# You missed a hearing or never got the notice Source: https://www.qaravan.org/resources/immigration/missed-hearing/ What to do if you missed an immigration court hearing or never got the notice. This is general information, not legal advice: QARAVAN has no lawyers. QARAVAN does not help anyone enter the US and cannot arrange visas, invitations, sponsorship or evacuation. For your own case, talk to a licensed immigration attorney or a representative accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice. If you miss a hearing, the judge can order your deportation without you (an order in absentia). You can challenge it by asking the court to reopen the case (a motion to reopen). The deadline depends on why you missed it. If the notice never came, you were in custody or exceptional circumstances stopped you, then once you file such a motion you will not be deported while the judge decides. But you can file this kind of motion only once. ## Start here - Today, check your case on the court's website (EOIR) with your A-Number: is there a deportation order in absentia? - Find a lawyer at once: you can usually ask to reopen within 180 days, and at any time if the notice never reached you. - Keep envelopes, notices, medical notes and proof of past addresses: they explain why you missed the hearing. ## The first 24 hours Time is short. Start here, in this order. 1. Find out whether the judge has ruled Check your case online at [acis.eoir.justice.gov](https://acis.eoir.justice.gov). Enter your A-Number, which is on letters from the court and USCIS. A new date shows up only once the court sets one. 2. Write down what happened The date of the missed hearing, when and how you learned of it, and the address the court sent the notice to. If you moved, the moving date and the old and new addresses. With this timeline a lawyer sees faster which motion fits. 3. Collect proof The postmarked envelope, any notice you got, medical notes and other papers that explain why you didn't come, and proof of the address you gave the court or USCIS. 4. Find a lawyer or accredited representative Only a licensed attorney or an accredited representative may legally give advice on your case and file papers in court. You can ask to reopen over a missed hearing only once, so have a lawyer check the motion before it is filed. A motion based on changed conditions in your country (to apply for asylum or withholding of removal) has no deadline, but it does not stop removal: ask the judge for a stay separately. If you were told orally, in a language you understand, when the hearing was and what happens if you miss it, an order in absentia bars voluntary departure, cancellation of removal and getting a green card inside the US (adjustment of status) for 10 years. 5. Update your address with the court File form EOIR-33/IC online in [Respondent Access](https://respondentaccess.eoir.justice.gov/en/), your account on the EOIR website. The court counts a notice as delivered if it went to the last address you gave it. So if you moved without telling the court, "the notice never came" usually won't work. ## Which request fits If you were at the hearing and disagree with the final decision, a motion to reopen is usually due within 90 days. Ways to ask the court to look at a decision again: deadlines and fees as of November 2026 | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ## If you are detained or have a removal order ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) can detain someone who has a deportation order. These programs give urgent help. - Rapid Response Legal Collaborative NYC residents Free Urgent legal help for New Yorkers detained by ICE, and for people with a deportation order or ICE check-ins and no pending applications or appeals. Not open to people convicted of a serious or violent felony. Fill in the form on the program's website (a place is not guaranteed). Make the Road New York, NYLAG and UnLocal do the work; the city and the state fund it. Ask about the program on the City's MOIA line; to speak Russian, say "Russian". [800-354-0365](tel:8003540365) [nyc.gov](https://www.nyc.gov/site/immigrants/legal-resources/rapid-response-legal-collaborative.page) - The Legal Aid Society, lawyers for detained people NYC residents Free If someone is detained by ICE and their case is in a New York immigration court (or they live in New York and the case is in New Jersey), the NYIFUP program (New York Immigrant Family Unity Project) may give them a free lawyer. Email nyifup@legal-aid.org. If you speak no English, first call the State's New Americans Hotline, [1-800-566-7636](tel:18005667636): it refers detained people to free lawyers; say "Russian" and a free interpreter joins. The Legal Aid line is in English. [212-577-3300](tel:2125773300) [legalaidnyc.org](https://legalaidnyc.org/get-help/immigration-deportation/) - Fee after an order in absentia and an arrest by ICE Any status Under federal law H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21), a person with an order in absentia who is later arrested by ICE pays a fee: $5,000 from September 8, 2025, $5,130 from December 1, 2025 and $5,300 from October 16, 2026. DHS sends a notice with payment instructions. Before paying, ask a lawyer whether you can be exempted. [govinfo.gov](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-01/pdf/2026-20187.pdf) - Free lawyers at your court Any status Free EOIR publishes a list every quarter of organizations and attorneys who take cases for free at each immigration court. Find your court and contact them as early as you can. [justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/eoir/list-pro-bono-legal-service-providers) ## Glossary: definitions of special terms and abbreviations - ****: - ****: - ****: - ****: - ****: - ****: - ****: - ****: - ****: [All pages: Immigration and asylum](https://www.qaravan.org/resources/immigration/) **Sources, checked November 2026** - [govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-01/pdf/2026-20187.pdf](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-01/pdf/2026-20187.pdf) - [acis.eoir.justice.gov/en](https://acis.eoir.justice.gov/en/) - [respondentaccess.eoir.justice.gov/en](https://respondentaccess.eoir.justice.gov/en/) - [legalaidnyc.org/get-help/immigration-deportation](https://legalaidnyc.org/get-help/immigration-deportation/) - [nyc.gov/site/immigrants/legal-resources/rapid-response-legal-c…](https://www.nyc.gov/site/immigrants/legal-resources/rapid-response-legal-collaborative.page) - [justice.gov/eoir/list-pro-bono-legal-service-providers](https://www.justice.gov/eoir/list-pro-bono-legal-service-providers)