Help! Forgot to file for change of address..

Hey everyone, I havent been here in a looooong time but this place or at least its previous incarnations were a huge help to me. my name is Rob, im a UK Citizen and Permanent US Resident (conditional) A couple years back my US Cit wife and I lived in England until she got homesick, then we decided to start getting paperwork up together to move back and live in the US.

Well I have lived here for 2 years now as a conditional resident, just recently sent my paperwork off to have conditions removed. Since I have lived here I have moved twice. The second time I moved I sent the change of address form, the first time I moved I didnt even realise/was ignorant of the fact that I had to do this. Now I am reading that it is a misdemeanor crime if you fail to notify of change of address within 10 days! Punishable by a fee/30 days imprisonment and deportation. This is NOT good, also taking into consideration that the when I did send out the paperwork for change of address, it was WAY more than 10 days after the fact

Im really worried about whats going to happen, has anyone had any experience with this? Is there anything else I should do to somehow make amends for my ignorance? I have made a lot of friends here, my son was born here and all of his family are here and I would hate to be yanked away from this great place and have the same happen to my wife and son...

I honestly wouldn't worry about it. When I consulted a lawyer in the UK about my husband's green card process hwe chatted a bit about this. I'd think that if it was your current address they didn't know then you'd have to notify them ASAP, but as it is an old address... well, they know where you live now and I wouldn't even bring it up. We've moved twice since moving here (my husband is 18 months into his conditional green card, we'll be doing the papaerwork soon to remove conditions, but that is a whole different topic!) - and the first time we mailed the paper off 2 weeks late, the 2nd time we moved we sent it off 3 weeks late. I'm pretty sure they just want to know where you are, and won't care about an accidental missed paper. There is still proof of your old address if they need it in retrospect...

Robatwork, I have NO advice, but did want to know how you are enjoying living there.  My husband and I are just beginning that process of paperwork and job hunting.

From what you say, it was an honest mistake, so I'm sure you'll be just fine!

Thanks Marlespro, I hope that is the case. Its been eating me up for a while now, its nice to have at least some re-assurance. How are you and yours doing anyway?? I was lurking the UKY forums back when you were preparing to come back to the US!

NY NY, I love it here Havent really got any major homesickness in the last 2 years, only thing I really miss is British TV and British bacon. Made some great friends here, im in my second job (Working for SC Johnson, before that I was on a 2 year contract for a Pharmaceuticals company called Hospira) my Kid is growing up fast, he's 18 months now. Basically i've come into my own since coming here. Feels like anything is possible in the US.

The whole immigration process was daunting at first but in hindsight, it was a breeze. As long as you know what paperwork is needed and how to fill it out, you are pretty much set. When I first arrived I had to wait a couple of weeks to receive my Social security number, once I got that I landed a job within the first couple of weeks looking. Wish you luck NYNY, im sure you wil lhave no problems.

Oh, don't worry about it.  I used to be a longtime permanent resident of the US (until I got naturalized)- they enacted the change of address law after 9/11 (after my family had already been living here for 10 years) and we didn't know about the new requirement until well after we had already moved house back in 2004. We sent in the change of address a few months later, and all was well.  It's not a big deal.

Thanks Marlespro, I hope that is the case. Its been eating me up for a while now, its nice to have at least some re-assurance. How are you and yours doing anyway?? I was lurking the UKY forums back when you were preparing to come back to the US!

That seems like ages ago!!! My husband has performed a weird and happy instant assimilation to the US - his job is great, he's had 2 raises this year, we've been back to visit England twice since we've moved back, and the adjustment went a whole heck of a lot better than we had expected. Now just need to get those silly conditions removed...

Are there a lot of conditions?  What are they?  Thanks!

The conditions mean that it is only a temporary green card basically, and we have to apply to make it a permanent one. It is because we weren't married long enough yet when we applied for it, we had to be married 2 years at the time we applied (summer of 04) but that could well have changed. We had only been married a year and a half when filing. So we have to fill out and send in some paperwork to prove he's still here, still working, not being a public nuisance, and they'll want to know if we are still married as well. Things like that. I assume he'll have to get a new actual card, as his current green card says it expires 2 years after his arrival, which is this October.

From what I gather, this 'removing conditions' process can take years? They just keep giving you a year more on the card until they can sort themselves out. Again that might have changed, and I hope so, but we'll see. I'll be getting the paperwork in the next week or two and will be writing about it all here...

I see.  So, if you weren't married for 2 years before  you moved over, how long did it take your husband to get his paperwork to come to/work in the USA?

I have an immigration lawyer who's working on finding out some info for me now, but it is great to hear other people's stories.  With the baby due in August, we're SO hoping to be over there soon afterwards due to immunizations, general health, etc...

Thanks!

Allison, if you want you can check out this post here:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=5303.0

Thats me (KingBeast) with a run down of all we had to go through, i've got dates from time of filing to the interview to when I got my SS number. Im sure Marlespro has a similar post somewhere for her experience, should give you a pretty good idea of what is required!

We sent out the change of address for DH about 2 months late, and nothing has happened to us.  We'll also be sending out the paperwork to remove the conditions on the green card in the next 2 weeks.  I'm hoping it only takes 30 days or so.  About 2 years ago the wait time here in Houston went from years to months, so I'm hoping they are still working fast. 

Cool, thanks for the extra re-assurance beccaboo. I guess I wasnt so much worried about the late change as I was about the total failure to file for change of address when we moved the first time...

Its been a week since i sent out the paperwork to have my conditions removed. Will let you know when I get a reply, though im filing from wisconsin to the nebraska office, probably different times and such..

I have to double check which office I actually sent the paperwork to.  Hopefully Nebraska, they seem to have the most reasonable turn around time.

Wow Robatwork!  It sounds like you had a pretty smooth experience!  I just checked out your other post!  How long had you been married to your wife when you filed your petition?  Was that the I-130?

Also, I thought I understood that you can work for a time before you get your ss number upon arrival in the US.  Is that correct?

thx.

For those of you filing to remove conditions... how far in advance do you actually send the paperwork out before the annuversary date? We've got 6 months (October) before his is due, just wondering before I go trawling through websites for the forms....