Our client, a Pakistani citizen, became a permanent resident in 2005 through a family-based petition. Shortly after obtaining U.S. permanent residency, our client returned to Pakistan to complete medical school. Our client left the United States for 10 months to return to complete medical school, and that break of more than 10 months rendered our client possibly ineligible for citizenship. Attorney Noaman was able to provide considerable evidence to demonstrate our client did not abandon his residence pursuant to INA § 316(b), 8 U.S.C. § 1427(b), 8 C.F.R. § 316.5(c)(1)(i). The evidence provided included a re-entry permit issued in 2007, IRS transcripts of federally filed tax returns for 2007, 2008, 2009, U.S. bank statements from 2007 to 2008, and medical school transcripts, letters, and diplomas, from 2007 and 2008, as evidence of our client studying abroad in medical school. During the interview, Attorney Noaman explained to the immigration officer that our client has provided considerable evidence to overcome the rebuttable presumption that he had abandoned his residence. Furthermore, Attorney Noaman provided the officer with the case of Li v. Chertoff, and the court in that case held that studying abroad did not result in an abandonment of residency. 490 F.Supp.2d 130 (D. Mass. 2007). Attorney Noaman then explained the similarities between the facts in our case and the facts in Chertoff. After discussing the matter with his supervising officer, the interviewing officer agreed to approve our client’s case on February 08, 2012. Our client is now a U.S. citizen.
