CIS change of address issue

[RealPi 0]

Hi all

I am simply copying this message over from the Removal of Conditions forum because I believe it probably fits much better in this forum.

I would like to present an interesting thing that happened to us today as regards a letter we received from CIS. First though, the background to the story.

We were living in St Louis last year and we moved to Wisconsin last June. A few days after we moved we sent both my change of address form (AR-11) and my wife's (the sponsor's) change of address form (I-865)priority mail to the appropriate addresses (DHS/USCIS Services, London, KY and Nebraska Service Center, Lincoln, NE respectively) with signature confirmation and photocopying the post office forms at the post office before they left (we asked the post office personnel and they were kind enough to oblige). A few days later, both forms arrived at their respective addresses and we received signature confirmation by email which we printed for our records. It is important to also note that at the time I did not have any pending cases running with CIS; I already had my conditional green card. Nevertheless I did call the USCIS Customer Service phone number just to make sure, and a rep confirmed to me that since I had no pending case with CIS, sending AR-11 (and of course I-865) were all that was needed. A few days later we also received an NOA I-797C for receipt of the I-865 form from Nebraska telling us all was OK and they showed the correct new address. However I never received an NOA for the AR-11 but I figured that this was just a change of address and they may not send any information on the matter.

At the end of October, my green card expires so I and the wife had in the meantime already prepared the I-751 joint petition with all the appropriate material and evidence and sent it within the 90-days window, a few days ago. It was received on Monday by a CIS officer at the California Service Center (where the Wisconsin I-751 applications are meant to go to).

So far so good.

Today I received a strange letter from USCIS, from the Nebraska Service Center which I found odd as I had been expecting an NOA from CSV. However, this was nothing to do with my I-751 form but the following thing happened.

Apparently, DHS/USCIS (from 850 S St PO Box 87751, Lincoln NE 68501-7751) wrote to me to inform me that:

"The records of the Service indicate that you entered the US as a conditional permanent resident on [DATE]. In accordance with Section 216 of the Immigration and Nationality Act you must file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. Failure to do so may result in the automatic termination of your Status. You can obtain From I-751 ....[etc etc]".

So it was kind of nice of them that they now INFORM immigrants with conditional cards about 90 days before the expiration of their conditional green card that they need to file I-751 within said window. However, this was not sent to us in Wisconsin but to our old address in Missouri! The post office that has been redirecting our post all along, saw it, presumably contacted CIS, so what I received in the end was the above letter from CIS from Nebraska (with a redirection notice from the post office) together with an additional note from Nebraska Center saying:

"We received notification that your address has changed. If this is incorrect please contact the Service Center immediately. If your address has changed you must also complete an AR-11 Change of Address form and mail it to the following address in order for us to completely process your address change: [London, KY address follows]

Every person over the age of 14 who is not a citizen of the US or in diplomatic status must complete a Form AR-11 within 10 days of an address change. An AR-11 form has been provided on the reverse of this letter for your convenience. Where possible please provide an A-number (from your alien card) or other identifying numbers. You must complete the Form AR-11 and mail it to the above London, KY address. Failure to complete all applicabler sections may delay processing of the form. Please disregard this notice if you have submitted an AR-11 form to DHS/USCIS within the last two weeks to the address listed above.

You may obtain additional copies of the AR-11 form from...[etc]"

Of course they sent this not realizing I had already done this a year ago when we moved to Wisconsin; it was they who were in error.

I called Customer Service phone number and was told that it happens sometimes that the CIS sends the info by mistake to the old address and I should make an infopass appointment to speak with an immigration information officer as soon as possible so that the record of the address is properly registered with CIS. He also told me that there is nothing to worry with regards the I-751 form that was sent as regards awaiting an NOA from them, but I should speak with an officer as soon as I can about the issue of the address. He also confirmed to me that the letter from Nebraska was a reminder that I need to file my I-751 in the next three months, as I had thought.

Well, I did make an appointment for me and my wife (it would be good for her to come too) at our local center for next Wednesday (it is a couple of hours drive), which is the earliest we can make it. I will bring these letters I received, all the evidence that AR-11 and I-865 were sent on time and who received them as well as the NOA for the I-865 we got back plus of course the INFOPASS receipt (and ID for both of us) including a copy of the I-751 package signature confirmation when it arrived in California.

Beyond this, is there anything else I should bring with me?

Also, is there anything else I should perhaps do? Is it possible e.g. to contact the Nebraska Service Center and let them know directly before Wednesday about this issue or should I just wait to speak to an officer on Wednesday? And if I should contact the Nebraska Center what are their phone numbers? I only know of one Customer Service Number (the one I called) and an email address that I should not write to unless I have a pending case with them. Who should I speak with, if anyone? (Apart from the officer on Wednesday, that is).

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas if I should do anything else in the meantime or should I just wait until we go to our local service center on Wednesday?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help!

Real Pi

[RealPi 0]

This topic is now being discussed in the Removal of Conditions Forum, so please if you have any comments bring them there and ignore this post otherwise; thank you. One useful input you could bring to the discussion is this: did you ever get an NOA for an AR-11 filed? We have yet to establish if NOA's are given out for AR-11's as they are also given for I-865's for example. Thank you.

[ruby_7 45]

Hi,

If you want to make sure that you have a file of new address for USCIS, you can fill up again an AR 11 online since this is faster and automatic updating of the address for the Permanent Residents. When you fill up an AR 11 online, just follow ALL the instructions as you go through on it step by step.. I had this same experience before when I temporarily moved, I did the AR 11 online twice and sent also an AR 11 (paper based) to Kentucky but never received a confirmation letter. And the funny thing happened was when I filled up an AR 11 for the second time because I lost my 10-yr green card and I had a pending case for my lost green card and it ended up delivered to my old address but then thanks to the USPS since they re-delivered and forward it to my present address. This happened because I didn't click the pending case section of the AR 11. That's why, I re-filled another AR 11 clicking the pending case section, and also I called the USCIS hotline and they told me that I can fill up again another AR 11 and click the pending case section on it to make sure the replacement card be delivered on my present address. And it was successful in the end.....

[LA80 3]

This topic is now being discussed in the Removal of Conditions Forum, so please if you have any comments bring them there and ignore this post otherwise; thank you. One useful input you could bring to the discussion is this: did you ever get an NOA for an AR-11 filed? We have yet to establish if NOA's are given out for AR-11's as they are also given for I-865's for example. Thank you.

I hope the Infopass worked for you RealPi and that all is ok now. Let us know what happened when you have time.

[LA80 3]

I still think that the whole mess with addresses is caused by them not updating the system and database. Not that they only did not update my address, but Nebraska Service Center still has in their records that I entered as a conditional resident and sends me a ROC notice via Vermont to my old address. I got a 10-year GC over a year ago! I was CR at first due to USCIS error and had to file I-90. I am really upset by all this because we do not know if one day they will send me a notice on hearing or something to our old address since we did not file I-751 (we are not supposed to). And then, maybe I receive the notice, maybe I do not receive the notice.

[RealPi 0]

Hi,

If you want to make sure that you have a file of new address for USCIS, you can fill up again an AR 11 online since this is faster and automatic updating of the address for the Permanent Residents.

While this topic has continued on the I-751 Forum, I felt I should reply to this now that I have the info. In fact, what you write is incorrect because the problem was never with London, KY; they had and continue to have the updated info. It is just the VSC never checked with Kentucky if any new address was available and automatically sent it to the one they had on their system since the time I had been doing the 485 material.

Since the problem was never with Kentucky, filling out an AR-11 would be not only pointless (they have the info already) but problematic. For, HOW do you fill in the AR-11 details now, say a year after you moved? What date do you put underneath? And to what effect?

As it turns out, the best action is this: soon after you file your AR-11 online or by snail mail, write a letter to your local CIS office requesting they ensure for you that all CIS departments have the correct address, INCLUDING London, KY (the one who picks up the AR-11 forms in the first place). This is important to do since you will NOT receive a NOA from an AR-11 and the I-865 NOA that you will receive shows only that the NSC has your new address on record. Once you do this, you will possibly be able to prevent VSC (who sends out these auto-reminders) from getting confused. Of course, before you even file your AR-11 and move, you must also set up redirection of mail with the Post Office. Form PS3575 I believe, and it can be done online.

Finally, you are correct that they prefer AR-11 to be filled online. However I prefer the 'offline' version because this way I know for sure that a human being picked up the form and it is less likely that they did not input the info (whereas online someone might neglect to copy over the info). Of course, I could be wrong and most likely either way it is the same thing. However, in our case VSC boo-booed even though London, KY had the correct address.

Cheers

Real Pi

[RealPi 0]

I still think that the whole mess with addresses is caused by them not updating the system and database.

Bingo. This is the crux of the problem. Most likely for security purposes, our details are not there for the picking of all departmental levels simultaneously and for all personnel. For example, perhaps an IO from VSC might have access to the London, KY details but if the person who deals with this auto-reminder has lower security clearance, they might not be allowed to view all the info on us, for obvious security risks involved and simply be looking at an outdated part of the database.

After London, KY updated the system with our new address (which we know happened successfully -- for the IO did not notice any new changes from London, KY which means they received our change of address form last year with success) last year, the question is: who is responsible for updating the various other systems? I doubt it is London, KY. Most likely someone from VSC, but it could be anyone from anywhere. These are internal matters and of course not discussed in public; it all comes down to who updates what and where and it also appears making changes to the system is very difficult to do and time-consuming and in many cases it appears that there is no need to do anything unless there is a reason e.g. if say CSV had a wrong record we'd be in trouble. That there is nothing that should be done, so long as CSV picked up our I-751 and sent us the NOA at the proper address, is something the IO stressed.

Consequently, sending out 5 SASEs to be returned to us would most likely either be ignored or taken care of while at the same time causing a huge delay to our petition and most likely to other peoples' petitions as well .

Thanks again for all the input from everyone.

Real Pi