US Citizen Application

[Randalls]

I want to know whether I can legitimately apply for US citizenship in 2010, for myself, my wife and my two sons.

I and my family lived in the US (in Texas) from June 1995 to December 2000. We first entered the country on visas and then applied for Green Cards.

We moved overseas in January 2001 on a work assignment, and obtained our Green Cards while living overseas, in December 2001. We returned to the US (Texas) in July 2006, bought a house, and have lived here continuously since then. I have been working for American companies continuously since June 1995 and have filed my US taxes each year since then.

 

[FlyingRon]

Unless the company you were working for overseas was the US government or one of the specific exempted organizations (mostly universities and certain international organziations like the UN, INMARSAT, etc...) you don't meet the residency requirement. The requirement is five years legally and continuously present (this means you have both the green card (which you do) and were living here (which didn't start until June 2006). Your eligibility appear to begin in June 2011.

You can send the paperwork in 90 days before the actual eligibility date.

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

five years of continuous residence but only 1/2 of that time needs to be physical presence. If you satisfy that, then you should be eligible to apply.

 

[FlyingRon]

To amplify on what Lana is talking about, the half time requirement only applies if none of your absences in the five year period are longer than six months. If you came back to the US time to time so that the six month limit was not exceeded, then yes you can count the time and would be eligible.

 

[Randalls]

Citizenship Application

Thanks to FlyingRon and ImmigAttyLana for the prompt and helpful replies. I omitted to mention two things.

Firstly, at the time of getting our Green Cards we also got US ReEntry Permits. These allowed us to remain outside the US for up to two years at a time. These were issued to us in March 2002. We returned to the US to get these permits renewed, in September 2004. I am not sure whether this makes any difference to our current situation.

Secondly, I consulted an immigration attorney back in June 2006, who told me that due to our circumstances, we would only need to be physically present in Texas for four years, i.e. that we would be eligible for citizenship application in June 2010 (with the 90 day prior clause that you mentioned FlyingRon). I was unable to understand why that would be.

I posted this thread after reading the US Immigration web site on continuous residence and physical presence. I wanted to get clarity on where we stood.