Naturalization disaster: Misrepresenting absences from the US

One of the most important requirements for naturalization is that an applicant must maintain residency in the US for the five years before filing a naturalization application. The person should have been physically present in the US for at least half of the 5 years prior to filing, and should not have been outside the US for over one year on any single trip.

Some green card holders treat their green card as though it was a visitor’s visa, and look for loopholes to get around the residency requirement. They are careful to spend no more than five months outside the US on any single trip, return to the US, stay about two weeks, and then go back to the Philippines for another five months, and continue that process. Or, if they were outside the US for over a year, they “back date” the length of time they were outside the US, with fake entry/exit stamps in their passport.

When a person applies for citizenship, there is a question on the Form N-400 asking about trips outside the US during the previous five years. If you lie about your absences, thinking USCIS will never discover the truth, well, think again!

In one case, a person was already approved for naturalization, and was merely awaiting for his oath taking ceremony, when he got a notice from USCIS advising the case was being “reopened,” because USCIS discovered he lied about his absences and physical presence in the US. In that case, the person listed on his N – 400 he had been outside the US on only four trips, for a total time period of just over 100 days. His longest trip was a month and a half. He confirmed the accuracy of these trips at his naturalization interview. He passed all the tests and questions, and was told just to wait for his oath taking ceremony.

About a month later, the person received a notice from USCIS advising that USCIS had checked with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and a “review of the record reflects that the dates of travel that you put on your N – 400 application do not match the travel records of DHS.” The notice then listed his actual absences from the US, which revealed he had been outside the US for over a year on at least two occasions, and had been outside the US for a total of more than 3 1/2 years. As a result, the USCIS concluded his naturalization application was approved in error, because he lied about his absences and he lacked “good moral character” as he was not truthful about his travel and physical presence in the US.

As you can see, the USCIS is checking with CBP concerning applicant’s entries and exits from the US. Remember, every time you travel, and you check in at the airline, they take your passport and swipe the barcode into their system. That generates a passenger manifest and that information is turned over to CBP. Therefore, even if a person puts down incorrect information about their absences, CBP has the accurate information.

In that case, the person is likely to have his naturalization application denied, and USCIS could possibly put him in removal proceedings for having “abandoned” his residency (or green card) for having stayed outside the US for more than a year.

Therefore, if you have any questions or issues about the physical presence requirement, you should seek the advice and guidance of an attorney before filling out the naturalization application or applying. If you provide inaccurate information, your application could be denied and your immigration status jeopardized.

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