Things to Do During Your Change of Address

If I ask someone that how many times you change your residence in your whole life, the probability of getting answer as 'never' is very rare. If we are in a transferable job this change is more frequent. Every time we change the address of our residence we have to go through a series of processes in order to reflect our latest place of residence properly and to be in touch with all our friends & relatives.

Change of Address # 1: Postal Mail forwarding
Perhaps this is the most important thing to do when you change your address and per my opinion it should come first. Now-a-days it becomes very easy to apply United States Post Office for your change of address. Just go to this site for your on-line submission of 'Change of Address' application form - USPS Change of Address service.

Once you provide all your information related to change of address, USPS will verify the information by using your credit card and they will charge one dollar for the entire process. Once you have applied for this 'Change of Address' service USPS will continue to forward all your mails to the new address for next one year. You can also fill the hard copy of this form and send it to your nearest post office. The hard copy form is available to USPS stores or at the leasing offices. If you send your request through mail, it is a free service to you.

There are several complains I do see regarding this service of USPS. So I always prefer to use on-line procedure, which always gives me a better acknowledgment. If you want to see few such complains please visit this link - USPS Change of address Complains.

Change of Address # 2: Billing address change in bank
This is yet another very important process to complete during your change of address. You should change your billing address as soon as possible after your move. Your billing information is tagged with your credit cards. Few banks provide an effective date of your new address. In that case you can do it before you actually move to the new place with a future affective date for your new address.

Change of Address # 3: Electricity
If we are moving far away from our present address, the same electric power company may not be available at that region. In this case you have to terminate the current one with a future effective date and need to activate the one which will be used in your new location from a future date. It is better to visit their website or call directly to their customer service to make this change.

If you are moving near by, you may check if the service is available at that new location. If yes, then place a move order with your electric power company. You can visit this page to see which electric power companies are available in which regions in US along with their website address - Electric Power Companies in US.

Change of Address # 4: Internet
In today's life Internet becomes an unavoidable part of our life. Make sure to place a move order if you are going to use same Internet service provider (ISP) at your new location. If you are planning to change your ISP, make sure you terminate your current service with a future affective date. You can have a look in this site to get a nationwide list of all ISPs in US - Nationwide list of ISPs in US.

Change of Address # 5: Phone
If you are using VoIP (e.g. Vonage, Sunrocket etc.) telephone service, you don't have this headache of terminating and activating your phone service when you change your address. If you have broadband Internet connection at your new address, you can just plug-in and start using your phone. If you are using traditional copper line telephone service you may need to find it out if you can retain there service once you move to the new address, otherwise you may need to terminate your old service and activate that again at your new address.

Change of Address # 6: Address in Driving License
By law you should change the address of your driving license within 10 days after moving. So once you reach at your new address, look for local driving license offices and get an appointment to change your address on driving license. You may need to bring proof of your address (lease documents) during your visit to driving license office. In some states you can also do this change over Internet.

Change of Address # 7: Address in vehicle title and tag
You also need to visit the nearest vehicle registration office once you moved to new place in order to change the address on the tag & title of your vehicle/boat.

Change of Address # 8: Insurance
This is yet another very important step to follow after your change of address. Call the representative of your car insurance provider to change your address of your policy. All insurance companies will recalculate your premium value once you change your address. For few insurance companies you can do this change through their website too.

Change of Address # 9: Your office
Let your office or work place know that you changed your residential address and follow the official procedure. You may need to submit your W4 form again once you change your address.

Change of Address # 10: Social Security
You also need to update your social security with your new address. You can do this on-line. Please visit this social security site to complete it on-line - Social Security Change of Address

Change of Address # 11: Complete USCIS - AR11 Form
Every non-US citizen residing in the United States must notify the USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) whenever they change their residence address in the United States within 10 days of such change. This is also applicable to all the family members over the age of 14 yrs. This is done by filing Form AR-11 with the USCIS by the individuals. Recently USCIS has introduced on-line filing of Form AR-11 at their website - USCIS AR11 Change of Address.