N-470 in accordance with the form instructions.

Spouse and Children
The applicant’s spouse and dependent unmarried sons and daughters are also entitled to such benefits during the period when they were residing abroad as dependent members of the principal applicant’s household. The application’s approval notice will include the applicant and any dependent family members who were also granted the benefit.

Physical Presence
The approval of an application to preserve residence does not relieve an applicant (or any family members) from any applicable required period of physical presence, unless the applicant was employed by, or under contract with, the U.S. government.

Source: USCIS

If you have a break in your continuity of residence, it’s not necessary to accrue another five years of continuous residence before applying for naturalization. An applicant who is required to establish continuous residence for at least five years may apply for naturalization four years and one day after returning to the United States to resume permanent residence. An applicant who is subject to the three-year continuous residence requirement may apply two years and one day after returning to the United States to resume permanent residence. This is known as the “four years and one day” rule and is described in 8 CFR §316.5(c)(1)(ii).

Source: USCIS

For the selected basis of eligibility, the applicant must have been continuously residing in the United States for the past 3 years. This means that the applicant must have maintained a permanent dwelling place in the United States. Although it’s acceptable to take trips outside the United States, the applicant’s intent must be to always return to the U.S. because it is a primary home.

An absence from the U.S. of more than 6 months but less than 1 year during the period for which continuous residence is required is presumed to disrupt the continuous residence requirement. An absence of 1 year or more will certainly disrupt the continuous residence requirement.

If you have been outside the United States for a period of more than six months, CitizenPath encourages you to speak to an immigration attorney before filing Form N-400.

Source: USCIS

An applicant for naturalization is generally required to have been physically present in the United States for at least half the time for which his or her continuous residence is required.

Based on your three (3) years of continuous residence, it’s necessary that you have been physically present in the United States for at least 18 months out of the past five years. Unless you have traveled extensively, most people meet this requirement.

If you have taken any trips outside the U.S., each full day that you are absent counts against your physical presence. If you spent more than 547 days (18 months) outside the U.S., you most likely do not meet the physical presence requirement.

Source: USCIS

• Learn more about Physical Presence

USCIS wants information about your time spent outside the United States to determine if you’ve met the continuous residence and physical presence requirements for naturalization. An extensive absence from the U.S. raises a presumption that continuity of residence has been interrupted.

An extensive absence could have come in the form of one long trip or the combined days from several trips outside the United States. We recommend that you speak to an attorney if:

• You have taken any one trip that lasted 6 months or longer; or
• You have 30 months or more of combined time outside the U.S. (or 18 months outside the U.S. if you are applying on the basis of marriage to a U.S. citizen).

If the above circumstances apply to you, please speak with an immigration attorney before completing this application. Regardless, it’s very important that you honestly and completely account for all your trips that lasted at least 24 hours outside the U.S.

Source: USCIS

In some cases it can be difficult to remember specific travel dates. Here are several recommendations for finding these records. If you cannot find your exact travel dates, you must do you best to estimate the exact days of your travel.

Generally, you can find your travel history information inside your official passport. Simply review the passport page for date stamps from the various trips. But, in some cases, you may not have your passport or are missing known records.

You may be able to use your personal records to reconstruct travel history. In the absence of “official records” it’s still your duty to estimate the dates of your travel to the best of your ability. Check with relatives you may have visited, review credit card statements, or try to recover old travel records from airline or transportation company frequently flyer statements.

If you are unable to locate your travel history records through the methods listed above, you can submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. CitizenPath can help you obtain this with Form G-639. The money you spend can even be credited to your naturalization service. A FOIA request will generally take several weeks. When preparing Form G-639 on CitizenPath, select “Any and all entry/exit records over the most recent five years.”

In some instances, you may have traveled across a U.S. border without any records. This can happen at some land border crossings where you were “waved” across by CBP officer. The CBP office did not provide any stamps or documentation. It’s still your responsibility to record these trips on Form N-400 to the best of your ability.

USCIS asks for all variations of your name. It is important that you provide all versions of your name to avoid confusion and maintain consistency with other legal documents.

Current Legal Name
Your current legal name is the name that identifies you for legal, administrative and other official purposes. Many people’s legal name is the name that appears on their birth certificate, but it may have changed through marriage or another form of legal name change.

Other Names
Your other names include any other names that you have used in the past. Usually this includes maiden names or a name that you used before a legal name change. However, it includes any name (including nick names) that you have used in various legal documents, bank accounts, ID cards (e.g. driver’s license, work permit), criminal records, and school records. If you have been publicly known by another name, you should include it here.

You may ask the court to change your name at a naturalization ceremony. If the court grants your request, your new name will appear on your Certificate of Naturalization.

If you would like to legally change your name at the naturalization oath ceremony, check “Yes” and complete the section for your new name.

Please note that your name change request does not become final until you are naturalized. You do not need to request a name change if you legally changed your name because of a marriage, divorce, or death of a spouse.

Note: Unfortunately, USCIS cannot accommodate name change requests for members of the military or their spouses who are naturalizing overseas.