How to File Form AR-11: Deadline, Online Filing, and Pending Cases

To file Form AR-11, the Alien’s Change of Address Card, log in to your USCIS online account and use the Enterprise Change of Address (E-COA) tool, or download the paper form and mail it to the USCIS Harrisonburg address. Either option is free, and you must complete it within 10 days of your move.¹² Online is faster and gives you an instant confirmation; paper does not automatically update any pending cases you have with USCIS.³

The 10-Day Deadline and Who It Applies To

Federal law requires every non-citizen in the United States to report each change of physical address in writing within 10 days.⁴ That covers lawful permanent residents, H-1B and L-1 workers, F-1 students, J-1 exchange visitors, and anyone else without U.S. citizenship, whether or not you have a case pending with USCIS.⁵ A move across town counts. A move within the same building counts.

Two groups are exempt: holders of A or G diplomatic visas, and visitors admitted under the Visa Waiver Program.³

One warning before you start. Filing a change-of-address order with the U.S. Postal Service does not satisfy your USCIS obligation. USPS will not forward USCIS mail, and the two agencies do not share address updates.² You have to notify each separately.

What You Need Before You File

The form itself is one page, but every entry must match your existing immigration records. Gather these first:⁶

Your full legal name as it appears on your passport, green card, or employment authorization document.
Your Alien Registration Number (A-Number), a seven-, eight-, or nine-digit number found on your green card, EAD, or immigrant visa. Leave the field blank if you were never assigned one.⁷
Your date of birth.
Your previous physical address, complete with unit number, city, state, and ZIP. No P.O. boxes.
Your new physical address, in the same format. Again, no P.O. boxes.
A mailing address only if it differs from your new physical address.

USCIS recommends confirming your address formatting through the USPS ZIP Code lookup tool so the entry matches USPS’s standard abbreviations.² There is no filing fee.³

Filing Online Through Your USCIS Account

Online filing is what USCIS recommends, and it is the better option. The E-COA tool sits inside your USCIS online account under the “My Account” dropdown. If you don’t have an account yet, create one at myaccount.uscis.gov.²

Once you open E-COA, enter your new physical address and your previous address. The system processes the update almost immediately and returns an on-screen confirmation. Save it or print it. That receipt is your proof of meeting the 10-day deadline, and it’s what you’ll want if USCIS or an immigration judge ever asks whether you complied.

You can use E-COA even if your original benefit request was filed on paper. If you have any pending, approved, or previously filed cases, enter the receipt number for each one individually inside the tool. The system will not push the change across all your cases on its own.²

Filing by Mail

If you prefer paper, download Form AR-11 from uscis.gov, fill it out, and sign and date it in black or dark blue ink. Mail it to:⁶

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Attn: Change of Address
1344 Pleasants Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22801

Don’t include any other forms or fees in the envelope. An unsigned form will be rejected, so check the signature line before you seal it.³ If you’re filling it out by hand, keep every entry legible; USCIS needs to read it cleanly to process it correctly.⁸

Send it certified mail with return receipt requested. Paper filings don’t produce the instant confirmation that E-COA does, and you need proof of the date USCIS received the form. This is why USCIS pushes the online tool so strongly: a paper AR-11 satisfies the bare legal reporting requirement but does not automatically update your address in USCIS systems.³

Updating Pending Cases Separately

Filing Form AR-11 alone does not guarantee that your new address gets linked to every open case you have with USCIS. If you have a pending I-485, N-400, I-130, or anything else with a receipt number, you have to connect the address change to each case one by one.

The reliable way to do this is E-COA. When the tool prompts you for receipt numbers, enter every receipt number associated with your pending cases. There is no “update all” option.² Skip this step and interview notices, biometrics appointments, requests for evidence, and approval notices can go to your old address.

Paper filers face the higher risk. Because the paper form does not feed into the automated case-management system, USCIS may keep sending correspondence for your pending cases to the old address even after processing your AR-11.⁵ If you already mailed a paper form and you have open cases, create a USCIS online account and use E-COA to update each receipt number as a follow-up.

If You Have a VAWA, T, or U Case

Do not use the standard AR-11 process if you are a VAWA self-petitioner or you have a pending or approved T or U nonimmigrant case. The same caution applies to Form I-751 abuse waivers filed on the basis of battery or extreme cruelty.³ Any address you provide is treated as a safe address, and the update runs through confidential procedures to protect you.⁹

You have three ways to update in these cases:

Call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY: 800-767-1833). Have your receipt notices ready for identity verification. The Contact Center may schedule an in-person field office appointment if the request can’t be handled by phone.
Log in to your USCIS online account and send a secure message. USCIS will call you back for enhanced identity verification before processing the change.
Mail a completed Form AR-11 or a signed written notice directly to the service center processing your case, using certified, registered, or return receipt mail.

An attorney or accredited representative can submit the change on your behalf with a signed Form AR-11 and a cover letter listing every pending case to update.⁹

If You’re on H-1B and Your Worksite Is Moving

Filing Form AR-11 covers your personal address change. It does not cover an H-1B worksite change. Under Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC, your employer must file an amended H-1B petition when your worksite moves to a location outside the Metropolitan Statistical Area covered by the certified Labor Condition Application on file.¹⁰ If only your home address is changing, AR-11 is all you need. If you’re relocating for work to a different metro area, talk to your employer’s immigration counsel before you move.

What Happens If You Don’t File

Missing the 10-day deadline is a misdemeanor under federal law, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine.¹¹¹² The bigger risk is immigration, not criminal. A separate provision makes any non-citizen who fails to comply with the reporting requirement deportable; the only defense is showing that the failure was reasonably excusable or was not willful.¹³ Given that the form is free and takes a few minutes online, “I forgot” is a weak defense. And when you eventually apply for naturalization, a documented failure to register can complicate a good moral character determination.

The everyday consequences hit sooner. USCIS mails interview notices, biometrics appointments, and requests for evidence to the address on file. If those land at your old address and you miss a response deadline, your application can be denied for abandonment, and undoing that denial is far harder than filing the AR-11 would have been.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1305 – Notices of Change of Address
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card
4
eCFR. 8 CFR 265.1 – Reporting Change of Address
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 1 Part A Chapter 10 – Changes of Address
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A-Number/Alien Registration Number/Alien Number
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Five Steps to File at the USCIS Lockbox
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Change of Address Procedures for VAWA/T/U Cases and Form I-751 Abuse Waivers
10
U.S. Department of Justice. Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC, 26 I&N Dec. 542 (AAO 2015)
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1306 – Penalties
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 3571 – Sentence of Fine
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1227 – Deportable Aliens