SoniaShah

Hello,

I have a pending H1-B transfer petition (filed about a month ago) with my employer here in Arizona. My husband lives/works in Wisconsin. Soon after filing my H1-B transfer petition, his naturalization interview got scheduled. He recently got thru his interview and is now scheduled for his oath ceremony for early December.

Till now, due to my H1-B visa status and our job locations, we have been unable to live together since getting married about 9 months ago. We would therefore like to file for my spouse-sponsored adjustment of status petition once he gets naturalized in December. We consulted with an immigration attorney to understand what might be the best way to go about it. We understand that once the AOS petition was filed, I would be in valid status, which would in turn allow me to quit my job, (if need be) and move to Wisconsin and live with my husband.

I have listed some of the advise from the attorney which has in turn created some confusion for us now that my husband and I have started filling out the paperwork for the AOS petition:
1. The attorney advised that if I wished to quit my job and move to Milwaukee, it would be prudent to do so only after my spouse-sponsored AOS petition was filed and we received the Receipt Notice from the USCIS office. If I quit my job and moved to Milwaukee BEFORE filing the AOS, I would be considered out of status. Since the LCA filed with the pending H1-B transfer petition had listed a place of work in Phoenix, moving to Milwaukee BEFORE filing the AOS would violate the requirements of the LCA. He therefore advised us to enter my Arizona address in the various forms that need to be filed for the AOS petition beneficiary (namely, Part 1 of form I-1485, applicant's present address in G-325A, Qs 3 in I-765, etc) and that my husband enter the Wisconsin address in the I-130/G-325A and other forms to be submitted by the petitioner.

2. He also mentioned that since I will move to Milwaukee soon after filing the AOS petition, we could use that as our "primary residence" and hence it should be OK to file the AOS petition with the Milwaukee office. This seems to contradict the instruction in the I-130 form which mentions that the AOS petition should be filed with the USCIS office having jurisdiction over the beneficiary's place of residence.

Our concerns/questions are:
a) If we entered my Phoenix address in the I-485 and other benediciary-forms, as suggested by the attorney in paragraph 1) above, shouldn't the AOS petition be filed with the Phoenix USCIS office instead of the Milwaukee USCIS office?
b) If we filed the petitoin with the Milwaukee office, would the USCIS office use the same reasoning as in a) above to automatically transfer my file to the Phoenix USCIS office?
c) If the petition gets transferred, our concern is that any subsequent paperwork (e.g. EAD card, fingerprint notice, etc) might also get sent to my Phoenix address by the Phoenix USCIS office and hence get lost since I would have moved to Milwaukee. We further understand (per research on this newsgroup) there's a good chance my address would not be updated in the USCIS system from the Phoenix address to the Milwaukee address even if we filed an AR-11 upon my move to Milwaukee.
d) If the H1-B transfer petition is still pending with the California Service Center after we file the AOS petition, would we have to notify them of the filing of the AOS petition in Milwaukee? Similarly, if I move to Milwaukee, would we need to notify them of the address change by filing AR-11?

We would appreciate if someone would review our situation and provide feedback/advise on what the right course of action for us would be regarding:
1. Which address should we enter for the beneficiary's forms (I-485, I-765, etc)?
2. Which USCIS office we should file the AOS petition at?
3. When would it be advisable for me to move from Phoenix to Milwaukee and what are the factors (e.g. pending H1-B transfer petition) affecting the timing of the move?
4. What are the chances the AOS documents sent by the USCIS office might get sent to the wrong address and how can we minimize that?

Sincere thanks for your time in going through this long post and feedback regarding the same,
-Sonia

sphyrapicus

I would enter all of your address information with the Milwaukee address. Why add confusion unnecessarily? If you've followed some of the stories on this NG you will see some of the delays and headaches associated with transferring files, getting address changes recorded, etc. If your husband lives in Milwaukee then you can make the argument that that is your principal residence.

If you plan on leaving your H1-B job anyway, you could move as soon as your hubby has citizenship. Sure, you will be out of status technically but it wouldn't be something to worry about. Most people don't file to adjust status the day they are married. File your AOS timely after his oath ceremony.

It would be courteous to notify CSC about your pending AOS so they don't waste time on a superfluous H1-B that won't be used.

It is too bad you couldn't use the H1-B in Milwaukee. You could be on the H1-B and be a pending adjustment applicant. This would allow you to leave the country without AP and you could continue working on your H1-B while the AOS was pending. You wouldn't need an EAD (typically taking over 90 days to receive) if you had the H1-B. Is that an option?

Bottom line here is don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. There is no reason to get all confused over multiple addresses. Keep it simple and use Milwaukee.

Noorah101

Hi Sonia,

I have no experience either with a change of address, nor an H1-B visa. Therefore, I hesitate to give any advice, except as sphy said, if you can use the Milwaukee address for everything, that would be preferable. From what I hear, change of address can be a nightmare.

Best Wishes!
Rene

SoniaShah

Hello sphyrapicus and Rene,

Thank you for your replies. We were also thinking along the same lines, i.e. filing the forms with the Milwaukee address. However, the attorney seemed to insist that the "right way" to do it would be to file the petitions with each of our current addresses (as of the filing date) and inform the immigration authorities re. the change of address after the move to Milwaukee. I guess he might be advising "by the book" without taking into consideration the "reality of situations" such as filing AR-11 after move, for liability purposes?

Another option someone suggested to us earlier today to simplify things was to look into hiring an attorney to file the adjustment of status for us. This way, he said, even though it may cost us some money, we should be able to avoid me being out of status AND avoid complications from the documents getting lost after my move to Milwaukee because the immigration authorities would also send copies of the various paperwork/notices (i.e. EAD, AP, Fingerprint notice, etc) to the immigration attorney representing us.

In reality:
1) Do the immigration authorities send copies of ALL documents (EAD, receipt notice, AP, Fingerprint notice, interview letter) to the representing attorney? Or is the reality that they are "SUPPOSED TO" send the copies to the attorney, but they dont really get copies of ALL documents. In other words, would hiring and paying an attorney to represent us make the change of address really a non-issue or would there be an imperceptible change in the risk of us losing our documents (not to mention the attorney fees)?

2) Does it happen that some documents are only sent to the applicant and not the attorney, thus defeating the purpose?

3) Also, we understand not all documents are processed at the local office. The I-765 and I-130 are processed by the NSC. Is this true? If so, how does it complicate things?

The person that suggested this option to us has a lot more experience than us dealing with immigration related issues and has been regularly participating in newsgroups such as this for sometime now. So to newbies like us, it did make sense, especially because I have first hand experience that the above approach works for H1-B petitions since all my H1-B transfer petitions have been handled by attorneys and I've been able to change residences in Phoenix without having to worry about change of address related issues. However, whether such an approach would be as straightforward for AOS (as it is for the H1-B) petitions, especially those involving inter-state moves, is something we would like clarification on.

Plus, the person that suggested this approach is not an attorney and does not have experience with a case such as ours and therefore suggested posting his suggestion on the newsgroup for others to comment on the feasibility of his suggested approach.

We would appreciate comments from the experts on these newsgroups and wonder which of the above two options would be more straightforward and realistic.

Many thanks again for going through our long-ish posts - we are trying to explore as many options as possible and try to determine which one might work the best in our case.

Thanks again,
Sonia

USA & Pakistan

Right now you are back and forth between the two addresses, right? They are both yours. And since you will be living there full-time soon, it only makes logical sense to use that address. If you do end up using your current address, I would put an alternate Mailing Address very clearly on the forms as the Milwaukie one.

An attorney is also a good idea. I have heard of it saving a case or two because the attorney got notification of the AOS interview date when they didn't (even though they submitted notification of change of address). But there is no guarantees in anything along this journey.

Although it is uncomfortable disagreeing with the attorney, i still vote that the safest way is to use the Milwaukie address.

Good Luck!
Marnee

Noorah101

Personally, since you are planning to live in Milwaukee long-term anyway, and it is a valid address that your husband has (and therefore you also have), I would personally submit everything in Milwaukee with that address. It's true the AOS forms go to your local office. How about if you turn the AOS forms in to Milwaukee, with the Milwaukee address? Seems like it could be as simple as that, no?

My husband works in Los Angeles most of the time. But our home and permanent residence for both of us is in Phoenix. Phoenix is the city where we filed AOS and where my husband will have his interview, and is trying hard to open his own business here in Phoenix, eventually. Similar situation.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Folinskyinla

Hi:

When I've been confronted with this situation, I give BOTH addresses and list one as "primary" -- of course, this requires either doing an attachment or using a typewriter on the I-130.

BTW, this situation is quite common outside of the marriage based immigration arena -- many applicants' have kids attending university on the other side of the country and INS/CIS has never had a problem with that.

SoniaShah

Hello,

First of all, thanks everyone for all your feedback - things are really starting to get clearer now, not to mention the stress level is also coming under control.

Rene - Yes, ours is a similar situation and thanks for your continued support and feedback. It looks like the key difference in our cases has to do with the potential complications from my pending H1-B transfer petition (which has my current Phoenix address) and whether using the Milwaukee address in my (G-325A, I-485 etc) forms would create problems when the immigration authorities do a background check on my residence while on H1-B for the last five years. I wonder if and how you guys entered your husband's Los Angeles address and dates in the G-325A form?
We're also planning on submitting the petition (including I-130, I-485, I-131, I-765, I-864, I-693, G-325A and the supporting documents) in the Milwaukee office as both you and Folinskyinla suggested. However, we are thinking of using BOTH addresses while at the same time establishing the Milwaukee address as the primary address (as Folinskyinla mentioned in his post).

Folinskyinla -
Re. I-130: If I understand correctly, the reason you mentioned including a separate attachment to show Milwaukee as the primary address was to override the I-130 instructions on page 3 (which states that the AOS petition should be filed in the local office where the I-485 applicant resides), which in turn, would ensure that the AOS file does not get transferred from Milwaukee to Phoenix USCIS office. Is my understanding correct? If so, that should go a long way in resolving our concerns with regards to the documents getting lost and we would appreciate feedback on how to go about preparing such an attachment. Alternatively, how would we use the typewriter on the I-130 to do the same?

We would also appreciate any help in figuring out which address to fill out in which form. Specifically, which address would we enter for:
- Part 1 of I-485: Should we enter Phoenix address or use "c/o <my husband's name>" and give the Milwaukee address?
- G-325A: Applicant's residence for last five years - Should we use enter the Phoenix address as the most recent address? Alternatively, should we use the Milwaukee address as the most recent address and enter the Phoenix address with a "To date" of December 2004?
- I-765: I understand the I-765 and I-131 are forwarded by the local filing office to the MSC for processing. If we give the Phoenix address on the I-765 form, would the EAD be incorrectly sent to the Phoenix address?
- I-131: Same concern as I-765. However, would entering the Milwaukee address in (Part 3, qs 5d) or (Part 7, qs 3), ensure that the Advance Parole gets sent to the Milwaukee address instead of the Phoenix address?
- I-864: Part 3 - Current Address - Would this be my Phoenix address?

Once again, thanks for everyone's input. It's been quite helpful.

Regards,
-Sonia

sphyrapicus

For all intents and purposes, you live with your husband in Milwaukee. File everything with Milwaukee. Use the Milwaukee address. Yes, the H1-B was for Phoenix but you've now moved to Milwaukee. USCIS understands that spouses move to the city where their spouse lives (even though the H1-B was originally filed for Phoenix). This is not a big deal. You are making WAY more out of it than you should. File when hubby has citizenship and then move to Milwaukee. Being out of status because you quit the H1-B job to move to Milwaukee is the equivalent of going 56 mph in a 55 mph zone. It is technically illegal but no one is going to be issued a speeding violation for going 56, nor is anyone going to put you in removal proceedings because several days passed between when you left your job in Phoenix and when you filed your AOS. Three words come to mind here: mountain, mole, hill...

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Please note that the I-130 and the I-485 ask for "address" -- and not "residence." On the G-325A, put both addresses -- overlapping dates.

Noorah101

Hi Sonia,

My answer might not make a difference in your case, since you have the H1-B visa issue, but just in case others are wondering...we never mentioned a Los Angeles address for my husband at all. He's only there temporarily to work, and he may even travel around the USA working for a while...he's had some offers from New York and Florida.

I'd follow Mr. Folinksy's advice.

Best Wishes,
Rene

SoniaShah

Hi Folinskyinla:

So for immigration purposes, is "residence" considered more permanent than an "address"? If that's the case, then the I-130 instructions would refer to the Milwaukee "address" as the I-485 applicant's "residence", correct?

Thanks for your feedback,
-Sonia

Folinskyinla

Sonia:

"Residence" is defined in the Immigration & Nationality Act. However, it is somewhat different than the normal legal definition. The terms "residence" and "domicile" are legal "terms of art" which would involve a discussion much longer than a NG posting. It is possible to have many "residences" but only one "domicile" -- a "domicile" is one's principle "residence" as detrmined by intent. The INA defines "residence" as is the place of general abode, the principal actual dwelling place in fact, regardless of intent. INA sec. 101(a)(33).

This often confuses people, including me. IOW, don't sweat it.

SoniaShah

Hello Folinsky:

Thanks for your advice. I guess our main reason of concern was the documents being sent to the wrong (Phoenix) address after my move to Milwaukee.

Dont know if, as sphyrapicus mentioned, we may have been getting more concerned than necessary, but it could have been because we had seen this happen to a friend (a natural-born US Citizen) of ours who filed for his wife's AOS couple years back, then they moved within the same town, filed AR-11 in a few days and immigration guys not only did not update their records - but also treated her case as abandoned and closed it. When my friend finally got to talk to someone at the immigration office, they were told that since the case was closed long enough and could not be re-opened, the wife (now well into her pregnancy) would be subject to removal proceedings. Needless, to say, it was a nightmare to get it resolved (as evidence in these and other NG suggest with regards to AR-11 related).

So we thought we'd talk to an attorney BEFORE filing our case, but we ended up getting confused even more with the pending H1-B visa petition issue and that if we entered the Phoenix address in the beneficiary's documents, there's a good chance the petition could get moved to Phoenix from Milwaukee.

Anyhow, in our case, based on your feedback as well as Rene and others, we understand using both the addresses in the G-325A and our respective addresses [Phoenix address for I-485, I-765, I-131 and Milwaukee address in I-130 (except for section C) ] should suffice? Is that correct?

Sincere thanks,
Sonia

GoodGirl_J

I was on H1-B and got married in October 2003. We filed shortly after the wedding, althought I was still living and working in Seattle and my hubby was in Denver. Since we knew that I'll be moving in with him as soon as I get my EAD. We used our Denver address on all of our forms and listed my Seattle address as my previous one, even though I was still living there at the time of submitting all the forms.

I moved to Denver in February 04, when it was time for me to go get the temporary employment card.