Qualifying for Naturalization

There are a number of requirements you have to meet in order to qualify for U.S. citizenship. Among the most complicated of these are the residency requirements, which look at how long you've been living in the U.S. and your immigration status during that time.

Specifically, you must show that you have been a permanent resident and resided continuously in the U.S. for at least five years, or three years if married to a U.S. citizen all that time.

You must be actually, physically in the U.S. for at least half the required three or five years before filing your application and you must live continuously for three months in the state where you filed your application for naturalization. Finally, you must not have abandoned your residence in the United States.

If you're married to a U.S. citizen, you need only three years' continuous residence with a green card before applying to naturalize. However, there are additional requirements:
· you have to physically live with your citizen spouse for at least three years before you take the naturalization examination or test, and
· your spouse has to be a U.S. citizen for the entire three-year period.

If you spend too much time outside the U.S. during this 3 or 5 year period, CIS can say that you have broken your continuous residence. If you are away from the U.S. for less than six months it's usually not a problem. Short absences are unimportant.

If you're absent from the US for between six months and one year, you'll probably need to explain the absence to USCIS and show that you did not break your continuous residence requirement. For example, you would need to show that while you were abroad for more than six months you did not terminate your employment in the United States, that your immediate family remained in the United States, and that you kept your home in the US.

You will also need to show that you did not obtain employment while abroad and you did not request tax classification as a “nonresident”. If you claim to be a “non-resident” for tax purposes, that also makes you a non-resident for naturalization purposes.

Absences from the U.S. for a continuous period of 1 year or more will interrupt your continuous residence requirement. If you are out of the US for more than a year, in order to file an application for Naturalization, you will have to wait four years after your return to the US.

You need to apply for a Re-Entry Permit to stay outside the U.S. for more than a year. Even if you stay abroad for more than a year with a Re-Entry permit, you will still have to be physically present in the US for at least half of the 3 or 5 years of the physical presence requirement.
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Q.1. I travel to Vietnam several times a year to take care of family matters. Those trips are very brief. In the summers, when my children are out-of-school, they come with me and we stay there two or three months. Will my travel keep me from becoming a U.S. citizen?
A.1. As long as you spent at least half your time in the United States, and your job is in the US, and you do not give up your residence in the US, you can naturalize.
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Q.2. If a person cannot speak English, can he still apply for Naturalization?
A.2. The law provides three exemptions from the English language requirement for naturalization. They are for
· applicants age 50 or over who have been permanent residents for at least 20 years,
· those at least age 55 with at least 15 years permanent residence,
· those who have a mental or physical disability that prevents them from learning English.
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Q.3. My father is 75 years old and has been a permanent resident for ten years, but he cannot speak English. His doctor wrote a letter to ask for exemption from the English language requirement for naturalization, but CIS refused. What can he do?
A.3. If the doctor just says something like, “he’s too old to learn English,” USCIS will deny the waiver request because old age is not a disease or disability.

ROBERT MULLINS INTERNATIONAL www.rmiodp.com www.facebook.com/rmiodp
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