Free CRBA preparation tool

How much U.S. physical presence have I recorded before my child’s birth?

A CRBA physical-presence calculation totals time a transmitting U.S. citizen parent records in the United States before the child’s birth. This version supports the commonly used five-year rule, including two years after age fourteen. It merges overlaps, subtracts absences, stops at the child’s birth, and keeps month-only dates as a range. It does not decide citizenship or CRBA eligibility.

Free calculator

Record the dates you want to calculate

Use exact dates or month and year. Month-only dates remain a minimum and maximum range.

First recorded period

Open the interactive calculator

What the calculator checks

  • Merges overlapping and adjacent presence periods.
  • Subtracts the foreign absences you enter.
  • Excludes dates after the child’s birth and splits time at age fourteen.
  • Shows uncertain month-only periods as a range.
  • Keeps potentially qualifying service abroad outside the automatic total.

How the result is calculated

The rules engine converts each recorded boundary to a calendar-day interval. It merges duplicate coverage, subtracts entered absences, clips the result at the child’s birth, and calculates the total and post-age-fourteen intervals separately. It displays decimal years using 365 days.

Example

A parent records a school period and an overlapping employment period, then enters a three-week foreign absence. The overlap counts once and the entered absence is removed. A month-only period creates a minimum and maximum result instead of an invented exact day.

Limits and official review

This page does not decide citizenship, CRBA eligibility, the governing legal rule, or evidence sufficiency. Check the current official form and serving post instructions. Potentially qualifying overseas service stays outside the automatic total for official review.

Official sources

Sources retrieved and substantively reviewed .

Methodology and review

How this page is maintained

US Expat Desk applies a versioned deterministic calculation to the facts entered. The official-source record, review date, page metadata, structured data, related links and sitemap entry come from the same CRBA registry.