Section 8 Portability: How to Move Your Voucher to Another City

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A Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) isn't tied to one city. Under federal rules you can usually take it anywhere in the country that has a voucher program. This is called portability. It takes paperwork from two housing agencies, and timing matters, so here's how to move without losing your assistance.

AT A GLANCE

The right: Voucher families can move their assistance to any area in the U.S. served by a housing agency that runs a voucher program.
Main exception: If you didn't live in the issuing agency's area when you applied, it can make you stay there for your first 12 months of assistance.
The new agency can't turn you away or send you to a neighboring agency, except with written HUD approval, such as in a declared disaster area.
No new waiting list: The new agency doesn't put you on its waiting list, and it doesn't redo eligibility for a current participant.
Voucher time: The new agency's voucher can't expire sooner than 30 days after your original voucher's expiration date.

Who can port, and when

Under 24 CFR 982.353, a voucher holder or current participant has the right to use tenant-based assistance anywhere in the United States where a public housing agency (PHA) runs a voucher program. HUD's tenant page says families use this to move for better jobs, schools or safety, or to be closer to family.

There are limits:

Situation	Can you port?
You lived in the issuing PHA's area when you applied	Yes. You can port right away, subject to the PHA's move policies
You did not live there when you applied	Not as a right during your first 12 months of assistance. The PHA can still choose to allow it
You're a domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking survivor and need to move for safety	The 12-month residency rule doesn't apply
You broke your lease to move out	Generally no, unless you moved to protect a survivor of violence and otherwise followed program rules
Your PHA lacks funding and the move would raise costs	The PHA may deny the move
The PHA has grounds to deny or end your assistance under program rules	Either PHA can deny the move

PHAs can also adopt policies that ban moves during your initial lease term and limit you to one move a year. Neither restriction applies to survivors who need to move for safety. Ask your PHA for its administrative plan, which spells out its move policies.

The receiving housing agency can't make you start over on its waiting list. If you're already a participant, it can't redo your eligibility either.

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Moving as a new voucher holder vs. a current tenant

If you just got your voucher and haven't leased yet, you can try to lease directly in the new area. Your income has to qualify under the receiving PHA's income limits, because new admissions must be income-eligible where you first lease. The initial PHA checks this using the receiving PHA's limits.

If you're already renting with your voucher, nobody re-checks your income eligibility because of the move. You do have to end your current lease properly. Moves are allowed when:

The lease ended, by mutual agreement or because the PHA ended the owner's contract for the owner's breach
The owner gave you a notice to vacate, filed an eviction, or got a judgment
You gave proper notice to end the lease
You or a household member is a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking and needs to move for safety

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Step by step

Tell your current PHA and your landlord before you move. You need to give notice to both. The notice to the PHA has to say where you want to go.
Your PHA checks whether you're allowed to move. It reviews the residency rule, lease status, its move policies and its funding.
Your PHA identifies the receiving PHA. If more than one agency covers the area, your PHA gives you their contact information and you pick one. If you don't pick, your PHA chooses.
The two agencies sort out funding. Before approving your move, your PHA contacts the receiving PHA to find out whether it will absorb your voucher into its own program or bill your original PHA. Either way, it's handled between the agencies.
You get your voucher and paperwork. Your PHA issues a voucher if you don't already have one and tells you how to contact the receiving PHA. It sends the receiving PHA your portability form (HUD-52665), your latest Family Report (HUD-50058) and your verification documents.
Contact the receiving PHA right away. Federal rules put this on you. If you don't follow the receiving PHA's procedures for incoming families, it can deny or end your assistance.
Complete the receiving PHA's intake steps and get its voucher. The receiving PHA figures your unit size under its own subsidy standards, so your bedroom size could change. It issues its own voucher, which can't expire sooner than 30 days after your original voucher's expiration date.
Find a unit and submit a Request for Tenancy Approval. The voucher clock pauses from the day you submit the request until the PHA tells you in writing whether it's approved.
Pass inspection and sign the lease. After that, the receiving PHA runs your assistance under its own policies.

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Things that change when you port

Payment standards. Each PHA sets the maximum it pays based on local rents. A unit that worked in your old city might cost you more out of pocket in the new one, or less.
Unit size. The receiving PHA uses its own subsidy standards to decide how many bedrooms you're approved for.
Rules and paperwork. The receiving PHA's policies apply, including voucher extensions, reexaminations and hearing procedures.
Reexamination. The receiving PHA may run a new reexamination, but it can't hold up your voucher or your unit approval while it does.

What doesn't change

You don't go to the back of a waiting list. The receiving PHA's waiting list and preferences don't apply to you.
A current participant's eligibility isn't redetermined.
If your voucher is a special-purpose voucher such as HUD-VASH, HUD's specific rules for that program still apply.

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If your search runs long

HUD says vouchers come with at least 60 days of search time, and many PHAs give 60 to 120 days. If you need more time:

Ask for an extension in writing before the voucher expires. Once the receiving PHA issues your voucher, its extension policy applies.
Ask for a reasonable accommodation if a household member has a disability and needs more time. Federal rules require the PHA to extend the voucher as long as reasonably necessary.
Submit your Request for Tenancy Approval as soon as you find a place. That pauses the clock.

If something goes wrong with either agency and you can't resolve it, HUD lists the PIH Customer Service Center at (800) 955-2232 as a first stop, then your local HUD field office.

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Before you call your PHA

☐ The city, county or ZIP code where you want to live
☐ A copy of your current lease and the date it ends
☐ Your written move notice to the landlord (keep a copy)
☐ Your voucher and any letters about its expiration date
☐ Your most recent income documents, in case the receiving PHA reexamines you
☐ Contact information for the receiving PHA (from HUD's PHA directory or your caseworker)
☐ Documentation for a reasonable accommodation or VAWA move, if one applies

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

Ask your PHA for its move and portability policy, and whether the 12-month rule applies to you.
Look up the housing agency that serves the area you want to move to and check its payment standards.
Give your current PHA written notice of your intended move and destination.
Once approved, call the receiving PHA the same week and ask what it needs from incoming families.

More help

Related guides

Calling 211: how to get real referrals

Official sources

Last checked: October 30, 2026. Portability rules come from 24 CFR 982.353, 982.354 and 982.355 as currently published. Search times and the PIH contact number come from HUD's voucher tenant page.

Each housing agency's administrative plan sets its own move limits, extension rules and briefing steps. Check with both agencies before you give up your current home.