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  1. #1

    Default Can You Naturalize if You Can't Prove Continuous Physical Residence

    Hi.

    My relative is over 75 years old, and not meeting "Continuous Residence/Physical Presence" at the time of N-400 application (2016).
    He would be able to fulfill "Continuous Residence/Physical Presence", if applied in 2014.

    Here is the story:
    My relative is widowed and living alone.
    He was given Permanent Residency on Jan 12, 2010.
    He lived in USA for 28 months by Nov., 2014. We prepared an application for N-400 for him to submit at that time (<3 months before 5 years since permanent residency).
    He decided to go to his home in war torn East of Ukraine in Nov 2014, since he was worried for looting, etc of his only asset in life - his house in Ukraine. This was after conflict has stabilized and his house is about 100 miles from fighting line.

    General idea was - to sell his house in Ukraine to sustain financial side of living in USA.
    The prices on his house went down from $68k to $28k between 2013 and end of 2014, and he was frustrated selling it since end of 2014, and has not find a seller by now.

    We submitted his N-400 in Jan 2016, but he was mostly out of USA in 2015, but in periods less than 1 year.

    Bottom line: in his interview in mid-Sept 2016, the officer said he does not meet "Continuous Residence/Physical Presence". My relative was out of USA in Ukraine selling his house and not able to sustain his living in USA without the proceeds from the sale of his house. But the officer did not reject his application and did the Language, history and government test. The relative failed the test, and the officer scheduled new interview in mid-December 2016 (basing it on failure of the test), saying that another office will likely reject this application, but in the meantime we can seek legal counsel.

    My relative wants to be close to grandchildren and the family in USA. He's electrical engineer in the past, but have little chances to find a job in USA due to his age.

    We know about proposed Senior Citizenship Act of 2013, and would it help in this case if enacted into law?

    What are options for my relative?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: Can You Naturalize if You Can't Prove Continuous Physical Residence

    Did they consider him to have abandoned his residency (i.e., does he still have a green card),? If not, then what he can do is stay long enough to get enough presence to try again.
    Frankly, if all he wants is to be near his grandchildren, he doesn't need naturalization, just the permanent residence.

    The senior citizen act would not likely have helped him much. It would have given him relief from some of the English and possibly government/history tests, but it wouldn't have modified the presence requirements. Of coruse, that's entirely spurious anyhow because the act has died in committee every time it has been introduced and given the current political climage, I don't suspect it's likely to pass in the near future.

    What you should do is take the hint offered by the immigration officer and obtain legal counsel.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Can You Naturalize if You Can't Prove Continuous Physical Residence

    Hi.
    Thanks for the feedback so far.

    He wants to be with his family in USA, but not to be a burden or a reason-for-worry. One major reason for that is medical condition and insurance. Medical insurance thru Obamacare is way too high for his age. We could not get any medical benefits for him in NJ while he's permanent resident.

    Don't understand me wrong - he's in relatively good health for his age and very active. He did not use any medical facility, except dental service in his country, - in last 9 years.

    Any advise on who can we talk to in person, or the forum prohibits - ?

    Thanks

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: Can You Naturalize if You Can't Prove Continuous Physical Residence

    In person you need to talk to an attorney. As I said, if they haven't revoked his green card, all he needs do is stay in the US (or use the proper procedures for making brief trips abroad) to accumulate the needed presence. There's not enough information here to determine when that would be. An attorney could easily give a read on that given the documentation.

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