Naturalization, Citizenship Denial of citizenship due to lack of continuous residency

[rghare]

My father 77 yrs old been Resident Alien since Oct 1998 sponsored by me. Applied for citizenship November 2005. Application denied July 2006. Filed appeal and have a hearing in couple of days. He met his 30 months requirement of residency out of the last 60 months (5 years). During the last 5 years he was out of the country on 3 different occassions. On two such occassions he was out in excess of 9 months. This was due to the fact that my own marriage was on the rocks and I couldn't afford to keep him in another apartment. He never abandoned his Permanent Residency, didn't take up employment abroad. Contributed to the the purchase of my house in 1994. Family court granted him his share. (See Code of Federal Regulations Title 8 Part 316 subsection 5)

Any hope of beating the odds in appeal hearing? Please advise. Any loopholes I can use. Honest lawyer consulted didn't provide any encouraging signs or building false hopes. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

What exactly was the reason given for the denial? What is the basis of your appeal? Are you talking about USC Title 8 Section 1427(b)?

"Absence from the United States of more than six months but less than one year during the period for which continuous residence is required for admission to citizenship, immediately preceding the date of filing the application for naturalization, or during the period between the date of filing the application and the date of any hearing under section 1447 (a) of this title, shall break the continuity of such residence, unless the applicant shall establish to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that he did not in fact abandon his residence in the United States during such period."

Per the code it's difficult to say and I don't know loopholes. The challenge here is that it happened not once, but twice. The leave was less than one year on both occasions which seems to be in your favor. What did the "honest lawyer" have to say?

My father 77 yrs old been Resident Alien since Oct 1998 sponsored by me. Applied for citizenship November 2005. Application denied July 2006. Filed appeal and have a hearing in couple of days. He met his 30 months requirement of residency out of the last 60 months (5 years). During the last 5 years he was out of the country on 3 different occassions. On two such occassions he was out in excess of 9 months. This was due to the fact that my own marriage was on the rocks and I couldn't afford to keep him in another apartment. He never abandoned his Permanent Residency, didn't take up employment abroad. Contributed to the the purchase of my house in 1994. Family court granted him his share. (See Code of Federal Regulations Title 8 Part 316 subsection 5)

Any hope of beating the odds in appeal hearing? Please advise. Any loopholes I can use. Honest lawyer consulted didn't provide any encouraging signs or building false hopes. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

 

[rghare]

Had a third encounter of the close kind for Denial of Citizenship

My father did go in for the interview with an officer above the level which had the initial interview. He explained his attachment to America. He also reiterated the fact that he doesn't have anyone to worry about back home and no property. He went there on one such occassion to dispose of his property. The lady was little more professional than the first lady. Anyway, we keeping the finger crossed and hoping the decision would come in favor.

The nice "honest" lawyer said that the rules for "Physical and Continuous Presence" are pretty much clear and both have to be met. Although my father meets "Physical Presence" he clearly doesn't meet "Continuous Presence" test.

By the way if he's denied, is he eligible to re-apply from the date he file the N-400 or the last re-entry from the time he was out for the extended period.