To get citizenship, should an immigrant stay in the U.S. for 5 years straight?

Question

I know that in order to be eligible for citizenship you should have a total of 5 years stay in the U.S. I've been staying here for 2 years now. Lately I've been missing my family so much and been wanting to visit home. Some people say I can't leave the country until I've been here for a straight 2 1/2 yrs, others say its 3 yrs, few said I can leave anytime. Can anyone help me with immigration and naturalization rules? Thanks!

Answer 1

"An applicant is eligible to file if, immediately preceding the filing of the application, he or she:

has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (see preceding section);
has resided continuously as a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. for at least 5 years prior to filing with no single absence from the United States of more than one year;
has been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the previous five years (absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period) has resided within a state or district for at least three months "

Answer 2

Whoever told you that, told you garbage. You can leave at any time HOWEVER, you need to be a legal resident for a min of 5 years(3 years if you received your green card through marriage) and be phycially present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the previous five years You cannot be absent from the US for more than a total of 12 months of which no single absence can be for more than 6 months. Any longer than that will disrupt your eligibility because it can be looked at as abandoning your residency here and you would have to start all over again.

Answer 3

I assume you have a green card, since residence for citizenship doesn't start running until that point. However, you can leave for visits. If you are gone too long it can impact your citizenship date and if you stay over a long period you can lose your green card. Normal visits of a month or 6 weeks shouldn't be too much of a problem, but they can add up to delay citizenship. Go to uscis.gov and put 'naturalization residency' into the search bar.

Answer 4

I assume you already have the green card, you have to wait for 5 five years from getting the green card to becoming a citizen. You can visit 'home' for a vacation for up to six months, 6-12 months you should be OK. After a 12 months stay outside the US you can lose you green card status. Check with your lawyer for the rules and condition of your green card

Answer 5

schazjmd has given you the right law.

If you have a green card or most types of visa, you may go home for a visit and return without problems.

If you have some other class of visa and are waiting for your green card, you can always get advance parole.

Without knowing exactly what stage of the process you are in, giving you a definite answer could be dangerous.

Answer 6

just wait itll b worth the while