USCIS Introduces Change of Address (AR-11) Online

On January 12, 2007, the USCIS launched a new service on its web site, which allows applicants to submit their change their address online.
All non-citizens (including U.S. Residents) in the United States are legally required to keep USCIS informed of any change of address within 10 days of their move by completing an “Alien Change of Address Card” (Form AR-11). Individuals with a pending immigration case should also notify USCIS of any change of address. The new online service is designed to reduce processing time and improve customer service by providing immediate confirmation that USCIS has received the updated address information. This is the first phase of this online system.

Phase two, which is projected to launch sometime in May 2007, will include additional customer service features, including allowing applicants with a pending naturalization application to report their change of address online. Until then, those individuals should continue to contact USCIS by telephone at 1-800-375-5283 to report their change of address.

Before using the online AR-11 submission form, users should have the following information available:
- USCIS receipt number (If you have a pending case with USCIS),
- New and old addresses,
- Names and biographical information for family members for whom you have filed a petition, and
- Date and location (port of entry) of your last entry into the United States.
USCIS will continue to accept change of address cards through the mail.
Change of Address online is available on the UCSIS web site at: http://www.uscis.gov/AR-11

Qualifying H-4 & L-2 Spouses Can Now Obtain H-1B/L-1’s

The USCIS recently issued a Memo clarifying that time spent as a dependent spouse of an H-1B or L-1 visa holder does not count against the maximum allowable periods of stay available to principal visa holders. Prior to the issuance of the Memo, it was unclear whether time spent in H-4 and L-2 (spouses of H-1B and L-1 principal visa holders) counted against the maximum period of time available to the principal nonimmigrant visa holder. The maximum allowable period in H-1B status is 6 years; for L-1A status, it is 7 years and for L-1B it is 5 years.

The Memo now clarifies that any time spent in H-4 or L-2 status will not count against the maximum period of time applicable to the principal visa holder. For example, a spouse who has spent four years in H-4 dependent status and who converts to H-1B status will be entitled to the maximum period applicable to the H-1B classification, which is 6 years. Prior to the Memo, this individual may have been approved in H-1B status for only two years. The Memo indicates that the policy behind this clarification is to permit family unity by allowing each qualified spouse the opportunity to spend six-years in H-1B status, while allowing the other spouse to remain as an H-4 or L-2 dependant status. The new policy is more beneficial to H-4 spouses as they are unable to work unlike an L-2 spouse. Thus, a spouse in H-4 status who can be employed in the US must convert to an H-1B visa status, if he or she is eligible under the H-1B visa rules. Under the new policy, this spouse will now be accorded the full 6 years on the H-1B visa regardless of the time that he or she spent in the prior dependent H-4 status.

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