What's the difference between continuous residence and physical presence?

How are the two rules different?

Both rules look at the same years, but they ask different questions. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) checks each one separately.

Your "residence" here means where you actually live, not where you say you live or plan to live. USCIS describes it as your principal, actual dwelling place, regardless of your intent.

For how these rules fit with everything else, see the 5-year path or the 3-year marriage path.

Can I pass one rule and fail the other?

Yes. These two made-up examples, both on the 5-year path, show how.

So keeping every trip under 6 months is not enough by itself. You also need to count your total days.

How do I count my days of physical presence?

You don't need to be in the U.S. for 30 months in a row. The days just need to add up. Here is a simple way to check.

1. List every trip outside the U.S.

   Form N-400 asks about your trips during the last 5 years, or the last 3 years on the marriage path. Your passport stamps and travel records can help.

2. Count your days away on each trip

   USCIS counts the day you leave and the day you return as days in the U.S. So if you leave on June 1 and return on June 10, that trip is 8 days away, not 10.

3. Subtract those days from your period

   Count back from the day you plan to file, then subtract your days away. Physical presence is measured up to your filing date.

4. Compare with what you need

   You need at least 913 days on the 5-year path, or at least 548 days on the 3-year marriage path.

Having a green card for the whole period does not prove you were here. USCIS can review your records, and it also considers what you say at the interview.

What can break my continuous residence?

It mostly depends on how long a single trip lasts. The length of the trip decides the presumption, not your reason for leaving.

Other things can also affect it:

• Many shorter trips. An officer can still review whether your home was really in the U.S.
• Frequent or long absences. These can lead USCIS to deny your application because you abandoned your permanent residence.
• A removal order. It ends your permanent resident status, which disrupts your residence.

Our guide to trips abroad covers how long you can travel, and the 5-year guide explains how long you may have to wait after a break.

What evidence should I keep?

If you took a trip of more than 6 months but less than 1 year, the Form N-400 instructions ask for evidence that you kept your residence in the U.S. It helps to keep these records even before you know you will need them.

USCIS also looks at whether you kept your U.S. job and did not work abroad, whether your immediate family stayed here, and whether you kept full access to your U.S. home.

Does a reentry permit protect my residence?

No. The Form N-400 instructions say that a reentry permit or refugee travel document does not preserve continuous residence for naturalization. A reentry permit is useful for traveling back to the U.S., but it does not solve this problem.

Is there a way to protect my residence while working abroad?

For some jobs, yes. Form N-470, Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes, can protect your continuous residence during an absence of 1 year or more. You generally must have been physically in the U.S. without interruption for at least 1 year before you file it, and you must file it before you have been abroad for 1 year in a row. You can file from abroad. Religious workers have different timing and may be able to file even after they return.

An approved Form N-470 doesn't guarantee that USCIS won't later find you abandoned your permanent residence.

A few other jobs, such as certain media organizations and some interpreter or security contract work, have their own rules. Military service is also treated differently. The rules for these jobs are narrow, so check them with a legal professional.

If your spouse is in the U.S. military. Time you spend abroad may count as residence and physical presence in the U.S. if you are the spouse of a service member, official orders authorize you to live abroad with them, and you actually live with them there.

Where does the 3-month rule fit in?

It is a third, separate rule. You generally must have lived in the same USCIS district or the same state for at least 3 months before you file. It is about where you apply, and it doesn't replace either of the other two rules.

If you are a student, you may apply where you go to school. If you are still financially dependent on your parents, you may apply where they live instead.

When should I talk to an attorney?

Counting days is often simple, but judging a break is not. Get legal advice before you file if any of these apply to you:

• You took a trip of more than 6 months, or you are unsure how long a trip lasted.
• Your total days in the U.S. are close to 913 (or 548).
• You have spent much of your time abroad, even in short trips.
• You worked abroad and did not file Form N-470.
• You filed U.S. taxes as a nonresident, or you have been ordered removed.