Missed Immigration Court: In Absentia Orders and How to Reopen Them

The first steps after missing court

1. Find out what happened. Check your case in EOIR’s Automated Case Information portal with your A-number, or call 800-898-7180. It shows whether an order was entered and its date — the date starts the 180-day clock. Our Notice to Appear guide explains how to check a hearing date and case status.
2. Get the paperwork. Keep every notice you received (or the envelope that shows where mail was sent), the Notice to Appear, and any proof of why you could not attend: hospital or medical records, a death certificate, police or protective-order records, proof of detention, travel or work records. A motion lives or dies on this evidence.
3. Do not leave the United States thinking you can fix it from abroad. Leaving after a removal order is treated as carrying out the order, and the regulations bar a motion to reopen by a person who has departed (8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(1)). How far that bar reaches has been contested in the federal courts, but it is not a risk to take without advice.
4. Do not ignore ICE. An in absentia order is enforceable. If you have a check-in or a letter from ICE, speak with a lawyer before you go, but do not simply skip it.
5. Update your address with the court on Form EOIR-33 now, so any new notice reaches you.
6. Talk to an immigration lawyer quickly — see the last section. The 180-day deadline does not pause while you gather documents.

Three grounds to reopen an in absentia order — and their deadlines

An in absentia removal order “may be rescinded only” on a motion to reopen on one of these grounds (INA § 240(b)(5)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(C); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(4)(ii)):

1. Exceptional circumstances — the motion must be filed within 180 days after the date of the order.
2. No proper notice of the hearing — the motion may be filed at any time.
3. Federal or state custody at the time of the hearing, where missing it was through no fault of your own — also at any time.

Only one motion under this rule is allowed (8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(4)(ii)), so the first one must be complete. The ordinary 90-day limit for other motions to reopen, and the other exceptions to it, are covered in our motions to reopen guide. Orders entered in the older deportation proceedings (cases begun before April 1, 1997) follow a parallel rule in 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(4)(iii).

Exceptional circumstances: the 180-day motion

The statute defines exceptional circumstances as circumstances beyond your control “such as battery or extreme cruelty to the alien or any child or parent of the alien, serious illness of the alien, or serious illness or death of the spouse, child, or parent of the alien, but not including less compelling circumstances” (INA § 240(e)(1)). The list is examples, not a closed list, but the standard is high: car trouble, traffic, a work shift or confusion about the date are usually treated as “less compelling.”

What matters is proof. A motion should explain, in a sworn declaration, exactly what happened on the hearing day and why it was beyond your control, and attach independent evidence — medical records dated that day, a death certificate, a police report. The BIA reviews these claims closely: in Matter of K-K-U-J-, 30 I&N Dec. 81 (BIA 2026) (August 27, 2026) it reversed a judge’s rescission because the record did not support the person’s claim that someone had misled him into believing he need not appear.

The 180 days run from the date of the order, not from the day you learn of it. A motion based on exceptional circumstances generally carries the EOIR motion filing fee or a fee waiver request (8 C.F.R. § 1003.24(b)); the fee amounts changed on October 1, 2026 (91 FR 54211), so check the current figure before filing.

Lack of notice or custody: a motion at any time

If you never received notice of the hearing you missed, the motion has no deadline. The question is whether notice was properly sent under INA § 239(a): to the address you gave the court, or in person. Typical situations: the court sent the notice to an old address after you filed a change of address; the notice was sent to an address you never gave. The motion should include a sworn declaration that you did not receive the notice and evidence such as proof of where you lived and when, and any EOIR-33 you filed.

A defective Notice to Appear alone usually is not enough. In Campos-Chaves v. Garland, 602 U.S. 447 (2024) (June 14, 2024), the Supreme Court held that a person who received a proper notice of the specific hearing they missed cannot have the in absentia order rescinded merely because the original NTA lacked the date and time.

The custody ground works the same way: if you were in a jail, prison or ICE facility on the hearing date and missing it was not your fault, the motion may be filed at any time, with proof of the dates of custody.

A motion filed under the no-notice or custody ground (INA § 240(b)(5)(C)(ii)) needs no filing fee (8 C.F.R. § 1003.24(b)(2)(iii)).

The automatic stay of removal

Unlike almost every other motion to reopen, a motion to rescind an in absentia order stops removal by itself. The statute says that filing it “shall stay the removal of the alien pending disposition of the motion by the immigration judge” (INA § 240(b)(5)(C); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(4)(ii)). No one has to grant it, and the court does not issue a written stay order (Board Practice Manual § 5.2).

Three limits are important:

• The stay lasts only until the immigration judge decides the motion. If the judge denies it and you appeal to the BIA, the appeal is not automatically stayed (Board Practice Manual § 5.2(d)); a separate stay must be requested.
• It applies to the one motion the rule allows. A second motion, or an ordinary motion to reopen for another reason, does not carry it.
• Keep proof of filing (the ECAS confirmation or a stamped copy) with you; it is what shows ICE that the order is stayed.

Our stay of removal guide explains the other kinds of stay, including ICE’s Form I-246.

Emergency stays and the BIA Emergency Stay Unit

When the judge has denied the motion and the case is on appeal, or the person is already detained and about to be removed, a discretionary stay must be requested in writing — a “MOTION TO STAY REMOVAL” or, when it is urgent, an “EMERGENCY MOTION TO STAY REMOVAL” (Board Practice Manual § 5.3; Immigration Court Practice Manual § 7.3).

• What counts as an emergency: only when the person is in DHS physical custody and removal is imminent. Everyone else’s request is decided in the normal course of adjudication.
• The Board: a party seeking an emergency stay from the BIA must call the Emergency Stay Unit at 703-306-0093. It considers emergency requests only on non-holiday weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The BIA considers stays only when a matter is pending before it — for example, an appeal from the judge’s denial of the motion to reopen.
• The immigration court: for an emergency stay from a judge, call the immigration court that issued the removal order (EOIR’s Immigration Court Information page leads to each court’s own page, which lists its phone number); courts consider stay requests during posted operating hours.
• What to include: the complete case history and facts, a copy of the order, and “a specific statement of the time exigencies involved” — vague statements of urgency are not persuasive. A stay motion alone has no filing fee, but the underlying appeal or motion may.

Filing a stay motion does not by itself stop removal: DHS may carry out the order until the judge or the Board actually grants the stay (Board Practice Manual § 5.3(d)). Since Matter of Herrera-Nunez (BIA 2026), a stay request to the Board should also show that a stay was first asked of ICE; see our stay of removal guide.

How the motion is filed, and what happens next

• Where: with the immigration court that has the record of the case — normally the court that entered the order (8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(1)). Lawyers file through EOIR’s electronic system, ECAS.
• What: the motion, a sworn declaration, the evidence, a copy served on DHS (ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor) with a certificate of service, and the fee or fee waiver if one applies. If you will ask for relief such as asylum or cancellation of removal once the case is reopened, attach the completed application (8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(3)).
• If the judge grants it: the order is rescinded and the case goes back on the court’s calendar as if the hearing had not been missed. You must then attend every hearing.
• If the judge denies it: you can appeal the denial to the Board of Immigration Appeals within 30 days — without an automatic stay, so a stay request often goes with it.

The 10-year bar on relief

Missing court can cost more than the case. A person who was given oral notice, in a language they understand, of the hearing and of the consequences of missing it, and who is then ordered removed in absentia, is barred for 10 years from cancellation of removal, voluntary departure, adjustment of status, change of status and registry — unless the absence was due to exceptional circumstances (INA § 240(b)(7)). Rescinding the order is what removes that bar.

When to call a lawyer

Call an immigration lawyer right away if any of these is true:

• ICE has detained you or a family member, or a check-in or removal date is scheduled — an emergency stay may be needed the same day (see our ICE detention guide).
• The order is close to 180 days old and the reason you missed court was illness, a death in the family, abuse or another emergency.
• You are not sure whether you received proper notice, or the court had an old address.
• You have a pending or possible application — asylum, a family petition, cancellation of removal — that the order now blocks.
• A previous motion was already filed or denied, since only one in absentia motion is allowed.

Carlos Maury Law is led by Carlos Maury, a former U.S. Immigration Judge, who has seen these motions from the bench. We review the record, the notices and the evidence of why you missed court, choose the right ground and deadline, and prepare the motion and any stay request. Call (213) 769-0050 to talk about your case. Our removal proceedings guide explains what happens after a case is reopened, and the deportation defense guide covers the relief available.

To have a former immigration judge defend your own case in court, see our deportation defense lawyer page.

To have a former U.S. Immigration Judge prepare the motion to reopen an in absentia order, see our immigration appeals lawyer page.