On May 25, 2021, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a change pertaining to how it counts continuous residence for certain individuals. To qualify for naturalization a person must have continuously resided in the United States with Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status for at least 5 years. In some spousal cases, this requirement was 3 years. If an individual leaves the United States for over a year, the continuous residence ends and he or she begins the continuous residence all over again.
However, with the new policy, USCIS will allow individuals who are abroad for religious purposes to consider the time abroad as part of their continuous residence requirement. In certain circumstances involving the US government or other humanitarian or research organizations, individuals can file Form N-470, Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes to count time spent outside the US as part of the residency requirement.
The new policy requires individuals to file Form N-470, for their time abroad to be considered part of the continuous residency requirement. However, it also grants individuals discretion to file Form N-470 anytime before, during, or after their stay abroad for conducting ministerial or priestly duties.
If you have any questions regarding naturalization or any other immigration related matter, please do not hesitate to contact KILO Immigration, a Sacramento immigration law firm by filling out this contact form.