Address change/mail forwarding

[baikal3]

I'd like to discuss the situation with forwarding of INS mail after a change-of-address request is filed with USPS.

One opinion I've seen on immigration boards (perhaps even here) is that:

INS letters are sent via first class mail (true, as far as I can see) and therefore they will be forwarded to a new address for up to 12 months if a change-of-address request is filed with a Postal Service.

I am rather doubtful about the last part. All the pieces of mail I ever got from INS have an endorsement "Return Service Requested".

I've read the explanation of what this means at the USPS web site: www.usps.com/ncsc/address...te/ace.htm


It says:

"Undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail is forwarded, returned to sender, or treated as dead mail depending upon authorization for the particular mail class. An ancillary service endorsement is used to instruct the Postal Service regarding the mailpiece's appropriate disposition upon determining that it is UAA. On First-Class Mail, the following endorsements may be used as an updating method to meet the move update standard:

Return Service Requested. If UAA, the mailpiece is returned with the new address or reason for nondelivery; no charge.

Address Service Requested.

Months 1 - 12: the mailpiece is forwarded; no charge; a separate notice of the new address is provided; an address correction fee is charged.
Months 13 - 18: the mailpiece is returned with the new address attached; no charge.
After month 18 or if undeliverable: the mailpiece is returned with reason for nondelivery attached; no charge"


This seems to indicate that a letter with "Return Service Requested" endorsement will be returned to sender even if a change-of-address request is on file.

Does anyone have any opinions and/or experiences regarding this?

[boosman]

****,
Before you got your Green Card did you move residences? If so, did you file change of address AR-11 for each move? I certainly didnt before getting a GC. Can the INS use this fact for intiating deportation proceedings? Can the INS be this vindictive?

I have been at the same address when I filed the Labor, I-140 and I-485. I have not moved after getting the GC. I do not have to file AR-11, is that right?

[baikal3]

****, I believe you are mistaken.

Even if a change-of-address request is filed with the postal service, a letter will not be forwarded if it is marked "Return Service Requested". (All the pieces of INS mail that I have received so war were 1-st class mail with "Return Service Requested" note).

This is confirmed by:

1) the USPS rules cited in my orignal post.

2) I called my locall Post Office and they confirmed that my understanding of the rules is correct.

3) I also conducted an experiment. I do have a 3575 change-of-address equest on file with the Post Office and I receive lots of forwarded mail at my new home address. I have mailed myself a letter from my work address to my old home address, 1-st class with "Return Service Requested" notation.

The letter was not forwarded but was returned to my work address. It had a yellow printed label attached to it saing "Return to Sender" and giving my New home address as well.

Admittedly, I have not received my plastic card yet, but I somehow find it difficult to believe that INS would send such an important document without "Return Service Requested" notation, while they use it for all their other correspondence. I asked our Post Office about this. They said that sometimes a postal worker may miss the "Return Service Requested" endorsement and forward the letter by mistake. But one cannot count on it...

[Aibolit]

My Green Card came in a plain white envelope without any remarks on it, which means it would have been forwarded to the new address should I have moved by then.

[baikal3]

Thanks a lot, Aibolit!
This is quite a relief: although I did try to inform INS and NSC about my new address in every way possible, I do not particularly trust them to change their records...