Expedite i130 from abroad? Address change needed

[Cheliano 0]

Hello! This is my first post on the forum. Thanks for any guidance!

I filed the i130 petition for my husband (Chile) in March 2022. We both live in Chile, but I have been offered a job in the US that is uniquely suited to my experience (hard to find a position like this), starting in November.

Question 1: If I go ahead with our 4-year-old son to take the job in the US while my husband works in Chile and waits for his visa here, we will go into debt every month, as the new job will not pay very much. On the other hand, I don't want to lose this job opportunity. Could this grounds for expedite due to financial hardship? I have already prepared budget examples, have the job offer letter, and a letter from the employer explaining why they need my particular skills/experience. I figure it's worth a try!

Question 2: I called USCIS about the expedite request, and they informed me that they cannot consider it right now because my mailing address on the i130 is my Chile address, not US-based. They informed me that I would need to change the address, and it can only be done via snail-mail to the Texas Service Center! Has anyone else changed their address and had any luck?

Finally, could I work with our embassy in Chile in any way?

I'm at the point where I'm just thinking about hiring a lawyer to handle the expedite request and the next steps. However, thought I'd reach out here first to see what you all thought!

Edited September 22, 2022 by Cheliano

[Chancy 6,233]

43 minutes ago, Cheliano said:

Could this grounds for expedite due to financial hardship?

 

No harm in trying.  Even if the expedite request is denied, it will not negatively impact the case.

 

45 minutes ago, Cheliano said:

could I work with our embassy in Chile in any way?

 

There's nothing the embassy can do while the petition is still with USCIS.

 

[shytown 45]

On 9/22/2022 at 10:40 AM, Cheliano said:

Hello! This is my first post on the forum. Thanks for any guidance!

I filed the i130 petition for my husband (Chile) in March 2022. We both live in Chile, but I have been offered a job in the US that is uniquely suited to my experience (hard to find a position like this), starting in November.

Question 1: If I go ahead with our 4-year-old son to take the job in the US while my husband works in Chile and waits for his visa here, we will go into debt every month, as the new job will not pay very much. On the other hand, I don't want to lose this job opportunity. Could this grounds for expedite due to financial hardship? I have already prepared budget examples, have the job offer letter, and a letter from the employer explaining why they need my particular skills/experience. I figure it's worth a try!

Question 2: I called USCIS about the expedite request, and they informed me that they cannot consider it right now because my mailing address on the i130 is my Chile address, not US-based. They informed me that I would need to change the address, and it can only be done via snail-mail to the Texas Service Center! Has anyone else changed their address and had any luck?

Finally, could I work with our embassy in Chile in any way?

I'm at the point where I'm just thinking about hiring a lawyer to handle the expedite request and the next steps. However, thought I'd reach out here first to see what you all thought!

Hello, sorry to hear about this bittersweet situation! I'm almost 13 months into the I-130 process still waiting for approval. Like you, I filed while I lived abroad and needed to request an address change once I moved to the US for a job via snail mail. 

 

I filed I-865 which is what you need to do if you're a citizen. Initially, the delightful folks at USCIS steered me the wrong way and told me to fill out an Alien's change of address form thinking I was not a citizen.

 

Anyway, I got a receipt fairly quickly after submission, but it's been over two months and my address is still not changed. I called them 1 month into waiting where they supposedly "manually inputted it" over the phone but this apparently accomplished nothing. Just a heads up regarding the urgency of your situation.

 

Regarding the expedite, I imagine it wouldn't hurt but it's probably not going to work. A lot of us with spouses abroad are in hardship situations, whether emotionally, financially, or all of the above and they don't care. What I'd suggest is to explore contacting an ombudsman about your situation to see if they can push USCIS. According to their homepage, one of the things they can help with is: "Certain cases involving an emergency or a hardship that fall under USCIS expedite criteria." Supposedly, they get back to you within 30 days. 

 

I hope this helps. Good luck, I know it's not easy.  

[Cheliano 0]

On 9/27/2022 at 9:28 PM, shytown said:

Hello, sorry to hear about this bittersweet situation! I'm almost 13 months into the I-130 process still waiting for approval. Like you, I filed while I lived abroad and needed to request an address change once I moved to the US for a job via snail mail. 

 

I filed I-865 which is what you need to do if you're a citizen. Initially, the delightful folks at USCIS steered me the wrong way and told me to fill out an Alien's change of address form thinking I was not a citizen.

 

Anyway, I got a receipt fairly quickly after submission, but it's been over two months and my address is still not changed. I called them 1 month into waiting where they supposedly "manually inputted it" over the phone but this apparently accomplished nothing. Just a heads up regarding the urgency of your situation.

 

Regarding the expedite, I imagine it wouldn't hurt but it's probably not going to work. A lot of us with spouses abroad are in hardship situations, whether emotionally, financially, or all of the above and they don't care. What I'd suggest is to explore contacting an ombudsman about your situation to see if they can push USCIS. According to their homepage, one of the things they can help with is: "Certain cases involving an emergency or a hardship that fall under USCIS expedite criteria." Supposedly, they get back to you within 30 days. 

 

I hope this helps. Good luck, I know it's not easy.  

They are delightful, are they not?? Haha, the first man I talked to at USCIS assured me that I was in an illegal situation because I have 2 residences -- When I was skeptical, he said the reason he knew that is because of something he saw in the news about Hulk Hogan recently...Hmmm... Anyway...

After reading your response, I've pulled my foot off of the accelerator and have resigned myself to a rather slow process! I don't know what my new address will be yet. Might anyone know if I can put my parents' address down (the same one I use to vote and keep my license, etc)?

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Cheliano

[shytown 45]

1 hour ago, Cheliano said:

They are delightful, are they not?? Haha, the first man I talked to at USCIS assured me that I was in an illegal situation because I have 2 residences -- When I was skeptical, he said the reason he knew that is because of something he saw in the news about Hulk Hogan recently...Hmmm... Anyway...

After reading your response, I've pulled my foot off of the accelerator and have resigned myself to a rather slow process! I don't know what my new address will be yet. Might anyone know if I can put my parents' address down (the same one I use to vote and keep my license, etc)?

 

Haha absolutely. I just got off the phone with them yesterday on the address topic, by the way. They told me phone agents aren't able to update addresses in these situations where the petition was filed abroad and I would be put in touch with an officer who will call me to do it manually within the next 30 days. I said, "if an officer is going through all this effort just to change an address, can they just make a decision already?!" And she said, predictably, no. So yeah, I think most of them have no clue what they're doing and they're just pre-programmed to spit out scripted responses any time you ask for specific help.

 

You can put your parents address. I did that with my K3. Another thing to be aware of if you do file additional visas like the K3 is that you have to update the address for each visa. It's super annoying.

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by shytown