Change of address abroad during a pending application?

[Tylosand 8]

Hello Everyone!

 

 

My fianceé (petitioner) and I (beneficiary) filed our I-129f in February and got our NOA1 on March 2nd. We live together in Sweden and filed from here.

 

We have since moved - literally just around the corner, into another apartment in the same building. In our application we entered our old address, since we didn't know at the time exactly when we would get access to the new apartment. The old apartment is being renovated by the landlord and the mail slot is currently taped shut, so no mail would end up in there.

 

Now, we have been trying to find out how (and if it is even necessary) to go about informing USCIS about this address change. The USCIS online address change page seems to only cover address changes within the US... 

 

We have received a confirmation email, but we did not yet receive the I-797 physically. If we enter the receipt number in the email, we get a message that we should have received the physical I-797 no later than 27th of March. We have activated forwarding of our mail, and the company that offers the service says international letters should be covered but we don't feel sure. Perhaps it is working and the letter will show up during next week... On the other hand, I have heard that if you get an RFE, and it is sent to an old address and they can't find any forwarding information, the RFE will be returned to the sender and USCIS might interpret that like the case has been abandoned... Is that true? Then I'd really like to remove the risk by informing USCIS of our new address!

 

Has anyone here had a similar situation? What did you do?

 

 

Thankful for any insights!

[JFH 12,196]

Most overseas petitioners have found that the easiest way to deal with this is to use an address in the USA (friend or relative) that is checked regularly as RFEs (should you be unlucky enough to get one) are time-sensitive. That person would then forward or scan and email any correspondence to you. USCIS seems to struggle with overseas mail. 

 

Interesting that you are applying for a K-1 when you live together overseas. CR-1 is usually the route of choice for such cases as then beneficiary can be a GC holder immediately upon arrival. 

[Tylosand 8]

Thanks for your reply!

 

It does make a lot of sense to register a US address, perhaps we should have used her parents' address. Do you know the best way to contact USCIS about an address change? Perhaps just an email will suffice? And do you know if changing the mailing address could incur a longer processing time overall?

 

As for the CR-1 visa, we considered that of course, but the problem is that my fianceé is having visa issues of her own here in Sweden and we wanted the fastest possible process for my US visa. We have applied for a so called "partner visa" in Sweden but their processing times are currently insane (like 20 months) and it looks like I'll have my US visa way before she gets hers, even though she applied several months before me. She can currently stay until end of this year on a student visa, and hopefully I have gotten my visa by then.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Tylosand