Yes. If you recently moved from one state to another, there are actually two different timing rules to understand: one determines where you can file, and another determines which state’s property exemptions you can use.
For where you can file the bankruptcy, federal venue law uses a 180-day lookback. Generally, you can file in the federal district where you have lived/domiciled for the preceding 180 days, or where you lived for the greater portion of those 180 days. In practical terms, once you’ve been in the new state for roughly 91 days, the new state will ordinarily be the proper venue because you’ve lived there longer during that 180-day period than anywhere else.
The important catch is exemptions—the laws determining how much equity in your house, vehicles, personal property, etc. you can protect. Moving to a new state does not normally mean you immediately get that state’s bankruptcy exemptions. Under 11 U.S.C. §522(b)(3)(A), you generally must have been domiciled in the new state for 730 days (2 years) before filing to use that state’s exemption law.
If you’ve been in the new state less than two years, the law looks backward to the 180-day period immediately before that two-year period and generally applies the exemption law of the state where you were domiciled for the greater portion of that 180-day period. There are additional complications because some states restrict their exemptions to current residents; if the domiciliary rule leaves you unable to claim exemptions, federal bankruptcy exemptions may become available.
So, for example, suppose someone:
Moved from Michigan to Florida 4 months ago.
They may now be able to file the bankruptcy in Florida, because Florida has been their residence for the majority of the previous 180 days. But they generally would not automatically qualify for Florida’s exemptions simply because they’re filing there. The two-year exemption lookback could cause another state’s exemption law to apply instead.
This distinction can be extremely important if someone owns a house with substantial equity, because state homestead exemptions vary dramatically.