Address change after Citizenship FP.

[am01]

Hello. I've been scouring these forums hoping to get clarification on my specific dilemma. While I have found a lot of information about address changes I just want to be certain that I what I take away from it is accurate. I do apologize in advance to all who feel this is repetitive, just feel free to point me in the direction of the answer and I will follow.

So, I applied for my citizenship on 4/15 and completed my FP on 5/26. I've had my house up for sale for over 6 months and it finally got under contract yesterday (yes, people are still buying property!). The new buyers want to close towards the middle/ end of July so I'm hopeful that I'll have completed the interview by then (overly optimistic?). My new big concern is regarding my address change (where to move) and the impact it will have on my citizenship application.

1. What would be the impact, if I kept my old address and had all my mail forwarded to a PO Box? I know this is discouraged but I want to understand the implications a little better.
2. What if I rent an apartment in the same zip code as my house? Will this delay the process? I could not find an answer to this.
3. What if I give my friends address as my new address? Will this delay the process? They live in the city next to mine and so I don't believe that this will change the district office. But, how can I confirm that there is no change in the DO.
4. What if I move out of state? I work out of state anyways, so moving close to work sounds great but this will surely change the DO. So the delay would be a minimum of 3 months, not to mention the possibility of additional delay from any loss of information during the file transfer. Correct?

I do plan to file an AR11 within the required time period, but I've also read that the change in address from the AR-11 doesn't automatically translate to a change in address for your citizenship application. If I give my new address for the AR-11 and do nothing for the citizenship application, will all future mail from USCIS get to me? All my mail will be forwarded to my new address, but I don’t know if USCIS specifies to not forward any of their mail.

Any and all advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

- AM

 

[am01]

Hi. Please understand that staying at my current house beyond mid July is not an option. I’m just looking for suggestions as to all the options that are available to me. I’d like to make a decision such that my citizenship application does not get delayed.

Guys, I could really use some advice here. Please help!

 

[baikal3]

Hello. I've been scouring these forums hoping to get clarification on my specific dilemma. While I have found a lot of information about address changes I just want to be certain that I what I take away from it is accurate. I do apologize in advance to all who feel this is repetitive, just feel free to point me in the direction of the answer and I will follow.

So, I applied for my citizenship on 4/15 and completed my FP on 5/26. I've had my house up for sale for over 6 months and it finally got under contract yesterday (yes, people are still buying property!). The new buyers want to close towards the middle/ end of July so I'm hopeful that I'll have completed the interview by then (overly optimistic?). My new big concern is regarding my address change (where to move) and the impact it will have on my citizenship application.

1. What would be the impact, if I kept my old address and had all my mail forwarded to a PO Box? I know this is discouraged but I want to understand the implications a little better.
2. What if I rent an apartment in the same zip code as my house? Will this delay the process? I could not find an answer to this.
3. What if I give my friends address as my new address? Will this delay the process? They live in the city next to mine and so I don't believe that this will change the district office. But, how can I confirm that there is no change in the DO.
4. What if I move out of state? I work out of state anyways, so moving close to work sounds great but this will surely change the DO. So the delay would be a minimum of 3 months, not to mention the possibility of additional delay from any loss of information during the file transfer. Correct?

I do plan to file an AR11 within the required time period, but I've also read that the change in address from the AR-11 doesn't automatically translate to a change in address for your citizenship application. If I give my new address for the AR-11 and do nothing for the citizenship application, will all future mail from USCIS get to me? All my mail will be forwarded to my new address, but I don’t know if USCIS specifies to not forward any of their mail.

Any and all advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

- AM

By law, an N-400 application must be adjudicated in the DO responsible for the area where an applicant's primary residence is at the time of the interview. Also, the location naturalization oath is determined by the applicant's place of primary residence at the time of the oath.

You should not try to be creative and should not try to find any fancy solutions, as you may be committing immigration fraud otherwise. When you move to a new primary residential address, you must notify the USCIS by both filling out an AR-11 and, in addition, by changing the permanent home address for your N-400 application (the N-400 receipt notice explains how to do that). There is no choice here unless you want to be committing fraud. It is not possible to give a P.O. box as the permanent home address. You may specify a P.O. Box as a mailing address, but the locations of the interview and the oath are determined by your permanent home address on file, NOT by your mailing address.

In terms of the effect that a move may have on the processing of your N-400, it might delay it by some three months if you move to the jurisdiction of a different DO (either before the interview, or after the interview but before the oath).
Even if you move within the district controlled by the same DO after the interview but before the oath, it might delay the oath somewhat, but less than if you move to a different DO area.

The reason is that even within the area of the same DO there may be several federal judicial districts. Federal district courts have the right to claim exclusive jurisdiction over all naturalization oaths in their jurisdiction; this may necessitate a change in the oath location. E.g. here in Illinois we all belong to the Chicago DO, but the federal court for the Central Illinois district claimed exclusive jurisdiction over naturalization oaths. For this reason I, since I live in central Illinois, could not have my oath taken in Chicago. If, hypothetically, I had moved from Chicago to central Illinois after the interview but before the oath, the location of my oath would have to be changed and there would be an additional delay (because the oaths in Chicago are given every week, while here in central Illinois they are given about once every three months). Conversely, if I had moved from central Illinois to Chicago, my oath date would probably move up.

The bottom line is: don't try to be creative and just follow the rules. The worst that could happen is that your oath date might be delayed by 2-3 months, but this is far better than getting involved in fraud. In particular, if you move to another state, don't give the address of a friend living in your old zip code as your new home address.


If you move within the same zip code or the same city and notify USCIS quickly, that is not likely to result in any significant delays, for either the interview or the oath.

 

[am01]

By law, an N-400 application must be adjudicated in the DO responsible for the area where an applicant's primary residence is at the time of the interview. Also, the location naturalization oath is determined by the applicant's place of primary residence at the time of the oath.

You should not try to be creative and should not try to find any fancy solutions, as you may be committing immigration fraud otherwise. When you move to a new primary residential address, you must notify the USCIS by both filling out an AR-11 and, in addition, by changing the permanent home address for your N-400 application (the N-400 receipt notice explains how to do that). There is no choice here unless you want to be committing fraud. It is not possible to give a P.O. box as the permanent home address. You may specify a P.O. Box as a mailing address, but the locations of the interview and the oath are determined by your permanent home address on file, NOT by your mailing address.

In terms of the effect that a move may have on the processing of your N-400, it might delay it by some three months if you move to the jurisdiction of a different DO (either before the interview, or after the interview but before the oath).
Even if you move within the district controlled by the same DO after the interview but before the oath, it might delay the oath somewhat, but less than if you move to a different DO area.

The reason is that even within the area of the same DO there may be several federal judicial districts. Federal district courts have the right to claim exclusive jurisdiction over all naturalization oaths in their jurisdiction; this may necessitate a change in the oath location. E.g. here in Illinois we all belong to the Chicago DO, but the federal court for the Central Illinois district claimed exclusive jurisdiction over naturalization oaths. For this reason I, since I live in central Illinois, could not have my oath taken in Chicago. If, hypothetically, I had moved from Chicago to central Illinois after the interview but before the oath, the location of my oath would have to be changed and there would be an additional delay (because the oaths in Chicago are given every week, while here in central Illinois they are given about once every three months). Conversely, if I had moved from central Illinois to Chicago, my oath date would probably move up.

The bottom line is: don't try to be creative and just follow the rules. The worst that could happen is that your oath date might be delayed by 2-3 months, but this is far better than getting involved in fraud. In particular, if you move to another state, don't give the address of a friend living in your old zip code as your new home address.


If you move within the same zip code or the same city and notify USCIS quickly, that is not likely to result in any significant delays, for either the interview or the oath.

Baikal3, Thank You!! You gave me just the answer I was looking for. My closing is not till next month and I can still pick the right place to move. I laid out all the options in this post so that people viewing/ responding to it could give me the best possible choice, and you have.

FYI. I will, most likely, be moving to another address in the same city/ zip. Thanks again for your help.