Change of Address Complications for pending I-751

[Sam & Jen 3]

Hello,

 

I am a Canadian citizen and married  to a US citizen.  My I751 petition was filed in March of 2020 while I was living in the US.  Since then, I have had to move back to my home country of Canada due to several reasons:  my wife has a serious mental health condition and I can't live safely with her; I have not been able to find work and am hoping i can find it in Canada; COVID restrictions have made finding work difficult in the USA and I wasn't able to afford full health insurance; my wife has not been reliable in providing finances for me to live separate from her in the USA.

 

I have recently updated my physical and mailing address on my USCIS Online Account.  However, it seems they ALSO want you to file an AR-11 (Change of Address) form online.  When I tried to do this, the form would no accept a Canadian address as the address I have moved to.  Only a US address.  I tried calling USCIS but could not get past the automated attendant to speak with a real agent to chagne my address.

 

Questions:  Do I need to file AR-11 if I updated my address on my USCIS Online Account?  Is there some way to contact an agent on the phone to update the address to a Canadian address?   I am also aware that by moving back to Canada I may have jeopardized my I751 petition and green card status, but I had no other choice:  I could come home, or live on the street.

 

Any help would be great,

Thanks!

[H.Angy 51]

I don't think it is possible to put a foreign address. The system is built for people living here. But i might be wrong...

[mindthegap 2,590]

I believe you can still file a paper AR-11 - in fact the AR-11 page specifically mentions "You do not need to mail a paper Form AR-11 if you use the change of address webpage unless you are a victim of domestic violence, trafficking, and other crimes" which your post perhaps hints at. 

 

There is more to abandonment of status & residence than just being physically out of the country. If you still have ties here, file taxes, have a bank account and what not and consider it your home, being out of the US does not automatically mean game over.

You have perfectly valid and sensible reasons for doing so, and the pandemic compounds things further.

 

But, putting an overseas address is a tricky one. I don't even know if you can.

The least risky option is to put an address in the US c/o someone you trust to scan/forward/keep for you. 

[LirikVJUser 28]

On 12/1/2020 at 5:52 PM, Sam & Jen said:

I have recently updated my physical and mailing address on my USCIS Online Account.

I didn't know it was possible to change the address through MyUSCIS Account if you filed i-751, only if you filed some online form like n-400

There's online AR-11 form, I'm little confused now

[Thegirl 225]

On 12/2/2020 at 8:02 PM, LirikBlaidd87 said:

I didn't know it was possible to change the address through MyUSCIS Account if you filed i-751, only if you filed some online form like n-400

There's online AR-11 form, I'm little confused now

You always need to file AR-11 even when you update your address with the online account it says specifically you must still submit the AR-11. So just do the AR-11 that's what's most important.

[Sam & Jen 3]

Thanks everyone for your responses.  I ended up mailing the AR-11 form via certified mail to the Harrisonburg VA address on the form.  I put my Canadian address as the 'Physical Address', my previous US address, and then my friend's US address as the 'Mailing Address'.  Not sure how this will be received, but we'll see.