Moving out of State During Removal of Conditions Timeframe

[Isabel&Will 112]

My green card will be expiring in March, so my husband and I were originally planning to file to remove conditions as early as possible in December. However, my husband is getting out of the military, and it looks like we will probably be moving out of state in January (from VA to FL), but the timeline is not set in stone (we're moving back to his hometown regardless, we just don't know the exact timeline since we're waiting on the military to hit the "go button", and we're still on waitlists for an apartment that will hopefully be available in January so we can't really move until we secure a place to live).

I was originally thinking we could still file in December, keep our physical address the same, and change the mailing address to either a PO box near where we plan to live, or have it sent to my husband's grandparents who live there (who could open the mail on our behalf and let us know what the contents are?), but then I remembered that there is a biometrics appointment and a chance we may receive an RFE or an interview request. It would be extremely difficult for me to travel back to Virginia to do this once we move (especially since Covid hit when I was trying to change the name on my passport, so it's still in my maiden name), so I was thinking we may have to just wait until we move, but I'm worried our move may end up being delayed (we won't really be able to postpone our stay in Virginia longer than February, but we may have to find a way if we can't secure an apartment in time). Plus I feel like having addresses in 2 states may be a red flag for USCIS.

Would it be better to just file as soon as possible, submit a change of address when we move, sign up for mail forwarding, and hope it gets sent to our new address in Florida? Or would it be likely that they will still try to set me up with appointments in Virginia?
I'm currently leaning towards waiting until we move to submit, since the holidays will probably delay the process into January anyway (earliest we can submit is December 18), but then again I'm worried about our move being delayed and not having enough time to submit.
I read a couple stories of people being able to just go to their nearest USCIS office once they move if they receive an appointment for their previous location, but the closest one in-state is 4-5 hours away from where we plan to live, so we can't exactly pop over real quick to have it sorted out unless there's a good chance that it will work. The closest one is 3.5 hrs away but is in Alabama and I'm not sure if I can go to a different state for this as it may be out of their jurisdiction? I tried searching for forum posts but most stories are either from several years ago, or the people involved are moving close to where they used to live. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Letspaintcookies 2,208]

Both ideas have pros and cons. I would probably file in December and use the grandparents address. They'll most likely reuse old biometrics tho there's always the risk that they won't. That your passport is still in your maiden name shouldn't be a problem for travel. You don't even need it when flying domestic.

 

USCIS will always set you up at your nearest LFO. Doesn't matter if it's in another state

[Rocio0010 5,565]

Hi there! We moved out of State two weeks ago (I don’t file for ROC for another two months but maybe my experience helps in terms of dealing with mail forwarding?) As soon as you move, you should go to the nearest USPS office and signed up for mail forwarding. If I remember well, usps will forward your mail from your old address to the new one for a year. Also, fill out change of address online with USCIS.

Your biometrics will be reused most likely, and even if they weren’t, you would be set up at your nearest office once you file for ROC (if you move and file for ROC, you’d list your new address in the form, that’s how they’d know too).

You don’t need your passport to fly domestically. I travelled last week, and you can either use your GC or your drivers license.

[Isabel&Will 112]

On 11/8/2021 at 7:59 AM, Letspaintcookies said:

Both ideas have pros and cons. I would probably file in December and use the grandparents address. They'll most likely reuse old biometrics tho there's always the risk that they won't. That your passport is still in your maiden name shouldn't be a problem for travel. You don't even need it when flying domestic.

 

USCIS will always set you up at your nearest LFO. Doesn't matter if it's in another state

Thank you for the advice, I'm thinking I'll get closer to the date before I make my final decision on when to file since I'll probably have a more solid idea of the details of the move by then. I'm getting everything ready as if I'll be sending it on December 18 anyways and I'll just add on anything extra if we end up waiting a bit
 

5 minutes ago, ra0010 said:

Hi there! We moved out of State two weeks ago (I don’t file for ROC for another two months but maybe my experience helps in terms of dealing with mail forwarding?) As soon as you move, you should go to the nearest USPS office and signed up for mail forwarding. If I remember well, usps will forward your mail from your old address to the new one for a year. Also, fill out change of address online with USCIS.

Your biometrics will be reused most likely, and even if they weren’t, you would be set up at your nearest office once you file for ROC (if you move and file for ROC, you’d list your new address in the form, that’s how they’d know too).

You don’t need your passport to fly domestically. I travelled last week, and you can either use your GC or your drivers license.

Thank you! Yeah that sounds like what I'll probably end up doing, and why I'm also leaning towards waiting until we move so that I can just put the new address on the form


I didn't know they could possibly reuse existing biometrics so that's good to know!
I realized that I've never travelled domestically by air so I always associate air travel with my passport, thank you both for letting me know!

[Rocio0010 5,565]

13 hours ago, Isabel&Will said:

always associate air travel with my passport

I know, I tend to do that too! Like I said, I travelled domestically last week and I didn’t even take my passport just because I didn’t want to risk losing it. At the airport security I just used either my American DL or my GC. So convenient! 

[Isabel&Will 112]

Hello! Just wanted to post an update in case anyone was curious:

We ended up filing as early as possible (took it to the post office on December 18) and we received my extension NOA1 on January 3.
They didn't end up waiving the Biometrics appointment but thankfully our move was postponed until March and it's scheduled for a weekish before we move, which is actually great because this service center is only about half an hour away vs. 4+ hours to the closest center where we will be moving (or worse if I had to come back to Virginia).

Long story short: it's often better to just do things right away than to wait it out 😅 This has been the case with everything so far because we've run into so many situations where we'd be in a huge pickle if we had waited

Edited February 5, 2022 by Isabel&Will