New Admission

If you were just awarded a Section 8 Voucher and you never leased a unit using a Section 8 Voucher before, you are considered as a "New Admission." The portability rules are a little different for you.

You most likely will have to live in your housing authority’s jurisdiction for the first year, especially if your address, when you applied to be placed on the waiting list, was in another jurisdiction.

• Example: When you applied for the Section 8 program, in Macon, Georgia, and your name was placed on the waiting list, your address was in San Diego, California.
  
  The Macon Housing Authority contacted you and after determining that you were eligible, issued you a Housing Choice Voucher.
  
  You want to stay in San Diego and use your voucher there. The Macon Housing Authority tells you the voucher may only to be used in the Macon area for the first twelve months. That means to keep your voucher, you must find a unit to rent in Macon, Georgia.
  
  If you lived in Macon, Georgia and your address was in Macon, at the time your name was placed on the Macon waiting list, you may be able to move to San Diego right away. Your Housing Authority will tell you if you have that option.

However, if you are allowed to move with your voucher to San Diego, you have to meet the income requirements of eligibility that apply in San Diego. 

If you don’t meet the income requirements, then you cannot move.

Also, the voucher bedroom size might change to conform to the policies of the San Diego Housing Authority.