Change of address question

[shikimo 8]

I recently moved back the US, started working, and rented a place. My wife and child are still back in France, waiting on the USCIS.

I went to the USCIS website to update my address, but you cannot do so when your old address is outside of the US.

I called USCIS, got immediately escalated to an "immigration officer" who told me that she couldn't do it over the phone either because of the foreign address, and that I had to write a letter to the Nebraska Service Center with the address change. Then she gave me a street address in Lincoln (850 S St.) that is completely different than any of the NSC addresses given online (all PO boxes, naturally), although an address check does show that this is indeed the street address of the NSC.

Thinking this was fishy, I did some research and learned about the I-865, the change of address form for sponsors...but only for AFTER having filed the I-864, which I haven't done yet because we're still between NOA1 and NOA2.

So...would you follow her instructions, or mail the letter to the PO box, or send a slightly premature I-865 to the PO box?

[Peardigger 0]

Hey, I'm facing a similar situation and wondered if you found any answers elsewhere since you posted. What did you end up doing?

My husband and I have lived in Argentina the last 3 years, and I will move to the US for a job that starts in August. I want to file now so I don't waste another month, but that will complicate the change of address situation on the paperwork.

Good luck with your journey and I hope to hear that you found some clear and positive answers.

[shikimo 8]

Hehe, apparently that was too good of a question because nobody answered.

I decided to follow the advice of the USCIS "customs officer" that I spoke with on the telephone. I sent a registered letter to the street address in Lincoln that she gave me with all the relevant information. When I get the proof of receipt back, I'll log into my USCIS account and see what it says. When that happens (if not tomorrow it should be early next week), I'll post back here so at least others in our situation will have some point of reference.

[Dave&Roza 748]

Hehe, apparently that was too good of a question because nobody answered.

I decided to follow the advice of the USCIS "customs officer" that I spoke with on the telephone. I sent a registered letter to the street address in Lincoln that she gave me with all the relevant information. When I get the proof of receipt back, I'll log into my USCIS account and see what it says. When that happens (if not tomorrow it should be early next week), I'll post back here so at least others in our situation will have some point of reference.

The change of address, AR-11, is for when the foreign spouse becomes a LPR and receive their GC. They then have 10 days to notify the USCIS of an address change and can do so on-line. If there is a pending petition or application, they must also complete on additional step. Any USC sponsor must file for a change of address using the I-865 form within 30 days as long as the I-864 is enforceable. You situation does not include either of these. You do not have to inform the USCIS of your new address, but you may want to so that you can receive the NOA2. The USPS will not forward anything from the USCIS. As long as you have e-notification, you will receive a text and/or e-mail telling you the item was returned. You can then call the USCIS and get a Tier Two Human (that's not the first person you talk to as you found out when you called the first time) you can request to have it resent. However, the person whose name is on the letter is the one that must be on the phone or at least talk to the Tier Two Human to give permission for someone else to act as their representative.

I hope the letter you sent works, but that would then only be for NSC.

Good luck,

Dave

Edited June 27, 2014 by Dave&Roza

[shikimo 8]

The change of address, AR-11, is for when the foreign spouse becomes a LPR and receive their GC. They then have 10 days to notify the USCIS of an address change and can do so on-line. If there is a pending petition or application, they must also complete on additional step. Any USC sponsor must file for a change of address using the I-865 form within 30 days as long as the I-864 is enforceable. You situation does not include either of these. You do not have to inform the USCIS of your new address, but you may want to so that you can receive the NOA2. The USPS will not forward anything from the USCIS. As long as you have e-notification, you will receive a text and/or e-mail telling you the item was returned. You can then call the USCIS and get a Tier Two Human (that's not the first person you talk to as you found out when you called the first time) you can request to have it resent. However, the person whose name is on the letter is the one that must be on the phone or at least talk to the Tier Two Human to give permission for someone else to act as their representative.

I hope the letter you sent works, but that would then only be for NSC.

Good luck,

Dave

Thanks for the detailed response, Dave. Everything you wrote rhymes exactly with everything I dug up except for one little detail: the email alert system for the NOA2 isn't foolproof, and I didn't want to take the risk of losing any time if the email doesn't come (which has happened to many people). That's the main reason I wanted the USCIS to have my US address.

In any case, yesterday I got the proof of delivery for my change of address letter. I poked around in my online USCIS account to see if there was any evidence of an address change and there isn't. However, I did notice that I wasn't signed up for mobile alerts: when I went through the process to add a US mobile number (IIRC it was by following "change of status" links), there was a series of changeable fields that included city, state, and country as well as mobile number (but not street address). These were still populated with my data from France, so I was able to update them.

In conclusion, I don't think there's any way to know if my letter did any good without calling again (wheeze), but I figure that turning on mobile alerts made it one degree less likely that NOA2 will arrive without my knowledge.

Edited June 29, 2014 by shikimo

[domo22 3]

I recently moved back the US, started working, and rented a place. My wife and child are still back in France, waiting on the USCIS.

I went to the USCIS website to update my address, but you cannot do so when your old address is outside of the US.

I called USCIS, got immediately escalated to an "immigration officer" who told me that she couldn't do it over the phone either because of the foreign address, and that I had to write a letter to the Nebraska Service Center with the address change. Then she gave me a street address in Lincoln (850 S St.) that is completely different than any of the NSC addresses given online (all PO boxes, naturally), although an address check does show that this is indeed the street address of the NSC.

Thinking this was fishy, I did some research and learned about the I-865, the change of address form for sponsors...but only for AFTER having filed the I-864, which I haven't done yet because we're still between NOA1 and NOA2.

So...would you follow her instructions, or mail the letter to the PO box, or send a slightly premature I-865 to the PO box?

Hi Shikimo,

just to share my experience with anyone who is in the same boat...

We moved (within the same country - Singapore) while I-130 is being processed at NSC. My husband (USC) lives and works here. For address changes abroad, it cannot be done online. So he called the phone number on the USCIS website ( same as the one on NOA1 notice) and this person who picked up, just told us to send a letter by post to the same address on NOA1 notice. So we sent the letter and 3 weeks passed but no change was reflected on USCIS case status so we called again and was told to wait a few more days as it's not one month yet! so we waited one more week and called again. This time, the person who picked up the phone was smart enough to realize this matter needs the attention of Tier 2 personnel and we were eventually connected. This Tier 2 person gave us the 850 S. Street address to send in the letter ( indicating both old and new addresses. ). I haven't heard anything or received any updates. Will post again when I get any updates. But just make sure you get a Tier 2 personnel because we wasted one month, waiting and waiting.

So i think you were right to listen to her instructions and send to 850 S. Street.

For others whoever is living abroad or used to live abroad and have to change address while your i-130 is pending, please use the following address:

Someone else has posted this address with personnel names before in one of the threads here and it is the same address we were given on the phone. So just spreading the info...

NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTRE

Director : Jerry Heinauer

Deputy Director : Marilyn Wiles

Chief of Staff: Neil Jacobson

850 S. Street

Phone: (402) 323-6031

Lincoln, NE 685080-2521

Fax: (402) 219-6050

[shikimo 8]

Just to clean this up, today I received a status notification email from USCIS. While I'm disappointed that it wasn't an approval, it did represent an official notification that my address change was successful. So in the end, sending the letter to the street address in Lincoln was effective.

[domo22 3]

yup....we also got the email and update on the website that our address has been changed ( after about 2 weeks) . funny that it sounds like you just got the update too!

yea.. even though it's nice to have a notification for the address change, i was kinda wishing it was the approval.oh, well.....

Just to clean this up, today I received a status notification email from USCIS. While I'm disappointed that it wasn't an approval, it did represent an official notification that my address change was successful. So in the end, sending the letter to the street address in Lincoln was effective.