Selecting Field Office?

[Lukas97 1]

I (the petitioner) and my fiancée (the beneficiary) are now married on her K1 visa. We are preparing for AOS.

 

I am an itinerant worker, changing states and addresses once or twice per year.

 

Seeing as field offices have vastly different processing times, can I select the fastest field office to which I have ties?

 

My driver's license, work license, university and previous taxes and employment is listed for Tucson (8 months for green card).

My current address and place of employment, until October 2019, is tied to the Phoenix field office (17+ months for a green card).

My place of birth, bank accounts, voting record and permanent address on some taxes and the I129F is Philadelphia (11 months for a green card).

 

We live in Arizona and I don't want to have to fly to Philadelphia, twice, for the minutes-long interview and biometrics. Nor do I want to wait 17 months for Phoenix if Tucson is an option.

 

Can I use Tucson?

[Crazy Cat 41,850]

No.......If you want Tuscon, I suggest moving there before submitting the paperwork.....your Tuscon and Philadelphia ties are irrelevant.  Arizona law requires you update your driver's license to your new residence withing 10 days of moving to a new address.

https://www.162wing.ang.af.mil/Portals/55/documents/imso_info/AFD-080410-079.pdf?ver=2016-12-16-140612-700

 

[Going through 5,671]

 

56 minutes ago, Lukas97 said:

Seeing as field offices have vastly different processing times, can I select the fastest field office to which I have ties?

The field office is assigned (not selected by you) based on where the physical residence is at the time of filing.  You do have the option of later requesting the case to be transferred, but with that option also comes the risk of files being lost in transition/file never being transferred/delay from USCIS as reported by other members here.

 

The interview for AOS is more than just a few minutes....20 is about the average.  The biometrics you do not have to be there for, only she does.

 

Your voting record, place of birth etc. in Philadelphia is irrelevant.

 

Where are you going after the work contract ends in October?  If back to Tuscon...wait until that happens before filing.

Edited August 10, 2019 by Going through

[Lukas97 1]

Ok. Good responses. 

 

Can I sign a lease in Tucson and use that as my permanent residence and mailing address? Address only - I would not be working in Tucson and could say we are wintering there, like so many others in Arizona.

 

Rent in Tucson is only $500/month for a basic apartment and could speed up this process by nearly a year. 

[Going through 5,671]

23 minutes ago, Lukas97 said:

Ok. Good responses. 

 

Can I sign a lease in Tucson and use that as my permanent residence and mailing address? Address only - I would not be working in Tucson and could say we are wintering there, like so many others in Arizona.

 

Rent in Tucson is only $500/month for a basic apartment and could speed up this process by nearly a year. 

"Wintering" is not permanently residing.  Like you say, the only tie to Tucson would be the worked-up lease, nothing else.  Your previous schooling there, your previous tax filings there before marriage is not relevant to the application now filed based on marriage.

 

My only advice: 

 

The last thing a person wants to do is try to "game the system" in any way when it comes to Immigration. 

It rarely turns out the way the person hoped.

Edited August 10, 2019 by Going through

[Lukas97 1]

That is true.

 

In that note, what is our best option? All my evidences of permanent residence are split and frequently changing. In any case, as an itinerant medical professional, I cannot continue a stable job and residence anywhere, and am legally required to transfer at least once every eleven months to keep my job.

 

I could transfer my lease, utilities, drivers license, credit card billing to Tucson, but not work. I typically take several months off from work each winter anyway.

 

What should I do if I truly don’t have a fixed permanent address?

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, Lukas97 said:

We live in Arizona

 

1 minute ago, Lukas97 said:

What should I do if I truly don’t have a fixed permanent address?

The two above  statements contradict each other....you said you live in Arizona?

 

Where are you going in October 2019 after your work contract ends?

 

[Lukas97 1]

‘We live in Arizona’ means we are renting a place and working here for six months of 2019. No Arizona residency, no Arizona bank, no Arizona mortgage. My drivers license is here, my car is registered here, I graduated from university here. But I am officially a Pennsylvania resident. 

 

In October my work contract and rent contract end and we are planning to leave our car and possessions at my brother’s apartment and go to Puerto Rico to a vacation rental house for two months for caving expeditions and mapping. Early 2020 we might be moving to Alaska for six months as that is where there is a critical need, and higher pay, for my medical specialty. The next six months will be somewhere else, and on and on. We could be ‘moving’ three times over the GC processing period.

 

The question is.... how do they define a permanent address?

[Crazy Cat 41,850]

48 minutes ago, Lukas97 said:

Ok. Good responses. 

 

Can I sign a lease in Tucson and use that as my permanent residence and mailing address? Address only - I would not be working in Tucson and could say we are wintering there, like so many others in Arizona.

 

Rent in Tucson is only $500/month for a basic apartment and could speed up this process by nearly a year. 

I agree with @Going through.  Attempted manipulating the system could result in dileries to wrong addresses, documents being returned to USCIS.......It can really create a mess........with USCIS, it's usually best to keep everything simple for them...😀

[Crazy Cat 41,850]

3 minutes ago, Lukas97 said:

‘We live in Arizona’ means we are renting a place and working here for six months of 2019. No Arizona residency, no Arizona bank, no Arizona mortgage. My drivers license is here, my car is registered here, I graduated from university here. But I am officially a Pennsylvania resident. 

 

In October my work contract and rent contract end and we are planning to leave our car and possessions at my brother’s apartment and go to Puerto Rico to a vacation rental house for two months for caving expeditions and mapping. Early 2020 we might be moving to Alaska for six months as that is where there is a critical need, and higher pay, for my medical specialty. The next six months will be somewhere else, and on and on. We could be ‘moving’ three times over the GC processing period.

 

The question is.... how do they define a permanent address?

You are currently a resident of Arizona.....maybe temporarily....but you currently reside there.

[geowrian 22,337]

One's permanent address (residency) is where they lay their head more often than not, without regard to intent.

 

More specifically: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1101&num=0&edition=prelim

Quote

(33) The term "residence" means the place of general abode; the place of general abode of a person means his principal, actual dwelling place in fact, without regard to intent.

 

[JFH 12,190]

*~*~*moved from “K-1 fiancé visa process and procedures” to “Adjustment of status from K visas” - as this is an AOS not K-1 question*~*~*

[carmel34 3,626]

Seems pretty simple really.  Your residence for filing with USCIS is where you are living at the time, where you sleep at night.  So if you file now it's Phoenix.  If you wait and file after you move then you file wherever that is, say PR or Alaska or wherever.  If you first file in Phoenix then move somewhere else during the process, make sure you inform USCIS of all your address changes.  Don't try to game the system, because USCIS has been known to send officers to your place of residence to make sure you are really living there with your spouse.  So if you try to set up a fake address in Tucson and they do a surprise visit and you're not there, it will cause big problems.  Hence, don't go down that road just to try and speed up the process.  My advice is file now in Phoenix and keep them informed of your address changes so that they always know where you are sleeping at night.  Good luck!

[TandSarahJane 178]

Recommend reading this post from an OTR truck driver and some of the issues they encountered with USCIS interviews during Naturalization.  Although not directly related to AOS processes, it may give you an idea of the kinds of issues that you could experience.

 

[SalishSea 17,829]

Another drawback to trying to game the system by adjusting your residence for a specific LFO is that the work loads change frequently.  An LFO with a relatively fast processing time currently may be assigned 3000 extra cases from a busier office next week.