How to Change Your Green Card Address: Form AR-11 and 10-Day Rule

To change the address on your green card record, notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within 10 days of moving, either through your USCIS online account or by mailing a paper Form AR-11. There is no fee. Your physical green card is not reissued: the address printed on the card reflects where you lived when it was produced, and USCIS does not require a new card each time you move. What the law requires is that the agency’s records show where to reach you.¹

If your card is expired, damaged, or has incorrect biographical information, that’s a separate filing on Form I-90 and is not what AR-11 handles.²

The 10-Day Rule

Federal law requires most non-citizens in the United States to report every change of address in writing within 10 days of moving.³ The obligation comes from Section 265 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and applies to lawful permanent residents throughout their period of residency, ending only when they naturalize. Holders of A visas (diplomats) and G visas (international organization representatives) are generally exempt, as are individuals admitted under the visa waiver program.⁴

The 10-day clock starts on the date you actually move in, not the day you sign a lease or start packing. If you are the parent or legal guardian of a non-citizen minor, you’re responsible for reporting the child’s move within the same window.⁵

What You Need Before You File

Have the following ready so the filing goes through cleanly:

Your Alien Registration Number (A-Number), the seven-, eight-, or nine-digit number printed on your green card.⁶
Your complete previous address, including apartment number and zip code.
Your full new residential address, plus a separate mailing address if it differs.⁷
Your date of birth.
The date you last entered the United States. Check your passport entry stamp or electronic travel record if you’re not sure.
Receipt numbers for any pending USCIS cases. These are 13-character codes starting with three letters (EAC, WAC, LIN, SRC, NBC, MSC, or IOE) followed by 10 digits. Each pending case needs its address updated individually; one address change does not sweep across all your cases.⁸⁹

Filing Online

USCIS recommends the online self-service tool, called the Enterprise Change of Address (E-COA) tool, available through your USCIS online account. It’s the fastest and most reliable route, and it satisfies the written notification the law requires.¹

The online tool updates your address in USCIS systems almost immediately. During the same session you can enter receipt numbers for pending cases so notices for those cases route to the new address. You can use the tool even if you originally filed your benefit request on paper. There is no filing fee.¹⁰ Print or save the confirmation page when you finish. That page is your proof that you met the 10-day deadline.

Filing by Mail With Form AR-11

If you prefer paper, download and complete Form AR-11 and mail it to:⁷

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Attn: Change of Address
1344 Pleasants Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22801

Send it in a way that gives you a tracking number, such as certified mail with return receipt, and keep a photocopy of the signed form with your mailing receipt. If USCIS later questions the timing, that record is what proves the date you sent it.

One limitation matters if you have anything pending: a paper AR-11 does not automatically update your address across USCIS case management systems the way the online tool does. Correspondence on pending cases can still go to your old address after a paper filing. If you have open applications or petitions, the online tool is the safer choice.⁹

USPS Forwarding Does Not Cover USCIS Mail

A change of address filed with the U.S. Postal Service does not update your address with USCIS, and USPS will not forward mail from USCIS to your new address.¹ Interview appointments, biometrics notices, and decision letters go to whatever address USCIS has on file, regardless of anything you set up with the post office. Update both agencies separately.

What Happens If You Don’t Report

Failing to report an address change is a federal misdemeanor. A conviction can bring a fine of up to $200, up to 30 days in jail, or both. The heavier risk is that the government can place you in removal proceedings for the failure itself, whether or not you are ever convicted of the misdemeanor. The only defense is showing that the failure was reasonably excusable or not willful.⁵

After You File

A few things to do once the filing is in:

Keep your confirmation. The online confirmation page, or the certified mail receipt and photocopy of the signed AR-11, is what proves compliance if it ever comes up at an interview or background check.
Watch your new mailbox. If expected USCIS mail hasn’t arrived within a few weeks, contact USCIS to verify the update landed in their systems.
Check each pending case separately. Filing a new benefit request with your new address does not update the address on cases already in progress. Each open case needs its own address update.⁹

Updating USCIS satisfies your federal immigration obligation, but it does not update anything else. Most state motor vehicle departments require an address change within 10 to 30 days, and you may also need to notify the Social Security Administration, your employer, your bank, your insurers, and your voter registration office. None of those substitute for the USCIS filing, and the USCIS filing does not substitute for any of them.

Confidentiality Cases: VAWA, T, and U

If you have a pending or approved case under the Violence Against Women Act, T nonimmigrant status for trafficking victims, or U nonimmigrant status for crime victims, federal law gives your address special confidentiality protections, and USCIS handles the update differently.¹¹

Protected individuals cannot use the standard online self-service tool.⁹ Instead, call the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283 or request an in-person appointment at a USCIS field office. Victim-based forms include a field for a designated safe mailing address, which can be your home, your attorney’s office, or any other address you choose, and USCIS uses that address for correspondence. If your attorney has a Form G-28 on file requesting original notices, USCIS sends originals to the attorney and a courtesy copy to your safe address. Update your address separately for each case you have filed.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1305 – Notices of Change of Address
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1306 – Penalties
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A-Number / Alien Registration Number
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual – Chapter 10, Changes of Address
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Updates Customer Service and Safe Address Procedures for Individuals Protected Under Confidentiality Provisions