I have seen that there are individuals who are living in US for more than 2 years, however, according to the migplac1 variable, they where living outside of US last year (in a different country). is there any obvious explanation for this or is that a reporting error?
Thank you
Assuming you are using the YRSUSA1 variable to identify people who have been living in the U.S. for 2 or more years, YRSUSA1 is actually based on the Year a foreign born respondent immigrated to the United States (YRIMMIG). So it is entirely possible that they were living abroad the previous year (possibly an extended visit to their country of birth), but they originally immigrated multiple years earlier.
I hope this helps.