Physical Presence

Physical presence means that you actually have been present in the United States. If you are a permanent resident, you must be physically present in the United States for at least 30 months during the last five years (or 18 months during the last three years, if married to a U.S. citizen) before you apply for naturalization.

The Difference between Physical Presence and Continuous Residence

Physical presence is the total days you were inside the United States and does not include the time you spend outside the United States. Each day you spend outside the United States takes away from your physical presence total. If you are away from the United States for long periods of time or if you take many short trips outside the country, you may not meet your physical presence requirement. To count your physical presence time, you should add together all the time you have been in the United States. Then subtract all trips you have taken outside the United States. This even includes short trips to Canada and Mexico. For example, if you go to Mexico for a weekend, you must include the trip when counting how many days you spent out of the country.

Continuous residence is the total time you have resided as a permanent resident in the United States before applying for naturalization. If you spend too much time outside the United States during a single trip, you may break your
continuous residence.