us citizenship?

Question

I want to become a US citizen. I am an immigrant and am 65 years old. I became a green card holder in 2000. I left the US for more than 6 months in 2000 after a brief 3 month stay and then returned in 2001. Then I applied for a re-entry permit and was granted one till mid 2004. I have been living in the USA since mid 2004. Do I qualify to apply for US citizenship?

My green card has NOT expired. I returned a week before my petition expired.

Answer 1

I do not understand your question. When you stated that you were a green card holder, do you mean you are a legal permanent resident? If you are and you became a permanent resident in 2000 you can qualify to apply for U.S. Citizenship once you have been a permanent resident alien for five years or three years if you immigrated trough marriage.

I do not understand when you stated that you applied for a re-entry permit? What type of permit did you apply for?

If you qualify to apply for citizenship, you can apply for it. But base on that you have been living outside the U.S.

Note: There is a lot of requirement that you need to look in the instructions of the N-400. You can obtain the form and more information or to find these forms visit the US CIS web site www.uscis.gov or visit any USCIS office.

Answer 2

you can apply...its very easy, though you should not have let stuff expire...that may hurt the chances..

At least you are making the effort to be legit, that alone gives you a leg up in some areas.

Though who really make the effort will get better help than the illegals who never try to become legal.

Answer 3

If you ignored your 2004 expiration of your visa, reasonable people would assume you chose not to renew it and remain here illegally. Reasonable people would call that willful disregard for the law.

See an immigration lawyer.

Answer 4

If your spouse is a U.S. citizen, you can apply for citizenship after three years of continued residency. If not, you can apply after five years of continued residency in the U.S.A.. If you have gone to vacation during this time in a foreign country and have spent several weeks, that will not effect on your eligibility in counting time for continued residency.

Answer 5

You should have applied before your visa expired. Do you want to become a citizen just because your visa has expired, or are you willing to earn the right to be a U.S. citizen ?

Answer 6

Your answers may be found here.