AHHG! USCIS address change FAIL. HELP!

[Eli 0]

I am really upset. I filed my petition May 12th. I moved out of state and changed my address on June 16th. I received a letter confirming the address change. 45 days from file date went by with no biometrics appointment letter. I called the USCIS on July 1st to ask they have my new local office to send me a Biometrics appointment. Today a letter made it to me through USPS forwarding land, from my old address in Seattle, which has an appointment for me at my OLD local office. The letter is dated July 7th, which means they set up an appointment at the old address 21 DAYS after they confirmed my new address! The appointment is for July 29th, which is 13 days away. I called USCIS again, and the woman on the phone who didn't have a clue finally said what I need to do is check the reschedule box and send the appointment notice back to Seattle, who will apparently be able to reschedule me to my new local office ... which sounds fishy to me.

My concern is that the soonest possible time I could have the letter back to them now is on Monday, which gives them less than 9 days to sort out the reschedule request before my appointment there. As we all know, if I miss that appointment my petition is considered ABANDONED, which is a ridiculous hassle I do not want to deal with if at all humanly possible. I don't trust them to reschedule my appointment in less than 9 days - I've never had any luck with them figuring things out reasonably - hence this problem.

It seems like my options are as follows:

-Mail back the appointment letter with a reschedule request and PRAY TO GOD they get it figured out before my appointment

-Fly back to Seattle and just go to the appointment in the wrong state

I'm not sure if there are any other good options so I'm turning to you guys in hopes that there is some kind of consensus on what would be the best course of action. I need to figure this out ASAP so that I can get that appointment letter back for rescheduling on Monday if that's the thing to do. I'd hate to burn money I don't have right now on flying to Seattle if I don't have to, but if that appointment gets missed I'd be out a ton more money hiring a lawyer to appeal the abandonment of my case. It's ultimately a miracle I even got this appointment letter considering they aren't supposed to be forwarded. God I'm pissed they screwed up the address

Please, PLEASE offer me your advice!

Eli

[diadromous mermaid 36]

INFOPASS at your new local office?

I am really upset. I filed my petition May 12th. I moved out of state and changed my address on June 16th. I received a letter confirming the address change. 45 days from file date went by with no biometrics appointment letter. I called the USCIS on July 1st to ask they have my new local office to send me a Biometrics appointment. Today a letter made it to me through USPS forwarding land, from my old address in Seattle, which has an appointment for me at my OLD local office. The letter is dated July 7th, which means they set up an appointment at the old address 21 DAYS after they confirmed my new address! The appointment is for July 29th, which is 13 days away. I called USCIS again, and the woman on the phone who didn't have a clue finally said what I need to do is check the reschedule box and send the appointment notice back to Seattle, who will apparently be able to reschedule me to my new local office ... which sounds fishy to me.

My concern is that the soonest possible time I could have the letter back to them now is on Monday, which gives them less than 9 days to sort out the reschedule request before my appointment there. As we all know, if I miss that appointment my petition is considered ABANDONED, which is a ridiculous hassle I do not want to deal with if at all humanly possible. I don't trust them to reschedule my appointment in less than 9 days - I've never had any luck with them figuring things out reasonably - hence this problem.

It seems like my options are as follows:

-Mail back the appointment letter with a reschedule request and PRAY TO GOD they get it figured out before my appointment

-Fly back to Seattle and just go to the appointment in the wrong state

I'm not sure if there are any other good options so I'm turning to you guys in hopes that there is some kind of consensus on what would be the best course of action. I need to figure this out ASAP so that I can get that appointment letter back for rescheduling on Monday if that's the thing to do. I'd hate to burn money I don't have right now on flying to Seattle if I don't have to, but if that appointment gets missed I'd be out a ton more money hiring a lawyer to appeal the abandonment of my case. It's ultimately a miracle I even got this appointment letter considering they aren't supposed to be forwarded. God I'm pissed they screwed up the address

Please, PLEASE offer me your advice!

Eli

[lawrencetoland 3]

I agree...Infopass is your best bet1 Good luck!

[featherB 1]

When I submitted my AOS package back in 2007, for some reason best known to myself I used my M-I-L's address on the forms as a "mailing address", as I was thinking it might take forever to process, we had no idea how long we'd be in our apartment, and I thought using a "permanent" address would help avoid problems further down the line. Quite what I was thinking, I have no idea, but it resulted in my getting an NOA and biometrics appointment letter (forwarded by my mother-in-law) sent to her address, with the appointment in her city, which is not where we live.

I quickly realized the error of my ways and made an infopass appointment - the officer I spoke to at the appointment updated my address info and made a phone call to the office I was scheduled to have the biometrics taken at, and then made a phone call to the biometrics office here in Cincinnati (which just happenes to be in the same building I was already in, having my infopass appointment)... they told me to just stick to the original appointment date, but come to the local office instead of the not-local one. I'm sure if I'd made my Infopass earlier in the day, they'd have most likely told me to walk in then and there.

Depending on how your local office works, you might even just be able to do a walk-in without an infopass and see what happens (I know that with my ASC for example, I can access the room where they do the biometrics just by showing government-issued ID when entering the building, so could explain my case there and then - but I know it's not the same with all offices and you'd never even get inside without proof of an appointment) - but I think it's probably safest to make an Infopass, explain what's happened, and have them fix things for you. I'm pretty sure they can do it and arrange for you to get your biometrics done at the local office - they did it for me, and I didn't even have a good excuse like you do, I had just not been very clever when I filled out my forms!!

Good luck - and sorry for the rambling post!

[lailaa 0]

Eli ,

If I was in your shoes, after this point I wouldn't risk my status by dealing with them via phone or mail ,instead I would fly back there for the scheduled interview.

Just show up there ,go with all kind of proofs that you made the address change in past and throw their stupidity/irresponsibility to their face and make sure they understands how the mistake of USCIS caused you extra financial trouble in this economically tough times..

I bet Immigration officer will feel for you and approve you right there ,you might even get your card in hand faster than others..

I might be wrong on my assumptions but indeed this is what I believe...

You shouldn't risk your status,as you said it might cost much more to hire a lawyer to appeal the abandonment of your case.

If you r lucky enough to get that letter forwarded to you and if this is a miracle then instead of being pissed off you should use your chance my dear.

[lailaa 0]

Woowwwwww

Eli just forget about my advise , I thought this was interview for removing conditions, I did not realized it's just a biometrics appointment..

sorry for missunderstanding.. You should listen other friends , going to local ASC maybe best option.

[Eli 0]

Okay guys, thank you a TON for the infopass recommendation, and featherB for your personal experience on this one. I got an infopass scheduled for 7:45 Monday morning, so hopefully we can get it all settled out first thing next week and move on. I wasn't familiar with infopass and now I feel SO much better knowing I can talk to someone in person and get it worked out. Thanks so much!

Eli

[MihaelaNYS 10]

wow!

I sent USCIS the form for "Change Of Address" about 2 months ago but I didn't receive any confirmation from them or anything else. Should I be concerned ?

[Chica Yeyé 41]

wow!

I sent USCIS the form for "Change Of Address" about 2 months ago but I didn't receive any confirmation from them or anything else. Should I be concerned ?

Same thing happened to us, and I had to go to the Local Office to get it fixed. Crazy, I know. And to make it crazier; we just sent in our ROC package and will move in 2 weeks.... within the same zip code mind you, but crazy nonetheless.

[MihaelaNYS 10]

Oh !!!... I don't know what to do... I don't have any proof that I sent it. Should I just call USCIS and make sure they change my address???

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Oh !!!... I don't know what to do... I don't have any proof that I sent it. Should I just call USCIS and make sure they change my address???

Do call first. You can also make an infopass appointment and go in person to have it fixed. DO NOT PANIC.

[MihaelaNYS 10]

Do they always send confirmations for the change of address letters????

What tel# should I call?

[David-Hien 11]

wow!

I sent USCIS the form for "Change Of Address" about 2 months ago but I didn't receive any confirmation from them or anything else. Should I be concerned ?

You should change address online, it will be updated on USCIS system immediately. Remember to check on the old address for any mail from USCIS may go there.

[featherB 1]

wow!

I sent USCIS the form for "Change Of Address" about 2 months ago but I didn't receive any confirmation from them or anything else. Should I be concerned ?

You should change address online, it will be updated on USCIS system immediately. Remember to check on the old address for any mail from USCIS may go there.

This bit is debatable. They might update it somewhere, but maybe not in all their systems. I moved house in May 2008 and filed my AR-11 (by mail AND online) immediately. In April 2009 I received a reminder, forwarded from my old address, telling me it was nearly time to remove conditions. I called USCIS in June to enquire about my lack of biometrics appointment, and found they had the wrong address on file. When they responded to my service request, the letter I received included the line "we have updated your address in our records" or similar (I don't have the letter here right now, but it was words to that effect). Sigh.

(Editing to add that the fact I hadn't received a biometrics notice at the time I called in June was nothing to do with my address - they DID send the NOA for my I-751 to the correct address, but the customer service person I talked to still found my old address when they looked me up by my A# - the biometrics appointment letter showed up, at the correct address, in due course, just a bit delayed, as experienced by a lot of other people who filed in May. A few days later I received a response to the service request I'd put in about the biometrics, with a copy of the biometrics notice and a letter which included the line about updating my address on file.)

Edited July 18, 2009 by featherB

[NArocks 13]

Extremly debatable, we change our address on oct 08, out reminder letter for ROC went to the old address ( same building doffernt apt ), however when I did file the ROC I-751 I used my currect address, Hate my apartment but to keep things safe will not move until we gety the 10 year card in hand.

Make an infopass and check that the address is correct the MISSINFORMATION line is just that.

wow!

I sent USCIS the form for "Change Of Address" about 2 months ago but I didn't receive any confirmation from them or anything else. Should I be concerned ?

You should change address online, it will be updated on USCIS system immediately. Remember to check on the old address for any mail from USCIS may go there.

This bit is debatable. They might update it somewhere, but maybe not in all their systems. I moved house in May 2008 and filed my AR-11 (by mail AND online) immediately. In April 2009 I received a reminder, forwarded from my old address, telling me it was nearly time to remove conditions. I called USCIS in June to enquire about my lack of biometrics appointment, and found they had the wrong address on file. When they responded to my service request, the letter I received included the line "we have updated your address in our records" or similar (I don't have the letter here right now, but it was words to that effect). Sigh.

(Editing to add that the fact I hadn't received a biometrics notice at the time I called in June was nothing to do with my address - they DID send the NOA for my I-751 to the correct address, but the customer service person I talked to still found my old address when they looked me up by my A# - the biometrics appointment letter showed up, at the correct address, in due course, just a bit delayed, as experienced by a lot of other people who filed in May. A few days later I received a response to the service request I'd put in about the biometrics, with a copy of the biometrics notice and a letter which included the line about updating my address on file.)