Is it dangerous to change address during the final severa months before approval?

O

oven

Registered Users (C)
I need to change to a new address because of my new work assignment. I still work for the same company and both sites are in southern california. I could still stay in the curent address, which means I need to drive about 2 hours to get to work every day due to traffic. Since my RD is early June 2002, it seems like it could be touched or assigned to a officer soon. (God knows).

Is that dangerous to move to a new address right now? I am afraid that those s** officers could mess my application if I make any change to my application.

Any suggestion is appreciated.

Oven
wac-02-2055****
 
Definitely not dangerous, but risky yes. You never know with those a......s. They may not change it properly in their records.
 
I'd say it's just a bit dangerous. I remember several posts here where people got really screwed when they changed the address - either the post office delivered to old address, or CIS never changed the address internally or they left friend's address or something.
However, there was a very interesting post about a month or so ago; the person claimed that he or she was either approved or got an RFE (case pulled off the shelf anyway) about a week after they called NCS and "changed the address", while the "new address" was actually exactly the same as the old one. I'm thinking of doing the same.
 
oven said:
I need to change to a new address because of my new work assignment. I still work for the same company and both sites are in southern california. I could still stay in the curent address, which means I need to drive about 2 hours to get to work every day due to traffic. Since my RD is early June 2002, it seems like it could be touched or assigned to a officer soon. (God knows).

Is that dangerous to move to a new address right now? I am afraid that those s** officers could mess my application if I make any change to my application.

Any suggestion is appreciated.

Oven
wac-02-2055****
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I don't see any harm changing the address. As you are not moving out from California, your application is going to stay at CSC. You do your part and even after that if USCIS do mistake, then it's their problem.
If you applied your I485 through your attorney (or company attorney) all the RFE notice, a copy of FP notice will go to his/her office. So I don't think you will loose anything in mail.
 
I changed my address 2 months ago and updated my address by sending AR-11 and calling BCIS. No Harm..
 
You dont have to sacrifice your personal time for this. I changed address too and recvd all my EAD/AP promptly to my new address. I actually got my EAD approved just the day I called and made a address change, So the lady told me that, that one EAD would go to my old addrss.Though we had notified post office of the fwding address, it returned back to INS and was promptly mailed back to my new address again.
 
Why risk anything when you are this close to approval ??
I've had some friends that did not have a good experience when changing addresses - somebody always forgot to update the records !!
I would stay put till the approval comes thru - after all you do have a choice.
What's 2 hrs a day when you've been waiting years for this damn thing to get approved !?!

Finally its your call :)
 
Don't see any harm in moving. As Mango_pickle says, why put your personal life on hold? 2 hours of commute per day is a pretty darn terrible thing. I hate my 40 min round trip.

But go ahead and be very careful about the change in address process. Don't forget to call INS and make sure they have your correct address on record. Call back after a couple of days and ensure that the address is correct. Also if you have a lawyer, make sure that his address is on file. Usually when they send RFE's and approval notices, they mail it (or a copy) to your lawyer if you have choosen to have your correspondence sent there.
 
FYI : I remember calling twice to make sure they have the right address.

140, he says 2 hrs to get to work. Round trip is 4 Hrs. I would move right away and spend most of that time with my family! But thats me.

Max, you never know if he is close to his approval or not. As he himself said, it could be several months too.
 
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Thanks for all the useful information I got. My scheduled allocation is around mid of July, which means it may be even closer to the "touching", or "REF", or second "FP" date, who knows.

BTW, I sent the first fax inquiry to CSC this moring to check if my application material is still in their building and asked for the second finger print notice. But I don't put any hope on it.

Another question, If I still keep my current address as official one and rent a new one in the new address. Do I need to notice INS? my friend who had GC told me when he moved from one place to another, he received a letter from the department of domestic security for not reporting allocation just in 15 days. He even didn't know how they knew that.

Mango_pickle, you are right, 2 hours one way and 4 hours round trip.

Oven
wac-02-2055****
 
oven said:
Another question, If I still keep my current address as official one and rent a new one in the new address. Do I need to notice INS? my friend who had GC told me when he moved from one place to another, he received a letter from the department of domestic security for not reporting allocation just in 15 days. He even didn't know how they knew that.
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You can keep your current address official only if have access to the mailbox of current address. But remember, all the USCIS mails don't get forwarded. So if you don't have access current mailbox after moving, you are screwed up. In that case you have only one option - notifying CSC for change of address on time.
 
Pralay, when I said "keeping the current address as official" I mean I still own the place and all mails can still get to that address. I wonder if I rent another apartment in another place, does that mean I move to another place and need to noitce INS to avoid trouble? Of course I will spend all my weekday there.
 
oven said:
Pralay, when I said "keeping the current address as official" I mean I still own the place and all mails can still get to that address. I wonder if I rent another apartment in another place, does that mean I move to another place and need to noitce INS to avoid trouble? Of course I will spend all my weekday there.
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If the current property is yours (I mean you own the home), you can happily keep this current address to CSC. In that case, DO NOT provide any forwarding address to post office. If your renting your current home to someone else, ask them to keep your mails carefully. That's it!! Yes, you can rent another place. As both places (your current home and new rented apt) are in LA area, I don't think you need to update CSC/USCIS for that matter. Don't worry about it.
 
Either way, IF you change your place of residence you HAVE to file AR11. It might not be necessary to update your information with INS but AR 11 is a MUST!
 
140_takes_4ever said:
Either way, IF you change your place of residence you HAVE to file AR11. It might not be necessary to update your information with INS but AR 11 is a MUST!
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In AR-11 form there is provision for specifying temporary address. You can provide new apartment address as temporary address (and current home address as permanent address).

On the other hand, as both address are in LA area and you are planning to come back your current address once your new project is finished, I don't think you require to file AR-11. You can claim your current address as your "primary" residence. I don't think USCIS officer is going to come at night and check how many nights you are sleeping here.
 
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