Notice to Appear

Where to find your A-number

USCIS defines the A-number as “a unique seven-, eight- or nine-digit number” that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assigned to you (USCIS glossary). EOIR describes it as the letter A followed by an 8- or 9-digit number, and notes that it “is printed on all Department of Homeland Security and EOIR correspondence” (EOIR, Immigration Case Status Information). In practice, look for it on:

• The Notice to Appear (Form I-862) itself. DHS must give the court your registration number when it files the case (8 C.F.R. § 1003.15(a)(3)).
• Any hearing notice or order from the immigration court, and any notice from the BIA.
• USCIS notices (receipt and approval notices on Form I-797) and other DHS letters, including ICE paperwork.
• Your green card. Cards issued after May 10, 2010 show a “USCIS Number” on the front; it is the same 9-digit number as your A-number without the letter A (USCIS glossary: USCIS Number; USCIS Handbook for Employers M-274, Part 3).
• Your work permit (EAD) and other DHS-issued cards and letters.

Two cautions. First, an A-number is not a USCIS receipt number and not an I-94 admission number; neither will work in EOIR’s tools. Second, the A-number belongs to one person — if several family members were given NTAs, check each person’s number, including children’s.

Checking online: EOIR’s Automated Case Information portal

EOIR’s Automated Case Information System (ACIS) is free, needs no account, and works in English and Spanish. It asks for two things:

1. Your A-number, without the letter A. If your A-number has 9 digits, type all 9. If it has 8 digits, type a zero first and then the 8 digits.
2. Your nationality, chosen from a list: the country that best describes your nationality during your most recent immigration case — your place of birth, the country you are a national or citizen of, or the last country you habitually lived in. If you have more than one nationality and the first one returns nothing, ACIS suggests trying the second.

You must accept a short disclaimer and pass an hCaptcha check. ACIS describes itself plainly: it “provides basic information about the status of certain cases,” does not show all cases or all information about a case, covers the primary case only, and, if there has been more than one case under your A-number, shows only the most recent one. It also says to contact your local court for bond hearing information. EOIR’s operational status page points to the same portal and adds: if you need clarification of your hearing date and time, call the immigration court handling your case.

Checking by phone: 1-800-898-7180

The same information is available by telephone. EOIR’s automated case information line, 1-800-898-7180 (toll-free), works “24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” in English and Spanish, and gives the next hearing date, time and location; case processing information; the immigration judge’s decision and its date; BIA appeal information, including the appeal due date, brief due date, decision and date; and filing information (EOIR, Immigration Case Status Information). When the voice prompt asks for your A-number, key in the 9 digits without the letter A — again, put a zero in front of an 8-digit number.

The phone line is useful when you have no internet access, when ACIS is down for scheduled maintenance, or when you want to check a relative’s case while you are away from a computer. It reads the same records as the portal, so if one says “no case found,” the other usually will too.

What the results mean

ACIS groups what it shows under a few headings. These are the messages it uses and what they tell you:

Next hearing information

• “Your upcoming … hearing is on [date] at [time].” The hearing type is either master (a short master calendar hearing, where pleadings are taken and deadlines set) or individual (the merits hearing where evidence and testimony are heard). The hearing may be in person or internet-based; for internet-based hearings, EOIR sends you to its Find an Immigration Court page for access information. Our guide to master calendar and individual hearings explains what happens at each.
• “Check the court location below.” The court name, address and phone number appear under Court Contact Information. Compare them with your hearing notice — courts move and close, as the section on court changes below explains.
• “There are no future hearings for this case.” This is not good news or bad news by itself. It can mean the case has been decided, is on appeal, is waiting for a new hearing notice, or has been closed or paused. Read the decision and BIA sections before drawing any conclusion.

Court decision and motion information

• Judge, decision and decision date. This shows the immigration judge on the case and, once there is one, the decision — for example an order of removal, a grant of relief, a grant of voluntary departure or a termination. An order entered when you were not there (in absentia) also appears here.
• “An appeal is due by [date].” After a decision, either side may appeal to the BIA; the date shown is the deadline. Missing it usually makes the judge’s order final. Our BIA appeals guide covers how appeals work.
• “No appeal was received for this case.” The deadline passed without an appeal on record.
• Motions — a motion to reopen, to reconsider or to reinstate — are listed with the date received and whether they are pending or decided.

BIA case information

If the case is on appeal, ACIS shows when the appeal was received, whether it is pending, the brief due dates for you and for DHS, whether briefs were received, and the BIA’s decision and date. It also flags a case that a federal court has sent back (remanded) to the BIA. For a bond appeal, ACIS tells you to contact the court that has your case.

Whatever ACIS shows, its own text warns that information “displayed or lack of information should not be the sole means to determine the status of a case or the effect of an immigration court or BIA decision.” A short line such as “removal ordered” does not tell you whether there is still time to act — and there often is.

“No case found” and other problems

ACIS answers “No case found for this A-Number” in several different situations. Work through them in order:

1. Typing. Re-check every digit, drop the letter A, and add the leading zero to an 8-digit number. “Invalid A-Number” means the format itself was wrong.
2. Nationality. The nationality must match how the court recorded you. Try your country of birth, then any other nationality you hold.
3. The case has not been filed yet. A removal case starts only when DHS files the Notice to Appear with the immigration court — “Jurisdiction vests, and proceedings before an Immigration Judge commence, when a charging document is filed with the Immigration Court” (8 C.F.R. § 1003.14(a)). An NTA handed to you by an officer may reach the court only some time later. Until then, EOIR has no case to show. ACIS itself tells recent arrivals who received an NTA and were placed in the Alternatives to Detention program to expect their hearing information by mail from the court. Check again regularly — weekly is sensible — and keep your address current with the court as soon as a case exists.
4. The wrong A-number. Use the number on your own NTA or latest hearing notice — not a relative’s, and not one copied from an old document. Compare every DHS and court paper you have.
5. Restricted cases. If a case is marked “Do Not Release,” ACIS shows no detailed information, although the Respondent Access Portal does (Respondent Access Portal FAQ).

If none of these explains it, call the immigration court named on your NTA or your last hearing notice. Each of our court pages, reached from the directory of all 77 immigration courts, lists the court’s address and, where verified, its phone number. Never assume that “no case found” means there is no case: missing a hearing you were properly notified of leads to an order of removal in your absence (INA § 240(b)(5)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(A)) — our guide to in absentia orders explains what can be done after one.

If the date looks wrong

If ACIS or the phone line shows a different date from the notice in your hands, the newer document usually controls, but do not guess. EOIR says that once a new hearing notice issues, the online information is updated, and that court documents such as notices “are your official source of information” (EOIR operational status). Call the court, give your A-number, and ask which date is current; write down the date, time and name of the person you spoke with. If you have a lawyer, your lawyer can see the full docket in EOIR’s electronic system.

If the person is detained

For someone in ICE custody, ACIS shows the removal case but not bond hearings. First find the person with ICE’s Online Detainee Locator (A-number and country of birth, or name), then check the detained court’s page. Our guide to finding someone ICE has detained and our bond hearings guide walk through both steps.

When the court, the date or the hearing format changes

EOIR closes and moves courts, and reschedules hearings, more often than many people expect. Three situations come up again and again:

• The court has closed. EOIR permanently closed the San Francisco Immigration Court at the close of business on September 4, 2026; its cases moved to the Concord Immigration Court (EOIR notice; see our San Francisco court page). EOIR closed the Batavia Immigration Court on July 24, 2026, and transferred its pending cases to the Buffalo Immigration Court (EOIR notice; Batavia court page). If ACIS shows a court you have never heard of, a transfer like this is the usual reason.
• The court is closed for the day. ACIS shows a “Court Closures Today” notice for weather and other closures, and EOIR’s operational status page lists current court status. Check both the day before and the morning of any hearing.
• You moved to another state. Telling the court your new address does not move your case. Venue stays with the court where the NTA was filed, and only the immigration judge can change it — for good cause, on a motion by one of the parties, after DHS has had a chance to respond, and only once you give a fixed street address where you can be reached (8 C.F.R. § 1003.20). Until the judge grants a change of venue, you must attend hearings at the original court.

Our state and area court hubs — for example California, the Los Angeles area, the Houston area and New York — show which courts serve each region and link each court’s page.

Keeping your address current: Form EOIR-33

Every hearing notice goes to the address the court has on file, and the law treats a notice sent to “the most recent address provided” as sufficient (8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(A)). The Notice to Appear itself must warn you of the duty to give the government your address and phone number and to report any change immediately (INA § 239(a)(1)(F), 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(1)(F)). The regulation sets the deadlines:

• If the address on the NTA is missing or wrong, give the court a correct address and phone number within five days of being served (8 C.F.R. § 1003.15(d)(1)).
• After any move, file Form EOIR-33 within five days with the immigration court where the NTA was filed — or, if venue was changed, with the new court (8 C.F.R. § 1003.15(d)(2)).

Use the right version from EOIR’s forms page: EOIR-33/IC while the case is before an immigration court, EOIR-33/BIA while it is on appeal. EOIR publishes both in English, Spanish and several other languages. You can file the form on paper with the court, or online without a lawyer through the Respondent Access site, which lets you file an EOIR-33 without logging in; a lawyer files it through EOIR’s electronic case system. Keep proof of filing.

The court and USCIS keep separate records. A USCIS change of address — online or on Form AR-11, due within 10 days of moving (USCIS, Form AR-11) — does not update the immigration court, and an EOIR-33 does not update USCIS. If you have both a court case and a USCIS application, file both.

More detail: the Respondent Access Portal

ACIS gives a summary. EOIR’s Respondent Access Portal gives people without a lawyer much more: it shows all their cases and appeals, past and upcoming hearing dates, detailed case history, and lets them download the full electronic record of proceedings and file documents with the court (RAP FAQ). It requires an account, and enrollment is phased: EOIR sends an official notice when you are eligible to register, and it is open to adults whose case is not combined with a minor’s case. If you are not yet eligible, the three self-help tools that need no login remain available: the online EOIR-33, ACIS, and EOIR’s Immigration Court Online Resource. If you have a lawyer, your lawyer sees the full record through EOIR’s case portal instead.

When to call a lawyer

Checking a date is something you can do yourself. If you are not sure whether you are in removal proceedings at all, our removal proceedings self-check walks through the usual signs. Call an immigration lawyer promptly if any of these is true:

• You just received a Notice to Appear, or ACIS shows a first master calendar hearing. The first hearing is where pleadings are taken and deadlines are set, and our removal proceedings guide explains why preparation starts before it.
• ACIS shows a decision you did not expect, or an appeal due date that is close. Appeal deadlines are short and rarely extended.
• ACIS shows an order entered while you were absent. A motion to reopen can sometimes rescind it, but deadlines apply — see our guide to missed hearings and in absentia orders and our motions to reopen guide.
• “No case found” persists for months after you were handed an NTA, or the court on file is far from where you now live and you need a change of venue.
• A family member is detained, or a hearing is set and you need relief such as asylum or cancellation of removal — see our deportation defense page.

Carlos Maury, a former U.S. Immigration Judge, leads Carlos Maury Law. If you have checked your case and are not sure what the result means or what to do next, call (213) 769-0050. We speak Spanish. Our article on how to read a Notice to Appear explains each part of the document that starts the case.