Urgent question about living 3 months in local district

S

stoun

Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone,

I just applied for citizenship and I have a big concern. I have been living and working in California in the past 2 years. Prior to that I lived in Lousiana for a while. I never changed my Driver's license to a california one because my home is in Louisiana and I am in California for work only.

I did apply in California because I lived here for 3 months before I applied. I know at the time of the interview they always ask for the Driver's license. I am very concerned about this because I will be asked to why I still have a louisiana driver's license and not a california one.

I do have proof that I have been working in california for that past 2 years.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
If your main residence is in Louisiana and you never changed DL or GC address, then you should have applied from Louisiana. Contact USCIS and try to have them transfer your case to Louisiana instead.
 
Thanks Bobsmyth for the reply. I did call USCIS before I applied and they told me that you apply where you lived the last 3 months which, in my case, is california.

My concern here is that I never changed my License to a california one because my house is in Louisiana. (I rent an appartment in california and work in california.)

I did apply in california because that is where I live now but the problem is that my license still says louisiana.

Thanks
 
that's something I have never heard of. Are you supposed to change the address with USCIS every time you move?
 
stoun said:
that's something I have never heard of. Are you supposed to change the address with USCIS every time you move?
Click to expand...

Yes. Look for AR-11 form online, or you may be able to do it over the phone. It's a legal requirement and you may be deported if you do not comply (but do not worry, I doubt anybody has ever been deported because of that).
 
INA 266(b) establishes the consequences of failing to report address chances:

Willful Failure to Give Notice of Change of Address According to INA §266(b), a willful failure to give written notice to INS of a change of address within 10 days of the change is a misdemeanor. If convicted, the alien (or parent or legal guardian of an alien under age 14 who is required to give notice) can be fined up to $200 or imprisoned up to 30 days, or both. The alien may also be taken into custody and subject to removal from the United States, unless such alien establishes to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that such failure was reasonably excusable or was not willful. Compliance with the requirement to notify INS of any address changes is also a condition of an alien's stay in the United States. Failure to comply could also jeopardize the alien’s ability to obtain a future visa or other immigration benefit.
 
1) use form Ar-11 to report your current address (california) as soon as possible.

2) Apply for california driving license.

If you get it good other wise keep the record that you have applied for it. You may some explananing to do to USCIS and california department of motor vehicles.

If you donot want to change driving license then

I belive you can use your original passport to establish identity and some other california documents (utility bill, renting agreement , bank statement) to establish residency for 3 months.

Contact USCIS to see if this will suffice.


vik_b
I am not a lawyer. Please treat my comments appropriately.

PD 7/29/08
FP 8/23/08
IL 10/15/08
I and Oath 11/20/08
 
stoun said:
Thanks Bobsmyth for the reply. I did call USCIS before I applied and they told me that you apply where you lived the last 3 months which, in my case, is california.

My concern here is that I never changed my License to a california one because my house is in Louisiana. (I rent an appartment in california and work in california.)

I did apply in california because that is where I live now but the problem is that my license still says louisiana.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Agreed with USCIS. You have to apply from California, where is your current main residence, even you consider yourself a visitor to California. You would be denied if you applied from LA, where USCIS does not have jurisdiction over your case, beause you are not a commuter. Also holding one state's licence is not eqivalent to being a resident of that state.

I don't think driver's license has the final say of your residence. Instead, employment letter (stating pay, work schedule, and location where you physically work) and student ID are the ultimate proofs. This is why USCIS wants you to put down your work employment/schooling history on N400. So, I would recomment you change your driver's license and bring a emplyment letter to the interview.
 
If you haven't changed the address on your GC or DL and you applied in California, I can't see how you can claim/prove that you were a resident for at least 3 months. Also, an employment letter is far from proof that you are a resident of a state, especially in today's market of contractual work and temporary assignments.

Another determination of resideny is what state you claim to be a resident of for tax purposes.
 
I filed california taxes in both 2006 and 2007. I also signed lease contracts that I can provide as proof.

I called the USCIS this morning asking about what I need to do. I asked if I need to change my address with them and If I need to change my driver's license. The lady asked if I took all my belongings and move to california and I said no. She then said that I don't need to do anything.

I seem to be getting different answers from different people.

Again, the question is: should I change my driver's license and do an address change?

Thanks for everyone's input.
 
3 months=90 days?

I have a somewhat related question on the 3 months rule. If one moves to a new state on Dec 1st, when would s/he be eligible to apply for citizenship (assuming all other conditions are met)? Is it on March 1st, after 3 months, or do we need to count 90 days? thanks
 
stoun said:
I filed california taxes in both 2006 and 2007. I also signed lease contracts that I can provide as proof.

I called the USCIS this morning asking about what I need to do. I asked if I need to change my address with them and If I need to change my driver's license. The lady asked if I took all my belongings and move to california and I said no. She then said that I don't need to do anything.

I seem to be getting different answers from different people.

Again, the question is: should I change my driver's license and do an address change?

Thanks for everyone's input.
Click to expand...


Yes, you need to change address to CA to avoid confusion at the interview.
CIS needs to have jurisdiction over your case to proceed, and the jurisdiction is determined using your physical presence and not by any legal documents unless you are a student or a military personnel. Legal documents are meant to support your physical presence, not to substitute your physical presence. Since you are living (i.e., physically work) mainly in CA in the past years, then your case has to be processd in CA. (Assuming your are not commuting between two DOs.)

You may choose file from Lousiana and be interviewed there, but when you tell IO your work location was and you lived mainly in CA in the past years before filing, I doubt you would have any chance to pass the interview.

So change your DL, bring lease, utility bills, employment letter (stating where you physically worked), bank statement showing your ATM transactions, and cell phone records showing from where your calls were made to prove your physical presence.
 
stoun said:
Hi everyone,

I just applied for citizenship and I have a big concern. I have been living and working in California in the past 2 years. Prior to that I lived in Lousiana for a while. I never changed my Driver's license to a california one because my home is in Louisiana and I am in California for work only.

I did apply in California because I lived here for 3 months before I applied. I know at the time of the interview they always ask for the Driver's license. I am very concerned about this because I will be asked to why I still have a louisiana driver's license and not a california one.

I do have proof that I have been working in california for that past 2 years.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I would either get ID card from DMV and take that to interview or just simply will change my DL while still have time because it is easier,cheaper and faster than transfer the file.Keep in mind that it is legal to have valid ID card from diffrent states but having more than one valid DL is not.
 
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I would like to know what exactly you did. I am in a similar situation. I live in New York (queens). I just moved to California for work reasons on 9/15/2008. I am in a corporate apartment. I moved my car from NY to CA. I got the insurance in CA. I have not registered my car in CA. I have not got my license transferred. I would be able to apply for my citizenship in 1/1/2009. Should I apply from NY or CA?
 
Since I lived in California the 3 months before applying, I applied here in California. I also went ahead and changed my driver's license and registration to California. I figured it might get very confusing at the time of interview because I am applying in California, yet my license says Louisiana.

I did get different answers when I called the USCIS number.

I believe that the safest thing to do for you case it to change your license to California this way you can prove that you lived in California and that is why you are applying here.


Good luck
 
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