r2i forum

I am grappling with planning for the future vs. living in the present.

The present situation is, my mother was diagnosed with a serious degenerative disorder. She needs me to be around. She resides in India and will need me in India.

We are GC holders now and will have to wait until 2012 before we can apply for USC. One of our children is Indian citizen and unless we go through USC process, the kid has no way of getting a USC.

The present definitely is the one we will act on and will head back home (India) to be around my mom.

I was wondering about ways to plan for USC in our situation. I have heard of N470. Are there other ways to continue to pursue USC option given our situation? Please reply.

Ask yourself, what is your top priority now, do you want to take care of your mother with a serious illness or do you want US citizenship?
What do you value more at present? What will you regret more later in life? 1) Not taking care of mother when she needed you because you stayed back for US citizenship or
2) Not waiting for US citizenship because you had to head back to take care of your mother?

Do you have any siblings? I am not sure of N470, other members can help.

I would suggest you talk to an immigration lawyer regarding N470 ASAP.
I understand these are hard times for you and it can sometimes make even simple decisions hard to make. I found "outsource"ing a lot of these decisions/tasks to my wife when I was dealing with the last few months of my mother's life to be extremely useful - it let me focus 100% on spending time with my mother.

r2ipune2009;320954I am grappling with planning for the future vs. living in the present.

The present situation is, my mother was diagnosed with a serious degenerative disorder. She needs me to be around. She resides in India and will need me in India.

We are GC holders now and will have to wait until 2012 before we can apply for USC. One of our children is Indian citizen and unless we go through USC process, the kid has no way of getting a USC.

The present definitely is the one we will act on and will head back home (India) to be around my mom.

I was wondering about ways to plan for USC in our situation. I have heard of N470. Are there other ways to continue to pursue USC option given our situation? Please reply.

Do you own a property here? If so you can always reclaim your GC. The 6 months max out of country is only an indicative figure, as long as you pay tax and maintain some connection here by running a business and like you can find a way around.

Your case is simple. You have to meet a Physical presence test of 30 months within the 5 years from the I485 Approval Date and if you have satisfied the rule, you can relocate to India now and be with your mother. However, there is one more rule where you will have to satisfy where once in every 6 months you have to be in USA at least for a week. Considering 2012 is just less than 2 years, I hope you would have satisfied the following:

(1) Physically present in USA for the last 30 months (Need not be continous - can have Gap - but the total should be 30 months from I485 Approval Date which will be displayed in your Green Card) - Which I hope you completed.

(2) Relocate now to India to care your mom. If you transfer your job through your same company, it will be easy. Else, you can look for a job in India.

(3) Come here after 5 months and 3 weeks - be here for 1 week and return to India - Do it 2 or 3 times till you reach 4 years 9 months from I485 Approval date

(4) Finally after 4 years and 9months from I485 Approval date, temporarily relocate to USA with your family, apply your citizenship and get your citizenship within 4 months.

You will not be violating any rule or law and we can be almost assured that you will be a USC. If you need further help, please PM me.

Hi r2ipune2009,

Love India has perfectly summarized it. Please send me a PM if you need more information on this as I have real cases to site. It works mostly.

The best way to do it is apply for N470 through your company and there is no grey in that. When you come and go for one week every 6 months there may be questions posted by the officer when you go for interview but you can say that your Mom was seriously ill and you wanted to be with her. (Pls have proof as diagnosis report, doc certificate etc). Also maintain a residence (atleast relatives/friends), file taxes and use ur credit card once a while. This should help prove intent.

@r2Ifinal2010:

I have decided to go back and be with my mom. I wanted to know while I am in india what are my options to get the citizenship.

Loveindia peace_lover

Thanks for your note. Will send you a pm.

@LoveIndia: i cannot send you any PMs. It says you have to clear some storage.

LoveIndia it is not that easy. If someone makes back to back trips with a short stay in US (assuming 1 week is short in interviewing officer's mind) and doesn't have N470, IO can rule that there is a break in residency and hence no USC.

OP: Try to apply REP ASAP regardless of anything else. Than explore N470 option. Try to keep a place on rent here (a friend's place sublet to you for a small rent) to show the connection and intent to return to US in future. If possible keep your car etc., and don't close your bank account/Credit cards etc., Please file your US tax as resident. Hopefully all these will help convience the IO that you indeed had an intention to stay in US in long term. That will help your USC case

Also, there is one more avenue for your INC son to get USC. Your USC child can sponsor INC child for GC when the USC kid reaches 18 years. INC son will get GC and have to go through 3 year residence to apply for USC. Its long and complicated but there is a way. Goodluck

For a USC to sponsor INC sibling:
U.S. citizens at least 21 years old are eligible to petition to bring their sister or brother to live and work permanently in the United States. You must also be prepared to provide proof that you can support your sibling at 125% above the property line.

For your citizenship, this is more of a personal decision. Yes, your mom needs you, but on the other hand, if you go, not sure how long you will be needed. Can you visit for about 5 months, find some at-home nursing assistance, install a webcam and supervise. Easier said, than done, right.
Repeat visits as needed but ensure that it fits the requirements of citizenship.
For a longer visit outside the country, consider, do you have a home here (see recommendations in earlier post), U.S employment, etc.,
As an outsider, I see that there could be two faces of guilt in this situation. Be with mom and risk citizenship. Ensure citizenship but miss out on the time with mom. Personally, I will try and find a balance (by spending some time in India but also maintaining residency here).

Here is an extract with more details:
The current law recognizes that lawful Permanent Residents have many professional and personal reasons to travel that do not automatically disrupt residence for Naturalization. However, certain absences may trigger a disruption of residence due to their nature or length. The status establishes a system of three tiers of absences: absences of less than six months, absences of six months to a year, and absences of over a year.
1. Absences of less than six months ? Absences of less than six months do not disrupt the continuity of residence.
2. Absences of six months to a year ? Absences of more than six months, but less than a year, disrupt the continuity of residence unless the applicant establishes that he or she maintained sufficient ties to the United States so as not to disrupt residence. Therefore, an absence of over six months but less than a year shifts the burden of proof regarding continuity of residence to the applicant. The regulations provide a list of types of evidence to serve as a guide to establish continuous residence during an absence of more than six months but less than a year. The suggested evidence includes maintenance of U.S. employment, lack of employment abroad, presence of immediate family in the United States, and maintenance of and access to the U.S. abode.
3. Absences of a year or more ? Unless the applicant has secured extended absence benefits, almost all absences of one year or more create an irrebuttable presumption of disruption of continuity of residence. In other words, almost every absence from the United States of one year or more automatically resets the applicant?s accumulated time of Permanent Residence to zero, regardless of whether the applicant intended to return earlier, continued to maintain ties to the United States, or had a compelling justification for the lengthy absence. For an applicant under INA §316(a), the regulations provide that an applicant may apply for Naturalization four years and one day after returning from an absence of more than one year to avoid the automatic disruption of continuity of residence during the five-year statutory period.