BoraBora

We lived in CT when we filled out & sent I751 form to Vermon Service Center in June 2006.
On June 15, 2006 we received a letter from USCIS stating that they got our application, and that my alien card was extended for 1 year.
Knowing how long it usually takes USCIS to process these applications, we were not expecting to hear from them for a while, so on July 20th we went to Mexico (vacation time ) and on July 31 we flew from NYC to Arizona (relocation). I wanted to change our address when I'm already in AZ, because we rented our apartment online, so I wasn't sure that everything will go smoothly. While we were in Mexico, we received an email from our friend, (whose address we were using to forward our letters from CT), saying that he got a very important letter from USCIS. When he opened the letter, we realized that it was an approval notice! We were very happy to find out that it took no time for them to approve my application (a month!), but we don't know what to do now as Vermont Center stated that I have to appear in person at our local sub office, which is Hartford, CT, and currently I live in Arizona & my sub office here will be in Phoenix.

I don't know what to do in this case. Considering that CT state and AZ state have different Service Centers (Vermont & California), I don't even know if Phoenix office will see my file in their system if I make an InfoPass appointment with them. And I really don't want to fly from AZ back to CT in order to get my new Green Card
I will try to call USCIS on Monday & talk to one of their representatives, but usually they're like robots, reading you the whole passage they see on their monitors without taking a second to think, so you cannot rely on what they say because very often they give you contradicting information, especially when it's not a simple situation. (Yes, I talked to several people before & I felt like they were trying to confuse you, not to help )
I was wondering maybe somebody was in a similar situation and can say if it’s a good idea to make an appointment at Phoenix office. Thank you for your help.

P.S. If anybody is interested to see what documents I sent to Vermont Service center, I will gladly give my list as I don’t know why my application was approved so quickly: whether it was just luck or my structured application, which was easy to review for USCIS officers.

Just Jenney

You didn't say if you had already updated your address with USCIS. If not, I strongly suggest reading the following link:

How Do I Report a Change of Address to the USCIS?

(Pay particular attention to the "How Do I Report?" subsection.)

You're supposed to report your address change within 10 days of your move, so you have about 4 more days. As your financial sponsor, your spouse is also required to report his/her change of address, also.

As for what to do now, I don't really have any advice for you. You might have a very smooth experience transferring your file from CT to AZ, or it may end up being a total nightmare. Perhaps someone else on here will be able to better advise you on that.

~ Jenney

BoraBora

I haven't updated our address yet, I was planning to do it on Monday. Thank you for the link.

ian-mstm

According to USCIS, you don't yet live in Arizona, so perhaps a quick flight to Connecticut is in order. For the few hundred dollars it'll cost you, I think it's money well spent... I mean, your GC is pretty important don't you think? If you change addresses before you have your GC in hand, you might well be waiting another year or so before you hear anything... and there is no guarantee that your address will be correctly updated.

Ian

Just Jenney

Those were my thoughts, too.

~ Jenney

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You file that AR-11 as noted.

Make an infopass for your local office which will now be Phoenix.

However, do note that Phoenix can be mighty weird on processing the I-551 issuance. I have a case where I-130 was approved by Los Angeles Fraud Unit in 2004 and in a contested removal proceeding in Los Angeles, the Immigration Judge granted adjustment and DHS waived appeal. In the meanwhile, client had moved to Phoenix -- said fact known to Los Angeles I-130 Fraud Unit, Los Angeles District Counsel and [then] Los Angeles based immigration judge. Would you believe that Phoenix CIS instituted section 246 Recision Proceedings on the basis of the record already litigated!

Case is still going on -- case had been transfered to original IJ now siting in San Diego who then refused to hear case since he hears only detained cases. New IJ in San Diego is trying to figure out whether case should be terminated since no evidence or to go back to Pheonix or to Los Angeles. San Diego DHS gives no new evidence to help the IJ except to say "we think Phoenix" and I say "No where at all, dismiss case, otherwise, we don't care."

Stay tuned.

BoraBora

I think you're right. There is a big chance that if I try to transfer my paperwork to Phoenix, I'll end up waiting more (best-case scenario) or they will lose my documents while transferring (worst case scenario), and at the end it won't worth extra $450, which I'll have to spend in order to get to Hartford. Probably I shouldn't change my address till I fly to Hartford (I don't see how USCIS can figure out when I moved)

There is a little problem with InfoPass system though. When I try to make an appointment at Hartford office, it gives me an error message "At this time, there are no information appointments available for the office in your area. Please try back again later." When I try to schedule an appointment at Phoenix office, I have no problem.

BoraBora

Thank you for sharing your story. For now I decided not to test my luck: I will fly to Hartford first and then change my address with USCIS. I hope your case will have a happy ending. I don't like bureaucracy, but unfortunately we face it all the time when dealing with goverment agencies.

meauxna

BB,
try looking for your appointment later in the evenings---many people report success that way, as cancelled appointments are dumped back into the 'available' pool. ie, 9 or 10 at night.