I-751 approved in the middle of move

[OldUser 5,112]

Hi everybody.

 

I searched the forum hoping I already started a similar thread where I could provide an update without success.

 

My situation:

 

I'm currently in the middle of move. In a few days I'm leaving rented place and moving into house, my lovely USC spouse and I purchased recently.

 

The move out date is already agreed upon with the landlord, most of the stuff moved except some furniture.

 

In preparation I set up USPS forwarding and changed address with DMV.

 

I haven't filed AR-11 just yet, since physically I still live at rented place.

 

Yesterday, out of blue, I got a surprise email saying my I-751 got approved and card getting produced. I doubled checked myUSCIS and the status confirms this.

 

What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? 🥲

 

File AR-11 ASAP, prior to move? Leave as is until the move and ask landlord to check mail so I can pick it up?

 

I really thought the probability of this happening to me was low, but life proven otherwise. Worried that GC can get lost or returned to sender. G-28 has boxes to send approval letter to lawyer, but card to my current rented place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by OldUser

[Mike E 11,727]

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

What do I do, 

1. Hope the card arrives before you vacate.

 

2. Once you have tracking number attempt to have package intercepted and delivered elsewhere. See https://www.usps.com/manage/package-intercept.htm#eligibility

 

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

Worried that GC can get lost or returned to sender. G-28 has boxes to send approval letter to lawyer, but card to my current rented place.

I am surprised you would not have card delivered to your lawyer.
 

We  specified to have the card delivered to our lawyer, as we expected the card to be approved after our anticipated move, and (with good reason) we do not trust AR-11 to have any effect.
 

It worked well. Once we had a tracking number, we booked a flight to arrive the day before the card was due, and picked up the card 15 minutes after delivery. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OldUser 5,112]

Thank you @Mike E, I always find your advice helpful and to the point.

 

As to why the box wasn't checked on G-28 to deliver card to lawyer - that was a mistake on my end. I flagged other issues on forms that were prepared by lawyer's assistant and didn't pay attention to this one. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if USCIS makes a mistake sending docs to lawyer ignoring what's actually checked on the form.

 

Have you used this USPS feature before? Is it best to ask USPS to hold mail or try to redirect it to new address? If I ask to hold, how do I know where to pick it up?

 

[Crazy Cat 39,693]

14 hours ago, OldUser said:

Yesterday, out of blue, I got a surprise email saying my I-751 got approved and card getting produced.

  Congratulations!!!!

[OldUser 5,112]

Just now, Crazy Cat said:

  Congratulations!!!!

Thank you very much! My only worry now is having to file I-90 if I can't pull this off. Watching case status closely to get USPS tracking and hoping to intercept the package to pick it up instead.

[Mike E 11,727]

24 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Have you used this USPS feature before?

I have not. But I have read of cases where wayward GCs and EADs were recovered this way

24 minutes ago, OldUser said:

 

Is it best to ask USPS to hold mail

Will there be any occupants your old address after you leave?

24 minutes ago, OldUser said:

or try to redirect it to new address?

I have seen mixed success usps forwarding USCIS mail.

24 minutes ago, OldUser said:

 

If I ask to hold, how do I know where to pick it up?

I am so old that I am perplexed by this statement. For some reason, no matter where I live in the U.S., I know the location of the post office that serves my address. So on Monday drive in a spiral pattern to all usps post offices near you and ask the clerks if their post office serves your current address.

 

 

 

[OldUser 5,112]

6 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I am so old that I am perplexed by this statement. For some reason, no matter where I live in the U.S., I know the location of the post office that serves my address. So on Monday drive in a spiral pattern to all usps post offices near you and ask the clerks if their post office serves your current address.

 

 

 

Let me explain myself 😅

 

I know the post office address that serves the rented place. I know where post office is serving my house.

 

Last night I attempted cancelling mail forwaring, only left with ambiguous message which didn't suggest it was cancelled.

 

So I'm unsure what would happen if I was to intercept the mail and ask to hold. Would it be held at old place's USPS office or new place's one?

 

There's mixed messages reporting success on GC forwarding, agreed. I know most likely it won't be forwarded.

 

12 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Will there be any occupants your old address after you leave?

 

Not sure, I know the management company is searching for a new tenant but I don't think I'll ever meet them.

 

I guess I'll have to keep my eyes peeled and communicate with all parties involved. 

 

[Mike E 11,727]

What is the distance between old and new post offices?

[OldUser 5,112]

6 minutes ago, Mike E said:

What is the distance between old and new post offices?

It's not bad, around 15-20 miles. I can drive to both easily.

[Mike E 11,727]

5 minutes ago, OldUser said:

It's not bad, around 15-20 miles. I can drive to both easily.

Question mooted then. 
 

Try to intercept. If successful, go to each post office.

[OldUser 5,112]

3 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Question mooted then. 
 

Try to intercept. If successful, go to each post office.

Thank you, that's the plan now.

Will keep this thread updated.

 

[Verrou 1,901]

I had issue in 2020 regarding on card delivery.
 

The best way to solve the issue : 

1. Camp out outside the apartment on the day usps deliver the mail or 
2. Go to usps website and put all the delivery “on hold” so you can pick it up in the post office 

3. Try to cancel ur forwarding mail option. Once usps scanned it it will flag that “ it’s forwarded” and since usps not allow to forward EAD/ GC they will immediately returned the card to USCIS. Happened to me 3 years ago and it’s not pretty to get it back 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Verrou

[OldUser 5,112]

5 minutes ago, Verrou said:

I had issue in 2020 regarding on card delivery.
 

The best way to solve the issue : 

1. Camp out outside the apartment on the day usps deliver the mail or 
2. Go to usps website and put all the delivery “on hold” so you can pick it up in the post office 

3. Try to cancel ur forwarding mail option. Once usps scanned it it will flag that “ it’s forwarded” and since usps not allow to forward EAD/ GC they will immediately returned the card to USCIS. Happened to me 3 years ago and it’s not pretty to get it back 

Thank you for the valuable insight!

#1 - I'll try to do that. May be challenging, as mail gets delivered randomly between 7 am and 8 pm. 

#2 - I cannot put it on hold for rented place. I just literally changed address not long ago with USPS.

#3 - Tried that but not 100% my request was honored. The confirmation email says: "You have successfully canceled your Change-of-Address filing. Your mail will no longer be received at the address you filed cancellation for".

Not sure I understand what they mean by that.

 

What happened in your case and how did you resolve it @Verrou?

 

[Verrou 1,901]

Filed EAD in May 2020,  I thought I will stay in different state temporary, and filed forward mailing with usps ( using my friend’s address) . Ead approved I think July or august 2020.

 

Usps scanned a mail couple of times ( usps tracking ) and when local ( my old address ) post office scan before shipment, it flagged on the system “forwarding mail” that i ordered. The local post master didn’t even try to deliver. Usps will immediately ( or a day later) send it back to USCIS. Because it contained government ID. I called and called and called usps hundred times try to intercept the package ( I’m not in NYC an anymore ) and the last usps person told me, it’s illegal to forward government ID. Notice or receipt is fine but not actual EAD or GC. 
 

I reached out to my local congressperson in NYC at that time, request for help and said please help because I can’t work without it and a week after that USCIS resent to other address in NYC ( my friend’s apartment. 
 

the second time USCIS / usps send that kind of ID, they will request for signature. My friend wasn’t home so usps hold the mail. I take a picture of my ID and my friend picked it up in the local post office. He showed his ID ( with the correct address for USCIS package ) and  brought the copy of my ID. Local post office give the EAD to him. 
 

fiuh…never again I will move when waiting for ID like that 

 

seems like ur forward mail option is deactivate. Now can u put on hold for the package in ur old / current address with usps online.? I know there’s option for “hold for all package” and u can pick it up in ur old/current place 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Verrou

[OldUser 5,112]

2 hours ago, Verrou said:

Now can u put on hold for the package in ur old / current address with usps online.? I know there’s option for “hold for all package” and u can pick it up in ur old/current place 

Thank you for your suggestion! Initially, when I tried submitting Hold Mail request, it showed the address I'm moving to. However, I updated my USPS profile with my old rented place address. It asked me to verify identity using SMS, and profile got updated! According to messaging this profile address is not the same as official change of address. After "old" place's address showed under my profile, I was able to submit Hold Mail request for it!

 

Now, I'm getting some popcorn, because there's multiple possible outcomes to this:

 

1. Extended mail forwarding (non-cancellable) will be honored by USPS and they'll forward mail to my new place

2. Extended mail forwarding won't be honored by USPS. They'll return mail to USCIS because they're not supposed to forward it

3. Hold Maill will take priority over forwarding and the post office hold mail for the old place

4. Something completely random will happen

 

Given all this, I'll leave USPS Intercept feature alone.

 

P.S. I was also able to revert my Informed Delivery to show mail coming to "old" address.

 

Wish me luck! I hope this thread is educational.

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by OldUser