Self-check
Am I in removal proceedings? A self-check
Many people are not sure whether they have a case in immigration court. Answer four short questions below. Each answer takes you to a short explanation, with links to the official sources, of what your situation may mean and what to do next.
General information, not legal advice. This self-check explains how removal cases generally work. It is not a substitute for a consultation with a lawyer, and it gives no result about anyone's case. It has no form: nothing you type or click is sent anywhere or saved.
Self-check: four questions
Open each question, read the short explanation, and choose the answer that fits you. You can go back at any time.
Question 1: Have you received a document titled "Notice to Appear"?
A Notice to Appear (Form I-862, often called an "NTA") is the document that instructs a person to appear before an immigration judge (USCIS). By law it must state the nature of the proceedings, the legal authority for them, the acts or conduct the government says broke the law, the charges and the laws said to be violated, your right to a lawyer, your duty to give the court your address and phone number, and the time and place of the hearing, with the consequences of not appearing (8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(1)). Look at the title at the top of the paper.
Question 2: Does EOIR's case portal show a case for your A-number?
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) runs the immigration courts. Its Automated Case Information portal asks for your A-number and your nationality and shows basic information about certain cases. The same information is on EOIR's automated line, 1-800-898-7180, 24 hours a day, in English and Spanish (EOIR). Enter 9 digits; if your A-number has 8 digits, put a 0 in front.
Question 3: Do you have a hearing notice, or does the portal show a next hearing date?
The immigration court schedules cases and sends the hearing notice to you and to the government. If the time or place changes, the court must send a new written notice (8 C.F.R. § 1003.18; 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(2)).
Question 4: Has a judge ever ordered you removed, or were you removed or deported before?
A past order can matter even if you have no court date today. An order can also be made without you there, if you missed a hearing.
What your answers may mean
You are likely in removal proceedings
Removal proceedings before an immigration judge begin when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) files the charging document, usually the Notice to Appear, with the immigration court (8 C.F.R. § 1003.14(a); 8 C.F.R. § 1239.1). If EOIR shows your case, or the court sent you a hearing notice, the case has most likely been filed. What matters now:
- Go to every hearing. If you had written notice and do not attend, the judge shall order you removed "in absentia," meaning without you there, if the government proves the notice was given and that you are removable (8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(A)).
- Keep your address current with the court. Within five days of any move, you must tell the immigration court in writing on Form EOIR-33 (8 C.F.R. § 1003.15(d)(2)). The court form, EOIR-33/IC, is on EOIR's forms page. If you do not give an address, the court does not have to send you notice before ordering you removed (8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(B)).
- Keep every paper from the court. EOIR says the portal is a convenience only; the documents the court issues to you are "the only official determinations" about your case (ACIS).
- You may have a lawyer, at no cost to the government, which means you must find and pay for one or find a nonprofit (8 C.F.R. § 1003.15(b)(5)).
Our page on how to check your immigration court date explains the portal step by step. Our deportation defense lawyer page explains how we defend removal cases.
This is general information. A lawyer should review your own situation.
The court may not have your case yet
Receiving a Notice to Appear does not, by itself, start a court case. The case begins only when DHS files the notice with the immigration court (8 C.F.R. § 1003.14(a); 8 C.F.R. § 1239.1(a)). Until then, EOIR's portal may show nothing. The notice must give the address of the court where DHS will file it (8 C.F.R. § 1003.15(b)(6)).
- Check again regularly on the EOIR portal or at 1-800-898-7180. Once the case is filed, the court sends a hearing notice if the date is not already on the NTA (8 C.F.R. § 1003.18(b)).
- Do not ignore the date on the NTA. If your NTA lists a hearing date and time, be ready to attend, and check the portal close to that date.
- A USCIS letter is different. An interview notice or a denial letter from USCIS is not an immigration court case. USCIS is part of DHS; the immigration courts are part of the Department of Justice. A removal case "is commenced by the filing of a notice to appear with the immigration court" (8 C.F.R. § 1239.1(a); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.14(a)). For example, when USCIS denies a green card application, the rule says the applicant may renew it "in proceedings under 8 CFR part 240," that is, only if a court case is later opened (8 C.F.R. § 245.2(a)(5)(ii)).
- Keep your address current. Once the court has the case, you must report any move to that court on Form EOIR-33 within five days (8 C.F.R. § 1003.15(d)(2)).
Also answer question 4: a past order can matter even when there is no new case. Our deportation defense lawyer page explains how we help people who have received an NTA, and the court date lookup page explains the portal.
This is general information. A lawyer should review your own situation.
No case found: that does not prove there is no case
If you have no Notice to Appear, no hearing notice and no past order, and EOIR shows nothing, there may be no immigration court case under that A-number right now. But the portal is not a complete record. EOIR says that "Not all cases, or all information about a case is displayed" (ACIS).
- Check the number. Enter 9 digits, with a 0 in front of an 8-digit A-number, and choose the right nationality (EOIR).
- Try the phone line at 1-800-898-7180, and check again later. A case can be filed after you look.
- Check each person. Every family member has their own A-number and their own case.
- Know the other paths. Some people can be removed without an immigration court case. See removal without a court case below.
If you have had any contact with immigration officers, or an old case, our deportation defense lawyer page explains how a lawyer can look into it. You can also check a court date again at any time.
This is general information. A lawyer should review your own situation.
There may be a past order
Once a person is ordered removed, the law generally directs the government to carry out the removal within a 90-day "removal period," with exceptions (8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1)(A)). So an old order can matter even if you never had another hearing.
- An order made without you there. An in absentia order can be rescinded if you ask within 180 days and show "exceptional circumstances," or at any time if you did not receive proper notice or were in custody through no fault of your own (8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(C)).
- Coming back after removal. If a person reenters unlawfully after being removed, or after leaving under an order of removal, the law says the old order is reinstated and is not subject to being reopened or reviewed (8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(5)). A person in that situation who says they fear returning must be referred to an asylum officer for a fear interview (8 C.F.R. § 241.8(e)).
- Find out exactly what happened. Check the EOIR portal for a judge's decision, and gather every paper from the old case.
Depending on the facts, there may be ways to ask a court to reopen or review a case, and deadlines can be short. Our immigration appeals lawyer and deportation defense lawyer pages explain how we handle past orders and appeals.
This is general information. A lawyer should review your own situation.
Where to find your A-number
The A-number (Alien Registration Number) is a unique seven-, eight- or nine-digit number that DHS assigned to you (USCIS glossary). EOIR says it "is printed on all Department of Homeland Security and EOIR correspondence" (EOIR). Look for it on your Notice to Appear, on any hearing notice or order from the immigration court, and on letters and notices from USCIS or ICE. It is not the same as a USCIS receipt number. When you have it, go back to question 2.
Removal without an immigration court case
Immigration court is the usual way the government decides whether a person can be removed, but the law sets out exceptions (8 U.S.C. § 1229a(a)(3)). In general terms:
- Expedited removal. An immigration officer can order certain people removed "without further hearing or review," unless they say they want to apply for asylum or fear persecution. It covers some people arriving at the border and, where the government designates it, some people who were never admitted or paroled and cannot show two years of continuous presence (8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)). How widely it is used changes over time.
- Reinstatement of a past order, for people who came back after removal, as explained above (8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(5)).
- An existing final order. Once a person "is ordered removed," the law directs the government to carry out the removal within a 90-day removal period (8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(1)(A)), and an ICE official issues a Warrant of Removal (Form I-205) "based on the final administrative removal order" (8 C.F.R. § 241.2(a)(1)). No new hearing is held to carry out the order. A person who reentered unlawfully after removal "has no right to a hearing before an immigration judge" when the old order is reinstated (8 C.F.R. § 241.8(a)). A lawyer can check whether an order can still be challenged.
If you are stopped or detained, you have rights. Our page on your rights if ICE comes to your door explains them, and our page on asylum, withholding and CAT explains the kinds of protection a person who fears return may ask for.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if I am in removal proceedings?
Removal proceedings in immigration court begin when the Department of Homeland Security files a Notice to Appear with the immigration court. If EOIR's Automated Case Information portal or its line at 1-800-898-7180 shows a case for your A-number, or the court sent you a hearing notice, the case has most likely been filed.
I received a Notice to Appear, but EOIR shows no case. Why?
Receiving a Notice to Appear does not start the case by itself. The case begins only when DHS files the notice with the court, and until then the portal may show nothing. Check again regularly, keep your address current and be ready for any date on the notice.
Does "no case found" mean I have no case?
Not always. EOIR says that not all cases, or all information about a case, are displayed in the portal. Check that you entered 9 digits, with a 0 in front of an 8-digit A-number, and the right nationality, try the phone line, and check again later.
What happens if I miss my immigration court hearing?
If you had written notice and do not attend, the judge shall order you removed in absentia if the government proves the notice was given and that you are removable. Such an order can be rescinded within 180 days for exceptional circumstances, or at any time if you did not receive proper notice or were in custody through no fault of your own.
How do I tell the court that I moved?
Use Form EOIR-33/IC, the immigration court change of address form, within five days of any move. It is on EOIR's forms page and can also be filed through EOIR's Respondent Access portal.
Where is my A-number?
The A-number is a seven-, eight- or nine-digit number DHS assigned to you. EOIR says it is printed on all DHS and EOIR correspondence, so look at your Notice to Appear, any court notice or order, and letters from USCIS or ICE.
Can someone be removed without going to immigration court?
Yes, in some cases. The law allows expedited removal of certain people by an immigration officer unless they ask for asylum or say they fear persecution, the reinstatement of a past removal order for people who came back after removal, and the carrying out of an existing final order.
Official sources
- 8 U.S.C. § 1229, Notice to Appear (govinfo.gov)
- 8 U.S.C. § 1229a, Removal proceedings and in absentia orders (govinfo.gov)
- 8 C.F.R. § 1003.14, When proceedings begin (eCFR)
- 8 C.F.R. § 1003.15, Notice to Appear contents and change of address (eCFR)
- EOIR Automated Case Information portal
- EOIR, Customer Service Initiatives (case information line)
- 8 U.S.C. § 1225, Expedited removal (govinfo.gov)
- 8 U.S.C. § 1231, Removal period and reinstatement (govinfo.gov)