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.

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 must check with your court.

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.
    
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.

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 or “OPLA office.” 
This is also called “serving the government lawyer.” This address is different from the court’s address. To find the OPLA office assigned to your court: 

• 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. 
  
     OR 
   
• Visit the OPLA website. Find the state your current court is in. Pick the OPLA office closest to your court. Call that OPLA office to make sure it is the right office. You can say: “I’m trying to file a change of venue. I want to make sure I serve the right place. My case is in [name of court.] Is this the right OPLA office? What address should I serve?”

5. Check to make sure your venue changed. 
Call or check online to see if you have a hearing scheduled. 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.