Moving while N-400 application is in process

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walletless

Registered Users (C)
My wife's N-400 Application is in process and her biometrics appointment is scheduled for 9/20. We currently reside in Seattle, and will be moving to the bay area (California) in October.

I am wondering what we should do, and what would be the effect of this move on her application, if any. We will be filing the AR-11 to notify the move, but will she have to wait another 3 months to get continuous residence in CA state before they can interview and do the oath ceremony?

Thanks for the answers in advance.
 
Submission of a change of address after filing will trigger a case transfer to the new jurisdiction. The actual file containing the N-400 is probably at NBC for pre-processing and she already has her ASC appt. and will not actually move until after the FP appt. There should be no appreciable change EXCEPT for local office processing time frame and probably really bad parking at the USCIS Office.

INA 335 INVESTIGATION OF APPLICANTS; EXAMINATIONS OF APPLICANTS

(f) An applicant for naturalization who moves from the district of the Service in the United States in which the application is pending may, at any time thereafter, request the Service to transfer the application to any district of the Service in the United States which may act on the application. The transfer shall not be made without the consent of the Attorney General. In the case of such a transfer, the proceedings on the application shall continue as though the application had originally been filed in the district of the Service to which the application is transferred.

USCIS has automated N-400 processing and when a change of address is received the jurisdictional transfer is a function built into the program. AFTER she is fingerprinted and IF you have a new address to submit, she can make the change online. She should get a follow-up letter a few days or a week. She should get confirmation, if not, call them and ask if it went through OK.
 
Thanks BigJoe! That helps a lot.

Would it help if we tried a walk-in Biometrics appointment rather than waiting for her original appointment date (9/20)? Will it help speed up her interview & oath date, giving us *some* chance that she can finish the process before we officially move around mid-october?
 
[P.S. What is "ASC asspointment"? Is it same as biometrics appointment?. Sorry if this is a dumb question]
 
walletless said:
[P.S. What is "ASC asspointment"? Is it same as biometrics appointment?. Sorry if this is a dumb question]
Click to expand...

ASC = Application Support Center (the place where you get biometrics captured = fingerprints, photos, and signature).
 
walletless said:
Thanks BigJoe! That helps a lot.

Would it help if we tried a walk-in Biometrics appointment rather than waiting for her original appointment date (9/20)? Will it help speed up her interview & oath date, giving us *some* chance that she can finish the process before we officially move around mid-october?
Click to expand...

There is no evidence that an early walk-in speeds up the overall process. If you do an early walk-in, do it because it's more convenient than waiting until the official appointment date, don't bother with it if you're expecting that it will result in an earlier interview or oath.
 
Thanks again everyone who replied on the thread.

My wife just received her interview schedule letter. It is scheduled on November 2, 2011 - however, we will be moving to CA on 10/25/2011. Should we just wait for 10/25 to file the AR-11 form online, or should we return the interview letter with an explanation indicating that we will be moving prior to the appointment and will have to re-schedule the appointment at a later date in a different service center (San Jose)?
 
I called the customer service number listed on the appointment letter. They adviced us that preferably, we should move couple weeks later otherwise that will delay the entire process, and if we are still resident of WA state on 11/2, she could interview.. however, we cannot do that, so he asked us to return the appointment letter with a note requesting the case to be transferred to the nearest district office from our address in CA.

He also adviced to fill form AR-11 after the move and put the N-400 case number at the end when it asks for it. That will ensure that everything gets transferred correctly.

Thanks!
 
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...nnel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

How Do I Report My Change of Address?

If you use our Online Change of Address, you do NOT need to file a paper Form AR-11.
Have any pending OR recently approved applications or petitions; you need to complete two steps

Step1: File Form AR-11 (online OR by mail),

AND

Step 2: Change your address on any pending or recently approved applications or petitions (online OR by phone at 1-800-375-5283)

Use our convenient Online Change of Address system to complete steps 1 and 2 at the same time. Once you complete Form AR-11 online - the system will also provide you the opportunity to change your address on any pending or recently approved applications. If you use our Online Change of Address to complete Form AR-11, you do NOT need to file a paper Form AR-11.
 
Hi Guys,

I need some advice urgently.. Thanks in advance to whoever replies.

I just realized that my wife's appointment, which was scheduled for tomorrow, is actually scheduled for the DO in Seattle! But we moved to San Jose..
We tried calling the 800 number but they are closed on Sunday, and her appointment is tomorrow at 8am. What should we do? Should we just try going to the San Jose DO, explain everything to an officer, and try to reschedule the appointment to San Jose? Or will that be considered bad? We had properly filled the AR-11 forms, so I am not sure why they rescheduled the appointment to the same DO...
 
We went to the San Jose DO at the scheduled interview time. The lady at the info desk informed us that my wife's "A File" is still in Seattle, hence she cannot interview here until the file is transferred. She asked us to write a letter to both DO's (Seattle and San Jose), asking them to transfer the case and file to San Jose. She also asked us to ensure that the letter clearly states that we had already requested the same previously, but the interview got scheduled at the wrong location. She said that there is a small chance that the interview might show as a "no show", which could hurt her case later, so she asked us to write as much info in the letter and enclose the previous letter and AR-11 confirmation, so the reviewer hopefully understands the situation and does not mark the interview as a no-show.

We called the 800 number listed on the 797 form, and the person on phone said the same thing. Neither the person at the info counter at San Jose DO, nor the one on the 800 phone line could put appropriate notes on the case since they did not have authority to do so.

If there are any other suggestions, please let me know.

For now, I sent a certified mail to Seattle and San Jose DO indicating that the interview was wrongly re-scheduled to Seattle DO, and should have been scheduled at the SJ DO instead. We mailed the original 797 to San Jose DO (copy to Seattle), the previous letter we had written when we requested re-scheduling the interview to San Jose, and the confirmation printout from the AR-11 we filed electronically.
 
What was the sequence of events in this situation?

She had an appt at a Seattle ASC. Then what happened?
 
Thanks BigJoe. Here is the sequence of events:

- Original appointment: November 2, 2011 at Seattle
- Wrote Letter on October 4, 2011 stating that she is relocating to San Jose, and the case/file needs to be transferred there to re-schedule in San Jose. We also mentioned that we will file AR-11 once the move completes (since we cannot file before that). The letter is VERY clear in stating that we are relocating, and the case needs to be re-scheduled AND transferred to San Jose DO. They received the letter on October 6, 2011.
- On October 25, 2011 they mailed a letter with the re-scheduled Interview date to our new address in Sunnyvale. We received the letter on October 28, 2011.. but because of the move/unpacking/etc, I must have neglected to check everything. The letter was from the San Jose DO (i.e. the address at the bottom of I797 was the San Jose DO on Monterey Road in San Jose, CA), but it requested to appear in Seattle for interview on November 28, 2011 at 8am.
- Moved on October 26, 2011 and filed AR-11 same day and added the case # to that request. We received a confirmation letter in the mail on November 4, 2011 that the address has changed on file for the N-400 case number.
- We noticed on November 27, 2011 that the location is Seattle. Tried calling the 800 number, but they are closed on Sundays
- We reached the San Jose DO at 7:35am on November 28, 2011 and explained the situation to the lady at the info counter. She guided us as above.
- Reached home at ~9am, called the 800 number on the form, and the rep said the same thing as the lady at the counter
- Wrote up a formal letter explaining the entire timeline of events, with the enclosed documents I stated in the previous post. Mailed it certified via USPS on 11/28/11. The letter should reach them tomorrow as per USPS tracking data.

Please let me know if there is any other information you need..
 
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Update: Case status has been updated with following: "Our records indicate that requested individuals did not appear as requested for an appointment or in-person processing. This will significantly affect this case. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made or further action taken". I believe, before marking the case as abondened, the officer must check for any AR-11 that were submitted.. Hopefully, he/she sees the AR-11 and reschedules the appointment correctly.. fingers crossed.
 
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Because you did not provide a new residence address, they were only able to change the mailing address for the N-400 and that did not change jurisdiction. Many people use a lawyer or even a responsible family member to receive their mail so there are two address fields and only one is used to determine where the interview will be held.

When writing in response, I hope you made a BIG DEAL about providing the NEW RESIDENCE ADDRESS because this information controls jurisdiction. Many people try to complete as much as possible at a single office location and some will fly in just for an N-400 interview and will only change a mailing address on purpose. Of course they end up having their files shipped to the new jurisdiction for Oath anyway in most cases.

Many folks refuse to believe that progress has been made by USCIS in case management and try to game the system based on horror-stories from "friends" under a less efficient system. Other times, minor errors cause major problems, such as this delay.
 
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BigJoe5 said:
Because you did not provide a new residence address, they were only able to change the mailing address for the N-400 and that did not change jurisdiction
Click to expand...

I did send them the new residence address in Sunnyvale. I don't know how much clearer I could have been in my first letter that was sent that the case needs to be transferred to San Jose since we are relocating there.
Besides, form AR-11 *should* have changed the residence address and jurisdiction right? I specifically added the case number when filing AR-11..

I have already sent the letter this morning.. so I guess I have to just wait for them to re-schedule and hope that they schedule it in SJ this time..

Here is the letter I sent today:

----------------------------------------
<Name>
<Address>
<A#>

November 28, 2011

To:
<USCIS San Jose Office>

CC:
<USCIS Seattle office>

Reference: <Case Number>
Subject: Request to transfer file and re-schedule citizenship interview from Seattle to San Jose field office due to relocation

Dear Sir/Madam,

On October 4, 2011, I had requested USCIS field office in Seattle to re-schedule and transfer my case referenced above to the San Jose Field Office due to my relocation from Bellevue, WA to Sunnyvale, CA (see enclosed copy of letter). My original appointment was scheduled on November 2, 2011 in the Seattle field office. I had also filed form AR-11 (change of address), and added the case number referenced above while filing it electronically (see enclosed confirmation copy).

On October 29, 2011, I received a letter from USCIS (dated October 25, 2011) indicating that my appointment has been re-scheduled to November 28, 2011. The letter came from the San Jose field office; however the appointment was incorrectly scheduled for the Seattle field office instead of the San Jose field office.

I noticed this discrepancy on the date of the interview, and visited the San Jose field office. The person at the information counter (window #3) informed us that our "A file" has not yet transferred to the San Jose field office, and that I should write a formal letter to the Seattle and San Jose field offices descriving the situation and requesting once again that the case be transferred to the San Jose field office and re-schedule the interview for the San Jose field office.

Kindly transfer the "A file" and all required case information to the San Jose field office, and re-schedule my naturalization interview to the San Jose field office. Since the AR-11 form has been filled, the case should already reflect the correct residential address (see above). Please feel free to call me at <phone number> if you have any questions.

<Sign>
<Printed Name & Date>
<A#>

Enclosures:
1) Letter of appointment for interview (original sent to San Jose field office, copy sent to Seattle field office)
2) Copy of letter dated October 4, 2011 sent to the Seattle field office requesting transfer of case to San Jose, along with USPS delivery confirmation
3) Copy of Confirmation of AR-11 form indicating the case number referenced above
4) Copy of recent bank statement for proof of current address

----------------------------------------
 
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Btw, my first letter had the following wordings (verbatim):

"Since I will no longer be a resident of the state of Washington, my case will need to be transferred to the field office in San Jose, California. My new residence address in CA state is:
<new address in Sunnyvale, CA>

Kindly forward my case to the field office in San Jose, and re-schedule my appointment date. Please feel free to call me at <phone number> if you have any questions"
 
baikal3 said:
How did you file AR-11? Online? Or by mail?
Click to expand...

Online. At the end of the form submission process, it asked if there are any pending cases that I would like to apply the address change to, and I added the case numbers for naturalization and my petition for husband's greencard. They also mailed a confirmation letter that the address has been updated on both cases.

The representative on the 800 number also confirmed that they do see that the address has been updated via AR-11, and was not sure why the interview was not re-scheduled for San Jose.
 
walletless said:
Online. At the end of the form submission process, it asked if there are any pending cases that I would like to apply the address change to, and I added the case numbers for naturalization and my petition for husband's greencard. They also mailed a confirmation letter that the address has been updated on both cases.

The representative on the 800 number also confirmed that they do see that the address has been updated via AR-11, and was not sure why the interview was not re-scheduled for San Jose.
Click to expand...

It looks to me like you did everything by the book (except that you really should have read your interview notice for Nov 27 carefully the moment it arrived - and probably should have made a few copies of it right then too), and that the USCIS somehow messed up here and changed your wife's mailing address but not her primary residence address for her N-400 application.

At this point there is not much that you can do on top of what you have done already.

I would, perhaps, suggest that your wife schedule an INFOPASS appointment at San Jose, so that she can talk to an IO there in person and double-check that now they have made the correct address change in her N-400 file (her home address and not just her mailing address).
Also, to be on the safe side, I would send the same letter that your quote in post # 16 above, to the Seattle office rather than to the San Jose office. It looks like the Seattle office still has your wife's A-file, and the transfer process really needs to be initiated there.
 
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