US citizenship · Travel while you wait
N-400 pending: can you travel abroad?
Short answer
Yes, but your trips still count. You have to keep your continuous residence up to the day you naturalize, not just until you file. A trip of more than 6 months after filing is presumed to break it, and a trip of a year or more breaks it — whether it comes before or after you file.
N-400 pending: trips abroad and continuous residence
| Time away | What it does to continuous residence |
|---|---|
| More than 6 months, less than 1 year | Presumed to break it. You can rebut that with evidence — for example, that you kept your US job, your home, or your immediate family in the US |
| 1 year or more | Breaks it. USCIS denies the application unless you have an approved Form N-470 |
With your N-400 pending, these rules still apply: they cover the time between filing Form N-400 and your oath as well as the 5 years before you file: the law asks for continuous residence “up to the time of naturalization” (INA 316(a)).
Before you file
Physical presence is a separate count: 913 days in the US in the 5 years before you file. See where you stand with the N-400 physical presence calculator, and how trips of 6 months and a year affect a green card. The N-400 fee is $710 online.
Sources
FlySee counts days; it doesn’t give immigration advice. Whether you qualify is for you and your adviser.