Changing address

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Simps thanks for posting what evidence you've collected. I'm glad to learn three yearss of bank statements is not needed. Also I liked your thread that you started Vanessa. We're getting ready to file in 4 months. Like you we're also preparing early this time and I found your thread very informative. I'll suggest the free app to my husband. In the past I've always been delayed at filing immigration because I find each step new and overwhelming.

I have a question about change of address. We moved around a year an a half ago to another State. The place we first moved into was the basement of this retired teacher's house that I found on the local university's student housing website. She rents her basement out to students each semester and requested that we didn't use her address for our change of address because we'd be there for a temporary period and she didn't want our mail to mix with hers, so I wasn't sure what to do for immigration purposes. We didn't rent a P.O. Box and I didn't think it was acceptable to give immigration that as our change of address.

A few months after the transition place we moved into a more permanent apartment and because of the basement apartment address issue I still wasn't sure what to do about the change of address. Now it's really late to notify them but we're coming up on filing for Naturalization soon. Should I give them the basement apartment address and the time we were there and then the new address where we live even though it's very late notice? I want to be sure they have our updated information, and I have the rental contracts with both of our names on them as proof. I'm just unsure what to do. Plus when I changed my bank account address mail went to her address and I don't want something similar like that to happen with the immigration paperwork. I want to respect the former teacher's request and she might think it strange to get mail for us at this late date.

I figured if the federal government was looking for us for any reason they could find us easily by looking at where we filed our taxes last year and this year or our bank statments.

Edited February 7, 2013 by Dr. A ♥ O

[VanessaTony 3,567]

File the AR-11 for the immigrant and I-865 for the sponsor to your CURRENT address. NOW. Better to do it late than never.

You will need to list your basement apartment address on the N-400 paperwork anywhere it asks for previous addresses.

Edited February 7, 2013 by Vanessa&Tony

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

*** topic split from other thread by other member. PLease make your own threads regarding your own case/ questions ***

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Sure thing Penguin. I was wondering if I should do that anyways. The reason I put my post in their thread is because I wanted to refer to what they wrote and be able to come back and find the information they provided easily. Since this was made into it's own thread I'll just link the thread my post refers to here instead. Link

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Thank you for the reply Vanessa. I didn't know about the I-865.

I went to print the forms out and was directed to another page to read before filing out the AR-11 that sort of answered my questions.

You do not need to include temporary addresses as long as you maintain your present address as your permanent residence and continue to receive mail there. When sending us a change of address, you do not need to include numerous last addresses; only the most recent last address is needed. Link

If I understand that it says we don't have to put any temporary addresses just the current one, and if we maintain a permanent address and still recieve mail there then we don't have to change our address. We still recieve our mail back at the house in the other State and consider it a permanent address for us. Which now that I think about it I also used that address as my permanent address during college for the same reason. I was in school moving around alot and now he's in medical training and we're moving around alot. Where here because he has access to other doctors from the MENA region and Near East that have gone through what he's going through. So now he has mentors here and oppurtunities for observerships at learning hosptials, which we didn't have in the State we came from.

Before we moved here we knew it would be temporary for a few years because we're also going through the medical residency match process, and we'll have to move again. It's a total ####### shoot where we'll end up moving because it depends on where ever he gets matched for the residency. We won't know that until March 2014. That place will also be temporary for us during the residency training which can be for 1-7 years depending on what specialty he matches in. Then after that he says he may want to continue more training which means we'll have to move for a fellowship, which is also 1-3 years, so it will be another temporary place for us.

It will be a little while until we get settled for "the job" as a doctor when he's done with all the United States training that is required here for him to contining practicing his medical profession. That's why we've kept one of my parent's address as the permanent one for immigration.

Another thing going on this year besides the Naturalization process is that he's done with Step 1 and Step 2 CS of the United States Medical Liscenes Examination (USMLE) but still has to take Step 2 CK to become ECFMG certified (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) and thus eligable for the Electronic Residency Applications (ERAs) that happen once a year in September. He doesn't have to but is also planning to take Step 3 before applying for the ERAs. So this year he's taking Step 2 CK and Step 3 and having that wrapped up by the end of August in time for the medical residency match that all the American Medical Graduates (AMGs) and International Medical Graduates (IMGs) apply for in September. Then they travel for interviews at hosptial across the United States from mid-September until mid-February, when the Rank Order List (ROL) is due, so the National Redisidency Matching Program (NRMP) can match in order of preference the potential residents with potential hosptial programs by mid-March. The second Friday of March every year is when all the doctors that applied in September for residency's learn where they're moving and what programs they're in. This whole process is called the Match and finding out where you matched is in March. The residency programs generally start the first week of July but some programs require you start two weeks prior for orientation.

So while we've got the Naturalization process on the table we've also got to go through the Match at the same time. Once he starts his residency as a doctor in the States he'll be working 100+ hours a week and won't have time for vacations so for us there is a limited window for us to travel abroad and for him to see his family again. He hasn't been out of the country or back home since he arrived here so it's been several years and he misses them. This entire time we've been living together. I've been working and he's been studying for his medical exams and getting United States Clinical Experience (USCE) when ever possible and also adjusting to a new country. I imagine that it's difficult enough to adjust to a new country let alone try to pursue becoming a doctor in a new country in order to continue your profession from you prior country.

The reason I'm saying all this is because the Match and potential residency will affect what we may do next and where we decide to move and how we should file the change of address and the N-400. If he finishes his last exams he needs for the match by the end of August here that gives enough time for the exam results to be generated for the ERAs in Septemeber. It also puts us in a good position to move back to our permanent address in the other States. We're currently living in a University town and student come back late August, early September. That is the best time to sell all our stuff quickly instead of moving it with us. We want to go back to the other State because it's where my family is and we consider it a home base. Plus we're planning to travel to several countries where our friends are and make a visit to his home country possibly for several months prior to him starting the medical residency.

We thought that by getting his Naturalization out of the way we won't have to worry about applying for travel visas for his Egyptian Citizen status to countries we'd like to visit on our trip such as Mexico, Brazil, France, England and Germany. Also if he's a USC by the time he goes back to Egypt and travels on his American passport the Egyptian Military won't be able to recall him for service while he's visiting his home. He's already served his mandatory military duty as a doctor but they can recall soldiers for up to 9 years afterwords to serve for a period of 21 days at a time and they can recall them multiple times. They can't have him again if he's a USC and we want to make sure that's taken care of the next time he goes back to Egypt, not only because of our prior experience with them taking him, but because we want to make sure he can get back to the States for his medical residency and nothing messes that up after all our hard work.

If this N-400 process averages 5 months like it says in the timeline function then by filing at our earliest date in June we'll hopefully be done around November. He'll still be interviewing for the match. Then we have to wait on his American passport and the match in March. If he doesn't match, which is entirely possible, then we hit a process called "the scramble" where we have to try to get him one of the avaliable open slots no one matched in. That process happens almost immediately after the match and goes for a week or two. Once we know he's matched and where we're moving and he has his American passport then we'll take off and travel between March and June. Once residency starts it's typically three years but can be anywhere from 1-7 and we won't get another chance like this for awhile.

Ugh. That's all very complicated to write out and explain.

I don't know if we should even notify them of our current move because we may be moving back shortly. It would just be filing another change of address form back to the original address that immigration has currently. That's our permanent address, this is our temporary address, but it's our permanent address for now if that makes sense.

Also after he's done with all his exams for the ECFMG certification to apply for the Match he's considered American Board Certified and can do an externship and get hands on clinical experience instead of observerships. The residency programs like to see some United States Clinical Experience (USCE). While four weeks isn't much after taking Step 1 and getting an exceptional score and having a high performance score on Step 2 CS oppurtunities for externships have already openned up in Portland and Pennsylvania. So there may be a period we're apart again for his medical training. In 2010 he went back East and stayed with his Sister who is a cardiologist and was doing her PhD at Johns Hopkins and BIL who is an Orthopeadic surgeon and also did his PhD at Johns Hopkins. My dh was able to visit and stay with his family and do a medical observership giving him some US experience that wasn't hands on but was better than nothing.

I'm think go ahead and file the AR-11 and the I-865 to our current address now. Then file the N-400 in June with the current address. Then after the last medical exams are done by August move sometime in August or September and refile the AR-11 and I-865 to the permanent address in the other States while the application is still pending. Then I'm home with my family and friends while he may be off to Portland or Pennsylvania for a four week externship and also we start the residency interviewing process so he'll be traveling a lot. At the same time I can watch for the naturalization paperwork and hopefully have the interview and oath ceremony in Boise instead of Portland. Then we could celebrate his new citizenship status and American Board Certifcation status with our freinds and family. On the other hand if he got the externship in Portland it might be better to stay here and finish Naturalization while he's in Portland for the externship. I kind of want to stay here and finish the Naturalization process in one place and be done with it, but I'm torn with wanting to be around my friends and family for the holidays. Plus with keeping track of the Match process and the naturalization process I really need my Mom's travel agent experience to book all the flights and hotels and car rentals for the interviews. Immigration is difficult enough as it is to add all the medical process stuff on top of it.

[lala_xoxo 2]

Just FYI, I will recommend calling the USCIS too and having them manually input the change of address. I use a private PMB for my mails, which means it has some funky letters and acronymns in it and when I did it online, the automated system did not input transfer the Suite and PMB number.

Luckily for me, I called to confirm the change and that is when I found out they had my wrong address and had mailed my FP appointment already. Long story short, I had to have them fax it to me and also had the lady I spoke to update my address manually.

Also, you should get a confirmation mail at your new address if it is done right.

Hope this helps