CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)
APPLICANT: German
LOCATION: Ohio
ISSUES: Out of Country Travels
?
Our client contacted us in September 2010 to inquire about applying for naturalization. She came to the United States from Germany in the eighties, married her U.S. citizen spouse, and obtained her green card through this. Their marriage was bona fide at inception but it ended in 2009. But the divorce had no adverse effect on her naturalization because she has maintained the marital relationship more than 20 years. The main reason why she never applied for naturalization was because she had a lot of trips abroad, mainly due to her ex-husband’s work which had her travelling with him to Saudi Arabia. She had over 20 trips abroad since she obtained permanent residency.
Under immigration law, an applicant for naturalization must demonstrate continuous residence and physical presence in the United States. The applicant must have been physically present in the United States for at least one-half of the past five years. Also, the applicant must not be out of the United States for a continuous period of more than one year during the period for which continuous residence is required. Please note that for both continuous residence and physical presence, the requirements are cumulative and not continuous. A permanent resident can leave and come back to the United States as much as she or he wants as long as the continuity of residence is not broken and the physical presence requirement is met prior to applying for citizenship.
For the past 5 years, our client had four trips abroad. Nonetheless, she was in the United States more than 2.5 years was thus eligible to file for naturalization. The application was filed on November 18, 2010 with supporting documents. We also accompanied her on February 18, 2011 at the Cleveland CIS office. Our client promptly and clearly answered all questions by the CIS officer and passed her citizenship interview. However, the officer asked the applicant to submit a notarized affidavit regarding her past travel history, even though a copy of her passport and a listing of her trips were provided in the application. We went back to the office on the same day to comply with this request by the CIS and immediately sent back the notarized affidavit of her trips. On April 19, 2011 her N-400 was finally approved. Her oath taking is scheduled for May 6, 2011 in which she will be a U.S. Citizen.
FREE CONSULTATIONS
If you have any questions, please fill out the free consultation form below, and we will respond as soon as possible privately.