USCIS definition of "residence"

[ryna 132]

Last night I was talking with my finacée when I mentioned to her that, due to the economy, I may have to open myself up to some out-of-state contracting in the short-term. This terrified her in that she thought I'd be abandoning her when she arrives and leaving her alone in a strange place where she knows no one. Of course, as she'll have no job obligations or even the possibility of any when she first arrives, I told her that if I have to live out of an extended stay hotel for a month at a time to contract out-of-state (but within the US, of course) that she'd be at my side, not left behind, alone, in our house.

Now, the question is this: I know that working out-of-state short-term does not change my residency (tax purposes, voting purposes, etc.) as long as I maintain my domicile but what is the rule for updating her address with USCIS? Would she have to update it every time we bounced back and forth, assuming a schedule of 4 weeks on-site, one weekend back at home each month? Also, knowing that the out-of-state address would probably change (if only by room number) each time and is a hotel, would this make a difference? Can you even receive mail at a hotel? I honestly don't know as I've never had to consider this before...

Hopefully, this situation won't come to pass but it is fairly common in my industry these days and our permanent address would never change. I would prefer that all USCIS correspondence arrive at our house (or that of my designated caretaker) not at some hotel, possibly on the other side of the continent.

Does anyone have experience with this?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Well easy answer is - what if you had the means to travel extensively? What if you went on holiday to Hawaii for a couple of months, does that mean you live there? No. You're simply vacationing.

What if you're a truck driver who travels the country and sleeps in his truck a lot of days?

Honestly your residence is the house, or unit, or caravan or something you call home. I doubt you call these hotels home. For me while at Uni my mail went to my parents house, that's my "base". I may have technically slept somewhere else, but I never officially moved, I was always just a visitor or "away for school" just like you're away on business.

Put your house on the forms as your residence. Make sure you have someone checking your mail (as you would if you were on holiday). No problem.