Section 265 of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires almost every noncitizen in the United States to notify the government in writing within ten days of any change of address. The INA 265 address change rule is short: file the notice on time, in the manner USCIS specifies, or face a misdemeanor charge and a possible ground of deportation. It applies whether you moved across the country or across the hall.
Who Has To File
The obligation runs to every alien “required to be registered” under the INA. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1302, that covers essentially every noncitizen age 14 or older who stays in the United States for 30 days or more and was not already registered and fingerprinted when they applied for a visa.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. § 1302 — Registration of Aliens Green card holders, visa holders, refugees, asylees, TPS and DACA recipients, and people with pending applications are all in. So are children under 14, though a parent or legal guardian files for them and can be prosecuted if the filing doesn’t happen.2GovInfo. 8 U.S.C. § 1305
The categorical statutory exemptions are narrow. A visa holders (diplomats and foreign government officials) and G visa holders (representatives of international organizations) do not have to register or report address changes.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. § 1303 — Registration of Special Groups Visa Waiver Program visitors are also excluded from the address-change filing requirement under current USCIS guidance.4USCIS. Form AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card American Indians born in Canada and members of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas are exempt from registration entirely.
F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors have a built-in shortcut. If the new address is entered in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) through the Designated School Official within ten days of moving, no separate AR-11 is required.5USCIS. USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 1, Pt. A, Ch. 10 Miss the SEVIS deadline and the fallback is the same AR-11 filing everyone else uses.
How To Report the Move
The fastest way to comply is the Enterprise Change of Address (E-COA) self-service tool inside a USCIS online account. USCIS treats an E-COA submission as satisfying the legal requirement, and the update flows through the agency’s case management systems almost immediately. If you have any pending immigration benefit request, enter the receipt number for each case in the tool so the new address is applied to every open filing.6USCIS. How To Change Your Address
Paper Form AR-11 is still accepted by mail, and it also satisfies the statute. It’s slower: USCIS warns that a mailed AR-11 does not automatically update its internal systems, so there may be a lag before the new address takes hold across your files.6USCIS. How To Change Your Address
One trap catches people every year. Filing a change-of-address form with the U.S. Postal Service does nothing for USCIS. The Postal Service will not forward USCIS mail, and USCIS will not learn your new address from a USPS notification. Update the two agencies separately.6USCIS. How To Change Your Address
Some categories cannot use the standard E-COA tool and follow program-specific procedures instead. These include VAWA self-petitioners, T and U nonimmigrant status holders, people in intercountry adoption cases, and certain special immigrant Afghan and Iraqi nationals. Sponsors who have signed an Affidavit of Support have a separate, stricter obligation: they must file Form I-865 within 30 days of moving.5USCIS. USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 1, Pt. A, Ch. 10
The Ten-Day Clock
The statute counts from the date of the change of address, not the date you finished unpacking or signed a lease. Subsection (a) of 8 U.S.C. § 1305 requires written notice “within ten days” of each change, along with any additional information required by regulation.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. § 1305 — Notices of Change of Address The implementing regulation at 8 CFR § 265.1 directs aliens to file “in accordance with instructions provided by USCIS,” which in practice means E-COA or Form AR-11.8Cornell Law Institute. 8 CFR § 265.1 — Reporting Change of Address Subsection (b) also gives the government authority to require specific nationalities or classes of aliens to report their current addresses on ten days’ notice, separate from the move-based rule.
What Happens If You Don’t File
The penalties sit in the neighboring statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1306. There are three layers, and any one of them can bite.
Criminal Penalty
Failing to give written notice of a change of address is a federal misdemeanor. The statutory maximum is a fine of up to $200, imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. § 1306 — Penalties A parent or legal guardian who fails to file for a minor faces the same maximum.2GovInfo. 8 U.S.C. § 1305 Related registration offenses carry heavier consequences: willful failure to register or submit to fingerprinting is punishable by up to six months, and counterfeiting registration documents is a felony carrying up to five years.10Congress.gov. Congressional Research Service — Alien Registration Requirements
Deportability
Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(3)(A), failing to comply with the address-change requirement is an independent ground for deportation. The only statutory defense is proving the failure was “reasonably excusable or was not willful.”11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(3)(A) Board of Immigration Appeals precedent treats each willful failure as a separate basis for deportability, and the “reasonably excusable” defense is evaluated case by case.12DOJ EOIR. Interim Decision 1152
Missed Mail and Lost Eligibility
Even when no prosecution follows, the practical damage can be worse than the fine. USCIS uses the address in its case management system as the address of record and will not update it based on other communications with the agency. If you move without filing, interview notices, requests for evidence, and approval notices go to the old address. The USCIS Policy Manual notes that this “may increase the risk that important correspondence or benefits are sent to an outdated address.”5USCIS. USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 1, Pt. A, Ch. 10 A missed deadline can trigger denial of the underlying application.
The reach can be longer still. In Buffalino v. Holland, 277 F.2d 270 (3d Cir. 1960), the Third Circuit held that an alien seeking suspension of deportation had to show ten years of continuous physical presence “subsequent to the last deportable act.” Two failures to report an address, in January 1956 and January 1957, restarted the clock each time and disqualified him from relief. The Supreme Court declined review.13DOJ EOIR. Interim Decision 1517 One unfiled AR-11 can quietly cost years of accrued eligibility for discretionary relief.
Why the Rule Suddenly Matters Again
The address-reporting requirement has been on the books since 1952, and for most of that time the government rarely acted on it. That changed in 2025. On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14159, which directed the Department of Homeland Security to treat alien registration compliance as both a civil and criminal enforcement priority.14USCIS. Alien Registration Requirement DHS followed with an interim final rule at 90 FR 11793, published March 12, 2025 and effective April 11, 2025, that created a new registration form (G-325R) for people who had never registered.15Federal Register. Agency Information Collection Activities — Biographic Information (Registration)
The G-325R registration process is a separate obligation aimed mainly at adults and children 14 and older who entered without inspection and have had no prior contact with immigration authorities. It does not replace the address-change rule; it sits alongside it. A challenge to the interim final rule brought by CHIRLA, United Farm Workers of America, CASA, and Make the Road New York remains pending on appeal, and the rule remains in effect while it is litigated.16American Immigration Council. CHIRLA v. DHS Federal criminal charges under 8 U.S.C. § 1306 have followed the executive order, though early prosecutions have had mixed results in court.17Immigration Policy Tracking Project. POTUS Issues Executive Order To Publicize and Prioritize Registration of Noncitizens
The takeaway for anyone covered by INA § 265 is simple. The rule has not changed, but enforcement has. File the address change through your USCIS online account within ten days of every move, include the receipt number for any pending case, and keep proof of the submission.