How to Inform USCIS of a Change of Address

To change your address with USCIS, sign in to your USCIS online account and use the Enterprise Change of Address (E-COA) tool within 10 days of moving, or mail a paper Form AR-11 to the Harrisonburg, Virginia address on the form.¹ The online route is faster, updates your pending cases in the same session, and satisfies the legal reporting requirement without a paper filing.² The 10-day rule is federal law under 8 USC 1305, and missing it carries real consequences, including possible removal.³

Who Has to File

Nearly every non-citizen in the United States must report an address change: green card holders, H-1B and L-1 workers, F-1 and M-1 students, exchange visitors, and anyone else who entered and stayed at least 30 days.⁴ Only two groups are exempt: foreign diplomats and officials on A or G visas, and visitors admitted under the Visa Waiver Program.²

Children under 14 are covered too. A parent or legal guardian files on their behalf.⁴ Each person needs a separate submission, so a family of four files four times. The online tool lets you handle all of them in one session.⁵

Updating Online Through Your USCIS Account

Using your USCIS online account is the recommended method. The update posts almost immediately, and you can attach the change to any open cases in the same flow.

Before you start, gather:

Your A-number (alien registration number)
Your old address and new address
The date you moved
Receipt numbers for every pending USCIS case

Enter each receipt number when prompted. That step is what links the new address to your pending applications and petitions so USCIS correspondence gets routed correctly.¹ After submitting, you can receive a confirmation email; keep it as proof of compliance.⁶

Filing a Paper Form AR-11

If you can’t use the online tool, download Form AR-11 from the USCIS website, fill it out, and mail it to:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Citizenship and Immigration Services
Attn: Change of Address
1344 Pleasants Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22801⁵

Send it by certified mail or another trackable method so you have proof of the filing date. There’s a catch worth knowing about: the paper AR-11 satisfies your legal reporting duty, but it does not automatically update the address on any pending cases.¹ For open applications or petitions, you also need to call the USCIS Contact Center or use your online account to update each one.

USPS Mail Forwarding Doesn’t Count

Filing a change of address with the U.S. Postal Service does not notify USCIS, and USPS will not forward mail sent by USCIS to your new address.¹ The two agencies are separate. If you file only with USPS and assume your immigration mail will follow, it won’t. Whatever notice is sitting at your old address may already have a response clock running.

Special Situations

F-1 and M-1 Students

International students can satisfy the reporting requirement by notifying the school’s Designated School Official (DSO) within 10 days of moving instead of filing an AR-11 directly. The DSO then enters the new address into SEVIS within 21 days.⁷ The reported address must be where you actually live, not a mail drop, unless you can’t receive mail at your residence. If you also have a pending USCIS benefit request like an OPT application, update your USCIS online account too. SEVIS and USCIS case correspondence run on different systems.

H-1B Workers

A residence move always triggers the standard 10-day AR-11 filing. Employer obligations depend on distance. If your new home is within the same metropolitan area as your worksite and your commute stays within normal commuting distance, no new Labor Condition Application (LCA) is needed and your employer doesn’t have to amend the H-1B petition.⁸ If you move outside the Metropolitan Statistical Area on your LCA, your employer would generally need to file a new LCA and potentially an amended H-1B petition.⁹ Talk to your employer’s immigration counsel before signing a lease that would change your work location.

Sponsors Who Signed Form I-864

If you’re a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who signed Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support), you have your own deadline: file Form I-865, Sponsor’s Notice of Change of Address, within 30 days of moving.¹ Penalties are civil:

Standard failure to report: a fine between $250 and $2,000.
Failure while the sponsored immigrant received means-tested public benefits: a fine between $2,000 and $5,000.¹⁰

The sponsorship obligation continues until the sponsored immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, earns 40 qualifying quarters of work credit, permanently leaves the country, or dies. Each move you didn’t report is a separate potential violation.

VAWA, T, U, and I-751 Abuse Waiver Cases

If you have a pending or approved case under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), T nonimmigrant status, U nonimmigrant status, or a Form I-751 abuse waiver, USCIS treats your address as confidential and uses a separate procedure. Do not use the standard online address-change tool. Instead, use one of these channels:¹¹

Call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY: 800-767-1833) with your receipt notices ready. USCIS will verify your identity before making changes.
Send a secure message through your USCIS online account. USCIS will call you back for identity verification.
Mail a signed Form AR-11 or written notice directly to the service center handling your case, using certified or return receipt mail.
Have your attorney submit a signed AR-11 and cover letter listing all pending cases, provided a Form G-28 is on file for the specific case.

You must request the change individually for each pending form. These procedures also apply to any other benefit request, such as a TPS application, if you have any VAWA, T, or U case in your history, including one that’s already been approved.

What Happens If You Don’t Report

Federal law makes a non-citizen who fails to comply with the address-change requirement deportable, unless they can show the failure was reasonably excusable or not willful.¹² Willful failure to report is also a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $200 and up to 30 days in jail.¹³

The practical damage usually hits first. Miss a Request for Evidence, and USCIS can deny your application for failure to respond. Miss an interview notice, and your case stalls or is terminated. Miss a Notice to Appear in immigration court, and a judge may order you removed in absentia. Nothing here requires bad faith on your part. It all flows from USCIS mailing a notice to an address you no longer live at.

If You’re Already Late

File right now. The criminal statute reaches willful failures, and the deportability ground has a “reasonably excusable” defense built in.¹² A late filing is far better than no filing. Completing the update, even weeks past the deadline, shows you ultimately complied and supports any argument that the delay was not willful. Every additional day of silence makes the argument harder, and if a notice is already waiting at your old address, its response clock isn’t paused because you moved.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 10 – Changes of Address
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1305 – Notices of Change of Address
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1302 – Registration of Aliens
5
USCIS. Form AR-11 Aliens Change of Address Card
6
USCIS. Change of Address PSA Audio Recordings
7
ICE. SEVP Governing Regulations for Students and Schools
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Frequently Asked Questions H-1B H-1B1 and E-3 Programs
9
eCFR. Subpart H – Labor Condition Applications and Requirements for Employers Seeking To Employ Nonimmigrants on H-1B Visas
10
USCIS. Form I-865 Instructions for Sponsors Notice of Change of Address
11
USCIS. Change of Address Procedures for VAWA T U Cases and Form I-751 Abuse Waivers
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1306 – Penalties