Question details
You stated : "The Form N-470 must be filed before the person departs from the United States except religious workers who may apply before or after departure, or after return to the United States. The religious workers are not required to have lived in the United States for a specific period of time prior to the filing of N-470. Similar exception is granted to alien members of the U.S. Armed Forces. In such cases the LPR employee who filed N-470 is considered physically present in the US during such employment abroad and does not need a reentry permit."<br>
Does that mean a religious worker does not have to spend a full one uninterrupted year of physical presence in the US? If a religious worker can apply any time and once approved, all time spent outside of the US will be counted towards his naturalization qualification, it means that religious worker doesn't need to be physically present for a full year at any time prior to applying for his/her citizenship, correct?
The law says:
1. Generally, you must have been physically present and residing in the United States for an uninterrupted period, without any absences, for at least one year after your admission as a lawful permanent resident before you can file Form N-470.
2. You do not have to be in the United States to file Form N-470, but you must file it before you have been absent from the United States for a continuous period of one year.
FAQ Transcript
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Finally day has come. Our passport has been stamped at Cleveland OH on 03/20/2003. This was real long and painful journey but Mr. Rajiv Khanna and his team made it REAL SIMPLE and PLEASANT. The whole GC process started in October 2000 when I called Mr Khanna. I talked with Richa Narang as she started paper work for LABOUR certification. She gave me very valuable tip on how to put my resume online and how to post advertisement in local news paper. Once my Labour was filed I talked with Puja and ask her to start my I140 paper work. I had real trouble in getting financial statement from my company. Puja and Mr Khanna helped me big time by convincing my company. Puja did great job and my paper work was ready before my Labour was done and she filed my I140 same day I got my Labour. That resulted in saving of atleast 1 month. Puja was so good in communication and responding my emails and phone calls I asked her to prepare my I485 documents. She gave me Diane Lombardo's phone number. I talked with Diane and she prepared my I485 documents. Diane is best person you can ever get for I485. She has always replied my emails within 2-3 hours even on weekends. Service she provided was so EXCELLENT that one can only dream of getting these kind of service from any attorney's office. Documentation all these team provided was so good there was no scope of any RFE. I have seen my friends still suffering from mistakes from their attorneys in preparing documents. They started process before me and they are still waiting. I talked with Leila so many times for my status check, finger printing, RFE response. She was always fast in comunicating back. Always happy to respond and most imp available on phone when you call. Another very important person from start to finish, Suman Bhasin. I have talked to her so many times during entire process. Always very polite and highly respectable. She gave me solution to every problem I had. Finally when my case was approved call from Homa on what should I do till I get my Citizenship. Lastly Mr. Khanna for all the help. He always gave me solution to every question, gave me best possible advice on chossing right path for entire process like R/R VS NON R/R. Consular processing VS I485 filing. Every piece of advice and service he gave was best any attorney can give. I don't even have words to thank all of you. You all helped like one big family members. Your team is best in the world for immigration matters. Your team provides warm fussy feeling to all those Indians who come so far after leaving their country and family. May GOD bless you and your TEAM with the BEST of the WISHES so that a LOT many souls like us, can see their DREAMS come TRUE. I am eagerly looking forward to working with you in the future. I will highly recommand Mr. Rajiv Khanna and his team to all of you. Thanks SAMIR SHAH