Change of Address Question (NYC-NJ)

[jwyn3150 1]

Hi everybody! I was wondering if you could help us. My wife did the citizenship interview in Feb in the NYC USCIS district office. We were asked to send some additional docs due to the fact that we were abroad for a long time (around 8 months) and to specifically show proof that we are still together. The thing is that we recently moved out of NY to NJ and did not change the address as we were not sure if it would become our permanent place of stay (Due to Covid) so we kept my family's address in NY.

We’re pretty much just wondering if we should notify USCIS of the change of address since the case would be moved to NJ office, or just keep the one we have for now. The big thing we fear is being pushed to the back of the line in NJ and having to wait even longer.
 

Thanks!

[African Zealot 1,456]

The answer you're going to get here on VJ is do not break the law and the law requires you to notify USCIS when you move. Unfortunately I think following the law in this case could indeed push back your case.

[jwyn3150 1]

27 minutes ago, Ray.Bonaquist said:

The answer you're going to get here on VJ is do not break the law and the law requires you to notify USCIS when you move. Unfortunately I think following the law in this case could indeed push back your case.

Yeah, I figured that would be the case. In normal circumstances we would just change the address and wait, but due to Covid the backlog will be longer than normal, and since we already waited an extra 8 months, we don't want to wait for another 6-12+ months. We're literally 20 min from the city and actually closer to the visa center in NYC now, but it is in another state. My guess is that we'll just have to suck it up and wait.

[bing10 114]

4 hours ago, jwyn3150 said:

Yeah, I figured that would be the case. In normal circumstances we would just change the address and wait, but due to Covid the backlog will be longer than normal, and since we already waited an extra 8 months, we don't want to wait for another 6-12+ months. We're literally 20 min from the city and actually closer to the visa center in NYC now, but it is in another state. My guess is that we'll just have to suck it up and wait.

 

I'm on an almost identical timeline to you. Interviewed in NYC in Feb, and still waiting for a decision. Sorry you have to deal with this too, but glad to hear I'm not the only one.

 

We were also thinking about a move (to Ohio) and wondering what the impact would be.

[jwyn3150 1]

1 hour ago, bing10 said:

 

I'm on an almost identical timeline to you. Interviewed in NYC in Feb, and still waiting for a decision. Sorry you have to deal with this too, but glad to hear I'm not the only one.

 

We were also thinking about a move (to Ohio) and wondering what the impact would be.

Will you end up changing the address if you actually move? We're pretty much still 50/50 on it since we don't want to add the extra time just because we literally moved < 5 miles away. We can still see the city from our window lol

[bing10 114]

4 minutes ago, jwyn3150 said:

Will you end up changing the address if you actually move? We're pretty much still 50/50 on it since we don't want to add the extra time just because we literally moved < 5 miles away. We can still see the city from our window lol

 

I would change the address for 2 reasons. I would be giving up our lease in NYC, so would have no address there any more, and the wait times are less in Ohio. We'd be able to get the Ombudsman on the case due to it being outside normal processing time.

 

Wait times are more or less the same in NJ and NY I think though, so I agree it's a tougher decision.

 

Also, if you've already interviewed, do they definitely move your file to the new office? My lawyer was of the opinion that the decision would still be made in NY, but your oath would be scheduled in the new state.

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by bing10