27 Jul Naturalization Application Approved Despite Absence from the US of More than 6 months but less than 1 Year
Getson & Schatz represented a client who wished to apply for U.S. citizenship. Our client was eligible to become a naturalized citizen based on her permanent residence in the U.S. for at least five years. During the five years preceding the filing of the N-400 Application for Naturalization, our client had left the United States to travel to another country and accrued a period of absence of more than 6 months but less than 1 year. One of the requirements an applicant must show for naturalization is their continuous residence in the U.S. for the five year period immediately preceding the filing of the application. An absence from the U.S. of more than 6 months but less than 1 year creates a rebuttable presumption that a naturalization applicant has broken the required continuous residence. Since our client was out of the country for more than 6 months but less than 1 year, we had to establish that our client did not disrupt her continuous residence by being absent from the U.S. during that time period and that she in fact maintained continuous residence within the U.S. for the required period. Our firm filed Form N-400 Application for Naturalization along with evidence that our client maintained continuous residence in the United States despite her extended absence. Evidence that we provided in support of our client’s N-400 application included: documents to prove that our client maintained a U.S. residence as her official address during her trip; proof of presence of our client’s immediate family members in the U.S. during our client’s absence; proof that our client did not obtain any form of employment abroad; evidence that our client maintained her bank accounts in the U.S.; and confirmation that our client maintained her U.S. health insurance throughout the duration of her absence from the United States. USCIS subsequently approved the N-400 and our client attended the Naturalization Oath Ceremony and officially become a United States citizen.