Green card interview location

[Lola99 0]

Good morning everyone!

I applied for my green card end of 2019 and the address I gave at that time was my husband’s grandmother’s address which was in Tennessee. I moved a couple months ago with my husband, in Georgia, changed my address on the USCIS website and got a confirmation e-mail but his grandma just sent me a letter she received from USCIS, a NOA telling me to appear for an interview in Tennessee. I am confused because I called USCIS for a random question around two months ago and in the conversation I remember the agent telling me my case was in Georgia.. 

I can totally go to the interview in Tennessee since it’s only a few hours away BUT I am wondering if that’s okay knowing the agent told me my case was in Georgia? Did they make a mistake ? Should I go to the interview in Tennessee? I am confused and don’t want to take any risk to delay the process. 

Thank you!! 

Edited September 27, 2020 by Lola99

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

What if I tell you USCIS change of address is very unreliable joke? I would proceed with Tennessee appointment. An office change at this time will be a super long wait. You can explain it with proof of address change with your interviewer to see what the officer decides.

[Lola99 0]

21 minutes ago, NancyNguyen said:

What if I tell you USCIS change of address is very unreliable joke? I would proceed with Tennessee appointment. An office change at this time will be a super long wait. You can explain it with proof of address change with your interviewer to see what the officer decides.

It’s definitely a joke!

I deleted my emails, including the confirmation, awhile ago. I’ll call uscis tomorrow and see about it, I know they got my change of address as the agent told me my case was in Georgia but idk how i’m going to proof that 

[Villanelle 4,122]

This is a bit of a mess. You MUST go to the interview they set (or have it canceled). You can not be marked as a no show or your case will be denied. You will then have to file to appeal. This is going to cost you about 600$ (which you may get back at some point far in the future) and it will add significant time to your process. Its much better to show then to try to get it canceled because as you see the same thing that happened with your address change not being processed correctly can happen to your cancelation of the interview!

 

But heres the bad news. Tennessee can not approve you. Unless its some sort of a border state situation where your address is in GA but the local office is in TN- TN can not approve you. You must interview and be approved at your local office. Check online and verify which one is your local office. That is where you must have your interview. If it ends up the TN office is your local office- then theres no problem. If its not your local office, again they do not have jurisdiction. You still go for the interview so as to not be marked as a no show- they may interview you, they may not once you explained you moved. They will then need to send your file to your correct local office where unfortunately you will be placed back into the waiting queue for that office for an interview slot to open up. 

 

I would also suggest following up with your congressman. There are many posts on VJ if you use the search feature on how to do that. Have your congressman verify they have the correct address with USCIS. 

[Lola99 0]

9 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

This is a bit of a mess. You MUST go to the interview they set (or have it canceled). You can not be marked as a no show or your case will be denied. You will then have to file to appeal. This is going to cost you about 600$ (which you may get back at some point far in the future) and it will add significant time to your process. Its much better to show then to try to get it canceled because as you see the same thing that happened with your address change not being processed correctly can happen to your cancelation of the interview!

 

But heres the bad news. Tennessee can not approve you. Unless its some sort of a border state situation where your address is in GA but the local office is in TN- TN can not approve you. You must interview and be approved at your local office. Check online and verify which one is your local office. That is where you must have your interview. If it ends up the TN office is your local office- then theres no problem. If its not your local office, again they do not have jurisdiction. You still go for the interview so as to not be marked as a no show- they may interview you, they may not once you explained you moved. They will then need to send your file to your correct local office where unfortunately you will be placed back into the waiting queue for that office for an interview slot to open up. 

 

I would also suggest following up with your congressman. There are many posts on VJ if you use the search feature on how to do that. Have your congressman verify they have the correct address with USCIS. 

Wow... I hope I can figure this out.

But my husband is military and we move all the time, does it still apply to us ?

 

How do i check which one is my local office ?

Edited September 27, 2020 by Lola99

[Villanelle 4,122]

Of course it would apply. The main thing being military would impact is if you were assigned outside of the US- then they dont consider that as time you spent outside the US if you were on his orders. 

 

It doesnt matter how often you move or the reasons why. The USCIS system is set up by jurisdiction. Its based on your address. https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-a-uscis-office/field-offices Type in your zip code. It will tell you which one is your local office. See I happen to live in a border state situation. There is an office right across the border from us- about an hour away. That is NOT our local office. Our local office is about 6hrs away across the state! 

 

Now there is a chance the TN office will be able to approve your case after interviewing you but its a very very small chance. Due to the pandemic and offices being closed USCIS has shifted around a lot of things. Perhaps TN does have jurisdictional approval to do your case but I dont really think so. There are local offices that have a 1 year or more wait for interviews and I have heard nothing about USCIS transferring them to other local offices to adjudicate so its doubtful that USCIS intentionally set your interview at TN knowing you did an address change and is allowing the TN office to assume jurisdiction. Most likely your case was already at the TN office waiting for an interview slot when you submitted the address change. It wasnt pulled from their queue and sent to the correct new local office so when you reached the top of their list an interview was scheduled. 

 

Again if it is possible for you to attend with out much hardship - go. Bring everything. They may be able to interview you and then transfer the case to the correct local office who can then approve you w/o needing them to also interview you. However they still may decide they want to interview you as well. If you can not go then you really need to make sure you are not marked as a no show. Since you stated you could go I am focusing more information on the situation of you going vs not going. 

 

And you definitely want to follow up with your congressman about the address change. They can help you confirm where your case is and that it is correctly transferred to the correct local office in a timely fashion. Do not rely on information from the 800 #. Get verification through the congressman and if there are any issues having that confirmation will make it much easier to deal with. 

[Lola99 0]

47 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

Of course it would apply. The main thing being military would impact is if you were assigned outside of the US- then they dont consider that as time you spent outside the US if you were on his orders. 

 

It doesnt matter how often you move or the reasons why. The USCIS system is set up by jurisdiction. Its based on your address. https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-a-uscis-office/field-offices Type in your zip code. It will tell you which one is your local office. See I happen to live in a border state situation. There is an office right across the border from us- about an hour away. That is NOT our local office. Our local office is about 6hrs away across the state! 

 

Now there is a chance the TN office will be able to approve your case after interviewing you but its a very very small chance. Due to the pandemic and offices being closed USCIS has shifted around a lot of things. Perhaps TN does have jurisdictional approval to do your case but I dont really think so. There are local offices that have a 1 year or more wait for interviews and I have heard nothing about USCIS transferring them to other local offices to adjudicate so its doubtful that USCIS intentionally set your interview at TN knowing you did an address change and is allowing the TN office to assume jurisdiction. Most likely your case was already at the TN office waiting for an interview slot when you submitted the address change. It wasnt pulled from their queue and sent to the correct new local office so when you reached the top of their list an interview was scheduled. 

 

Again if it is possible for you to attend with out much hardship - go. Bring everything. They may be able to interview you and then transfer the case to the correct local office who can then approve you w/o needing them to also interview you. However they still may decide they want to interview you as well. If you can not go then you really need to make sure you are not marked as a no show. Since you stated you could go I am focusing more information on the situation of you going vs not going. 

 

And you definitely want to follow up with your congressman about the address change. They can help you confirm where your case is and that it is correctly transferred to the correct local office in a timely fashion. Do not rely on information from the 800 #. Get verification through the congressman and if there are any issues having that confirmation will make it much easier to deal with. 

Ok, thank you.

I’ve been looking about the verification through the congressman but I really can’t find it. Where do I start?

Thank you

[Villanelle 4,122]

Everyone has 2 senators and 1 representatives in the house of representatives. You can use google to find out who yours are or a search page like- https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials  Each official should have a webpage and on it there should be a link for 'help with a federal agency' or similar wording. Generally you need to sign a release form for them to speak to USCIS on your behalf. Typically you would go to their local office near you for this but due to the pandemic they are doing a lot of this through email and phone so you dont have to come in. Each official has a staff member that deals with this so dont worry you arent actually emailing directly with your senator! lol. Some are more helpful then others but they can all help you. Thats why I suggested google or searching the forums. People will post about good and bad experiences. Political party doesnt matter. 

[Lola99 0]

18 hours ago, Villanelle said:

Everyone has 2 senators and 1 representatives in the house of representatives. You can use google to find out who yours are or a search page like- https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials  Each official should have a webpage and on it there should be a link for 'help with a federal agency' or similar wording. Generally you need to sign a release form for them to speak to USCIS on your behalf. Typically you would go to their local office near you for this but due to the pandemic they are doing a lot of this through email and phone so you dont have to come in. Each official has a staff member that deals with this so dont worry you arent actually emailing directly with your senator! lol. Some are more helpful then others but they can all help you. Thats why I suggested google or searching the forums. People will post about good and bad experiences. Political party doesnt matter. 

Good morning.

Thank you for your help.

Well, i e-mailed the representatives through their website. I hope I will get an answer. I also called USCIS and asked to speak with a tier 2. She first said to go ahead and send the letter back and ask to be rescheduled in Atlanta but then when I said I lived close she suggested I attend the interview (which I was definitely going to do). She said she can’t predict what’s going to happen, they might proceed my interview if they have enough informations on my case in their inventory. She also said they most likely won’t notice the mistake until the interview is going on. Sooo, I’m just going to bring everything with me, hoping they proceed the interview and send whatever they need to Georgia and that Georgia doesn’t require another one. Fingers crossed.