When applying for a green card through family or marriage, you must provide your address history to the U.S. government. This guide explains what’s required, how to remember your addresses, and how to avoid common mistakes.
What Address History is Required for a Green Card Application?
If you’re applying for a family-based or marriage-based green card, you’ll need to list your addresses for the past five years. If you’re applying from outside the U.S., you’ll need to list every address you’ve had since turning 16.
This task is straightforward if you’ve stayed in the same place for a while. However, if you’ve moved frequently, you might forget some of your past addresses or the exact dates you lived there. Don’t worry – we’ll explain how accurate you need to be and offer tips to help you recall your previous addresses.
Address History Requirements
The green card applicant and the sponsoring family member must both provide an address history. Here’s what you’ll need to submit:
| Form | Whose Address History? | For Which Years? |
| Form I-130 | Sponsoring family member (U.S. citizen or green card holder) | Past 5 years |
| Form I-130A (Supplemental Information) | Green card applicant (living abroad or in the U.S.) | Past 5 years |
| Form I-485 (Green Card Application) | Green card applicant (living in the U.S.) | Past 5 years |
| DS-260 (Online Green Card Application) | Green card applicant (living abroad) | From age 16 until now |
On these forms, you’ll need to provide the start and end dates (month, day, and year) for each address you’ve lived at in the past five years. If you lived outside the U.S. during that time, you must include your last address abroad where you lived for over a year, even if it was more than five years ago.
The U.S. government suggests that if you don’t remember exact dates, you can provide approximate ones and explain any uncertainty.
Important: Always list your most recent address first, and then work backward.
How to Ensure Your Address History Matches Other Information
Your address history should align with your employment history and immigration history. If there are discrepancies, USCIS may ask for further details, which could delay your application. If the inconsistencies are due to valid reasons (like working remotely), you can explain.
What If You Can’t Remember Certain Addresses?
It’s common to forget past addresses, especially if you’ve moved a lot. The good news is that the U.S. government allows some flexibility in this area, but you should still make an effort to be as accurate as possible. Gaps in your address history can cause delays or even result in a denial of your application.
USCIS may respond in one of the following ways if there are gaps:
- They may accept your address history as is.
- They may ask you to provide a more complete address history through a Request for Evidence (RFE).
- They may ask about the missing addresses during your green card interview.
Tips for Remembering Old Addresses
If you can’t remember certain addresses, here are some ways to jog your memory:
- Check your free credit report: Visit AnnualCreditReport.com to get your free credit report. It includes past addresses linked to any credit accounts you’ve had in the last 7-10 years.
- Look through your order history: If you’ve made purchases from retailers like Amazon, you may find old addresses listed in your order history.
- Review past tax returns: Your tax returns often list your home address for the year. You can use these to track your address at the time of filing.
- Search other old records: If you’ve lived abroad or don’t have a credit history in the U.S., try looking through old documents like bank statements, medical records, or school papers.
How to Handle Gaps and Overlaps in Your Address History
Gaps and overlaps in your address history can lead to confusion, but they can be avoided:
Eliminating gaps:
There should be no gaps between the dates you lived at different addresses. For example, if one lease ended on Jan. 31, 2020, and your next one started on Feb. 15, 2020, you’ll need to list an address for the period from Feb. 1 to Feb. 14, 2020.
Eliminating overlaps:
Make sure the start and end dates for each address don’t overlap. If you started receiving mail at a new address before your old lease ended, the start date for your new address should be after your old lease’s end date (e.g., Feb. 1, 2020).
Completing your address history for a green card application might seem tricky, but with a little effort, you can gather all the information needed. Make sure to be as accurate as possible, avoid gaps and overlaps, and use the tips above to recall any addresses you’ve forgotten. Taking these steps will help ensure that your green card application goes smoothly and is processed as quickly as possible.
