question

[3shark3]

Hello, I appreciate any educated answers or input, especially if thru personal experience.



I got Greencard in Jan 2012 and worked overseas 2014-2015 but have returned to US and been working here since Aug 2015. My overseas job was purely to save some money to use in US. I always filed taxes as resident, transferred money back to US account each month, and kept cars and furniture in storage. I never spent more than 6 months at a time outside (took short trips back), and I never had trouble or secondary questioning at US airports while living overseas.



Now it's time to apply for citizenship, but some are cautioning that, since I technically lived (physical presence) more than a year overseas for the job, the N-400 background check might consider that abandonment of status and cause revocation of Greencard, even three years after my return. Is a retroactive revocation of Greencard really possible (i.e. there are recent real cases), or am I just being paranoid?



Are the chances of asking for RFE to prove maintained residence high in this case, and if they don't satisfy USCIS, would the worst case scenario be delaying my application till 5 years have passed since my return, or is there a real chance they would revoke the Greencard?



Thanks!

[lolita]

Some things you need to be aware of before I can give you my thoughts on your situation:
1) denial of N400 does NOT necessarily put your LPR (Legal Permanent Resident) status in jeopardy. Qualifications for naturalization ≠ Qualifications for retaining green card
2) they don't "delay" N400 applications if you don't meet the requirements. Those apps are denied/rejected.
3) revocation of the LPR status must be decided by a judge in the immigration court.
4) your understanding of the word "retroactive" is wrong. Immigration and Nationality Act was passed decades ago.
5) if you indeed violated the terms of your LPR status and they want your LPR status revoked, it wouldn't matter how long ago you violated the terms of the LPR status. Your N400 application has a chance of getting denied. NOT saying it definitely will be denied. Approval is very much possible. Your trips did not automatically break the continuity of your residence. Denial is also possible, because the IO retains the right to decide whether or not an applicant's frequent short trips (less than 6 months) break the continuous residence rule. If I were in your situation, I would wait and apply for naturalization in 2020, but the decision is all yours, of course. However, if your N400 and Form G-1145 is denied, will the USCIS go so far as to taking your case to the immigration court to try to have your LPR status revoked? While it is possible, I would say it is highly unlikely, given that none of your trips technically lasted more than 6 months and that there were only 2-3 such trips. tl;dr: I would say your green card is safe. If your naturalization application is denied, apply again later. Better yet, don't apply now and do it in 2020 to avoid paying the app fees twice.