Preserving Residence for Naturalization Purposes

Green Cards > Employment Based Green Card > Preserving Residence for Naturalization Purposes

In order to become a naturalized citizen of the U.S. permanent resident alien must meet 2 conditions.

1. The alien must reside continuously in the U.S. for 5 years [3 years for the spouses of a U.S. citizen].
2. Out of these five years the alien permanent resident must be physically present in the U.S. for 2 and a half years [1 and a half years for spouses of U.S. citizen.]. There are some exceptions for the spouses of a U.S. citizen.

For naturalization purpose the following rules apply.

1. If the alien is absent for less than 6 months it does not break the continuity of the alien’s residence.
2. An absence of more than 6 months but less than 1 year breaks the alien’s continuity of residence unless the alien can give a reasonable reason for absence e.g. assignment abroad with a U.S. employer.
3. An absence of more than 1 year breaks the alien’s continuity of residence. An alien can take steps to preserve this continuity – one is to return to the U.S. every six months. This might not be possible or practical.

The immigration laws have provided a mechanism to overcome this problem is that an alien assigned abroad can preserve continuity of residence.

Eligibility for Extended Absence Benefits

1. The alien has been physically present in the U.S. as a permanent resident for an uninterrupted period of 1 year before the absence.
2. The alien will be employed abroad by or under contract with:
   1. The U.S. Government.
   2. A U.S. Research Institute.
   3. A U.S. Corporation or majority owned subsidiary of a U.S. corporation for the development of foreign trade and commerce.
   4. An international organization of which the U.S. is a member (the alien was not employed with it before becoming a U.S. permanent resident).
3. The alien must request the extended absence naturalization benefits before he/she has been absent from the U.S. for 1 year.
4. The alien must prove that the absence is due to his/her employment abroad.

The effect of preserving continuity of residence for naturalization purposes.

An alien who has been granted extended absence naturalization benefits can satisfy the five-year continuous residence requirement for naturalization even though portions of the five (or three) years were spent outside the U.S. on a foreign assignment.

However the alien must meet the other requirements – actual physical presence in the U.S. for one half of the required period of residence. This applies for every case except the alien who is employed abroad by the U.S. government.

The alien’s request to preserve his/her continuity of residence for naturalization purposes is filed with USCIS. The alien's family members can also be included in the same application as the alien employee, and will receive the same extended absence naturalization benefits.