How to Move Your Immigration Hearing to a Different Court (Change Your Venue)

A venue is the court where you go for your immigration hearings. If you have a hearing scheduled then you have a venue.

Your hearing notice might contain a time, date, and location for your hearing. You should confirm your hearing information by phone or online.

By Phone. Call the EOIR hotline at 1-800-898-7180. Enter your A-Number or “Alien Registration Number.” (Go to immigrationhelp.org to find your A-Number.) Use the menu of options to check the date and time of your hearing. The hotline is in English and Spanish. Push 2 for help in Spanish.

Online. Go to acis.eoir.justice.gov. Enter your A-Number. Look at “Next Hearing Information” and “Court Contact Information.”

Check for everyone in your family with an A-Number. Sometimes hearings are scheduled on different days for different cases even if the hearings are for members of the same family.

You can only change your venue if you move. 

• Example: Pedro lived in Massachusetts. His immigration hearings were scheduled at a court in Massachusetts. Pedro moved to Minnesota to live with his sister. He wants to move his hearings to a court in Minnesota.

Yes! If you miss a hearing for any reason, the judge might order deportation. You are then at risk to be deported at any time. Even if you move, you must still attend all of your scheduled hearings. You must attend even if they are not in the state where you live. Some courts allow you to attend your hearing virtually by phone or video. You can check if your court will let you attend by phone or video at the Department of Justice website.

No. You can choose to change your venue, but you don’t have to. You can also choose to keep your original venue.

• Example: Pedro moved to Minnesota to live with his sister. But he wants to keep his hearings in the court in Massachusetts. Pedro can do this, but he must attend his hearings in Massachusetts.

If you move to a new state, you can change your venue so that your hearings are at a court closer to where you live. But there are two reasons you might not want to change your venue.

1. You can attend hearings virtually. Some courts allow you to attend your hearings by video on a computer, phone, or tablet. If your current court allows you to attend by video then you could keep the same venue. And you would not have to travel for your hearings. You might choose not to change your venue to keep things simple. If you want to attend your hearing by video, call your court and ask if your judge needs you to send any special paperwork.
    
2. The judge assigned to your case has a good record. You can look at Judge-by-Judge Asylum Decisions in Immigration Courts to see how often each immigration judge in every state grants asylum. If your judge grants asylum a lot, it might be better to stay with that judge. If you decide to keep your case at the original venue, make sure you can attend hearings by video. If not, you need to travel for your hearings to stay at that court.

You must attend your hearings at the original court listed on your hearing notice. You must attend even if they are not in the state where you live. Some courts allow you to attend your hearing virtually by phone or video. Ask the court if you can attend by phone or video. If you do not attend your hearing, the immigration judge may order you removed in absentia (without you present). This means you could be deported at any time.

No. It might feel confusing because you have to send the court proof of your new address when you ask to change your venue. But this does not change your official address on file with the court. To change your address with the court, you must fill out a separate form (form EOIR-33). It is a good idea to update your address with the court at the same time you request to change your venue. LawHelpMN has a fact sheet to help you report a change of address: Reporting a Change of Address to the Immigration Court.

There are 5 steps to change your venue. You can use this checklist to help you.

1. Fill out a motion to change venue. Instructions and samples are in the “Sample Motion to Change Venue” section of this fact sheet. You can download a blank copy of the motion.

2. Make 3 copies of the motion. Keep one copy of the motion.

3. Mail one copy of the motion to your current court. 
You can find the name and address for your current court by checking where your hearing is scheduled. Use the instructions in step 5. 

4. Mail one copy of the motion to the government lawyer.
At your immigration hearing, it is your job to prove you should not be deported. It is the government lawyer’s job to prove you should be deported. The government lawyer needs to know if you want to change your venue. The government lawyer works at the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). The OPLA office address is different from the court’s address. To find the OPLA office address to mail your motion to:

• Call the court where your hearing is scheduled. Tell them you are trying to file a change of venue. Ask for the name and address of the OPLA office assigned to your court.
   

5. Check to make sure your venue changed. 
The court will mail you an order (an official piece of paper) that says whether or not your request was granted. You can also call or check online to see if you have a hearing scheduled at the immigration court you chose to move to. You will be told the date, time, and location of your hearing. If your venue changed, your new court will be listed.

• By Phone. Call the EOIR hotline at 1-800-898-7180. Enter your A-Number or “Alien Registration Number.” (Visit immigrationhelp.org to learn how to find your A-Number.) Use the menu of options to check the date and time of your hearing. The hotline is in English and Spanish. Push 2 for help in Spanish.
• Online. Visit acis.eoir.justice.gov. Enter your A-Number. Look at “Next Hearing Information” and “Court Contact Information.”

There are 5 things you need to send in your motion change to venue. Each part must be filled out in English. You can see a Sample Change of Venue to see what it looks like. 

Get a blank copy of this motion. Use the samples in this fact sheet to help you fill out the cover sheet, motion, order, and proof of service. There is not a form for the proof of address. Make a copy of your proof of address document. Include it with the other forms.