If you receive a Notice to Appear (“NTA”), that means that the U.S. government has placed you into removal proceedings. Its intent is to deport you to your home country, unless you can present a convincing legal defense. The NTA is normally issued by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”). However, even after receiving an NTA, many immigrants are left confused and uncertain as to what they're supposed to do. We'll try to clear some of the confusion up here.
What Will You See on an NTA?
The NTA is supposed to state the date and time at which you must first appear before a judge in Immigration Court. You should find that date just below where it says: “YOU ARE ORDERED to appear before an IJ of the United States Department of Justice at: __________________________________.”
This first hearing is known as the Master Calendar hearing. It is typically rather short (15 minutes or less), and deals with basic issues like whether there’s any reason to go forward with an individual or merits hearing. It might be in-person or it might be virtual, using an online program called Webex.
Knowing the exact date and time of your Master Calendar hearing is extremely important. If you fail to appear for it, the Immigration Judge can actually order you removed in absentia, or without you being present to defend yourself. That means if you're caught, you'll not only be sent out of the country, but be penalized with a $5,000 fee (as of 2025's budget reconciliation law).
Unfortunately, the government has been known to send out NTAs that are lacking in date or time information, have a nonexistent date, or are set out several years into the future. (You might think that failing to enter the proper date and time would work against them, but it seems they figured that the foreign national would at least find out the details later, when the actual immigration court issued them a “Notice of Hearing” (NOH).)
A couple of factors will determine your actual wait time and hearing date, including:
- whether your NTA has a set date and time on it or just says “to be determined” (TBD)
- the jurisdiction in which your case is filed, and
- whether you are being held in immigration detention or not.
If Your NTA Has a Date on It
If your NTA shows an exact date, then your situation might be straightforward: That is the date you must appear in Immigration Court (in person or virtually). How far into the future that date will be typically depends on your jurisdiction (as described below).
However, ICE has been known to issue NTAs with the wrong date, or even nonexistent dates and times (such as November 31st, which doesn't exist, or at 12:00 a.m., otherwise known as midnight, when everyone in the court will be home and possibly asleep).
Once you receive your NTA with the date and time, take steps to confirm that it is accurate.
First, call the hotline for the immigration courts at 1-800-898-7180. The hotline provides information in both English and Spanish.
If the hotline does not have your information, contact the local immigration court (also called the Executive Office of Immigration Review or EOIR) where your hearing will be held. To find out which immigration court has your case, check the NTA; the online list of immigration courts should also have the contact information.
You might need to keep calling, as the date of your hearing draws near, to make sure it hasn't changed. Or, contact an immigration attorney to help you sort out the actual date and prepare for your hearing.
If Your NTA Has No Date on It
You might have received an NTA that says “to be determined” for the time and date of your Master Calendar hearing. If so, you should contact the Immigration Court listed on the NTA and inquire as to the process of updating your address with the court. You will need to submit online Form EOIR-33/IC: Alien's Change of Address Form to the Immigration Court to ensure that the court can send you a Notice of Hearing with the correct date and time of your hearing.
Hearing Wait Times Vary by Location
The date of your initial, Master Calendar hearing might be a few weeks after receiving an NTA or it might be several years into the future. (And your individual merits hearing could be years after that.) The nationwide immigration court backlog has generated enormous differences in wait times between courts. Even within the same court, individual immigrants might face different wait times depending on their unique circumstances.
The shortest wait times are typically for immigrants being held in a detention facility. However, even then, there can be significant variation across the United States.
Talk to an attorney or staff at a nonprofit serving immigrants for more information, particularly about the court backlog in your local area.