I know it's been several years since this post was originally placed. So I do hope you got thing straightened out. I am a mason in Alabama, and I can tell you that if you are an EA and you wanted to transfer to another lodge out of state that you would have to get your original lodge's secretary to contact the Grand Lodge secretary and he would then have to contact the GL secretary of the new lodge's state which would then have to contact the new lodge's secretary giving approval before anything else could be done. It would probably have been easier if you had completed your masonic work in the original state and obtained your MM degree then transferred.
I can also tell you that in Alabama after you are initiated as an EA you have to learn the EA lesson. You then must give back that EA lesson in open lodge before your brothers. They will then vote on whether or not you were proficient in it or not. If not then you would have to work on it a little more and do it again. If so then they would schedule you to be passed to FC. Just because you turned in your EA lesson does not mean that you are a FC. You are an EA until passed to the next degree through the ritual. And once you are passed the FC cannot be removed or taken away from you.
I can also tell you that in the state jurisdiction of Alabama, you have one year to progress from EA to FC and another year to progress from FC to MM. If you do not then you have to re-petition the lodge about progression. And the lodge can say no if there are reasons for it such as lack or willingness to learn or proceed, criminal behavior, etc.
I can also tell you that once you start the masonic process at one lodge you cannot transfer to another lodge just on a whim. There are proper channels to follow and paperwork to be completed. And then you have to have permission of both lodges.