The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced new mailing addresses for submitting the Form AR-11. The form must now be mailed to an office in Kentucky, and not to the USCIS Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Forms submitted via the U.S. Postal Service should be sent to:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Change of Address
P.O. Box 7134
London, KY 40742-7134

Forms submitted via commercial overnight or freight services should be sent to:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Change of Address
1084-I South Laurel Road
London, KY 40744

Any forms previously mailed to the USCIS Headquarters will be forwarded to the Kentucky office. A new version of the Form AR-11, which includes the new mailing addresses, has been issued and is now available on the usCIS website (click here to download a copy of the form). Additional information on the change of address is available here on the USCIS website.

The administration of this blog highly recommends that readers click on the above link to read the full announcement.

This issue could be of particular importance for those who have recently filed a petition for immigration benefits and subsequently moved their place of residence. Also, those who enter the United States of America in K-1 visa status (the categorical name for the US fiance visa) should take note of the above announcements as K-1 visa holders are required to submit an application for adjustment of status in order to be granted lawful permanent residence in the USA. In some cases, a bi-national couple may find that they need to change their address while the adjustment of status is pending. Failure to advise the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) of such a change could result in processing delays or a situation in which a couple is not notified of an upcoming adjustment of status interview. This could result in the couple missing said interview and the K-1 fiancee falling out of status due to a deficient adjustment. For these reasons, keeping USCIS abreast of one’s address while a petition is pending is very prudent.

In a recent posting on this blog it was also noted that the USCIS has recently changed their policy regarding employment authorization and advance parole. The service is apparently issuing advance parole on the same document that grants employment authorization prior to adjustment. Advance parole is a benefit that can be granted to those holding K-1 visa status which allows the visa holder to leave the country while an adjustment is pending. Failure to obtain advance parole prior to leaving the USA could result in the K-1 visa beneficiary falling out of status and thereby requiring the process to be restarted all over again.

For related information please: K1 Visa Thailand.

The American Embassy will observe the following American and Local holidays during 2011.

Those wishing to view the official homepage of the US Embassy in Seoul, Korea please click HERE.

Those seeking services which can only be provided at an American Citizen Services Section of a US Embassy or US Consulate abroad, such as: issuance of a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, issuance of a US Passport, or issuance of additional pages for a US Passport are well advised to schedule an appointment online with the Post in advance, if possible, in order to streamline the processing of one’s request.

Those seeking non-immigrant visa benefits such as the US business visa (B-1 visa category), US tourist visa (B-2 visa category), US student visa (F-1 visa category), or US exchange visitor visa (J-1 visa category) are likely to see their visa application processed at a Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) Unit abroad. Those seeking non-immigrant visa benefits are well advised to bear in mind the fact that non-immigrant visa applications are scrutinized pursuant to section 214(b) of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act.

Those American Citizens seeking American family visa benefits are likely to only see a visa application for a CR-1 visa or an IR-1 visa processed after receiving approval of an underlying Immigration petition from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). It should be noted that for processing purposes the K-1 visa application, although used by seekers of a non-immigrant US fiance visa, is treated in much the same way as immigrant visa applications.

Those seeking US business visa benefits for travel documents such as an E-2 visa, L-1 visa, or EB-5 visa may be required to process, and receive approval of, an immigration petition at the USCIS.  For E-2 visa seekers this may not be the case, but the unique facts in a given case must be examined prior to making a conclusion regarding the appropriate avenue for processing.

Those interested in related information please see: US Visa Korea.