Checking your immigration court case status
EOIR runs an automated case information system reachable by phone at 1-800-898-7180 and on the web at acis.eoir.justice.gov. You need your A-number. It reports your next hearing and the judge's decision, it does not report bond proceedings or motions, and EOIR says plainly that the written hearing notice is the official source.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.
There is one number and one website, and there is a set of limits worth knowing before you rely on either.
- Automated Case Information Hotline Automated, around the clock. Have the A-number ready before you dial.1-800-898-7180
- ACIS, the web version The same information in a browser. acis.eoir.justice.gov
You need the A-number, the alien registration number that appears on every notice you have received. It usually begins with an A. Do not send it through a website contact form, including ours; give it by phone or in person.
What it reports
- The next hearing date, time and location.
- The immigration judge's decision, once one is entered.
- Information about a case on appeal at the Board of Immigration Appeals.
- For an asylum applicant, the asylum clock. That subject belongs to our asylum site, at asylumadvocate.com.
What it does not report
- Bond proceedings. Under the Immigration Court Practice Manual, chapter 1.5(c), these are not covered. A custody hearing does not appear here.
- Motions. Not covered either. A pending motion to reopen, reconsider, terminate, or change venue will not show.
- A new hearing date that has not been set yet. EOIR states that the system does not reflect a new hearing date until the court has set one.
- Why anything is happening. It is a status system, not an explanation.
The written notice controls
EOIR's own guidance says that court documents such as hearing notices are the official source of information on case status. If the recording and a piece of paper disagree, appear on the date on the paper and raise the discrepancy with the court in writing.
Under INA 240(b)(5)(A), a person who does not attend after written notice was provided is ordered removed in absentia if DHS establishes removability and notice by clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence. "The recording said there was no hearing" is not a defense you want to be building.
Reading what it tells you
The status is a clue to which stage the case is at, and each stage has its own clocks. The whole sequence is on how removal proceedings work.
| What the system says | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No case found | The Notice to Appear has not been filed with the court, or the A-number was entered wrong | Check the number. Keep checking. File Form EOIR-33 if your address changes. Read the Notice to Appear |
| A hearing date, time and court | The case is on the docket, and filing deadlines run from that date | Confirm it against your written notice. Count the deadlines on the deadlines page. If the court is far away, read change of venue |
| A decision by the immigration judge | The judge has ruled | The appeal to the Board is due within 30 calendar days under 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(b). Read after a removal order the same day |
| Case on appeal at the Board | An appeal was filed by you or by DHS | Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.6(a), a timely appeal generally stays the decision. Watch for the briefing schedule; briefs are simultaneous and short |
What a decision entry does and does not tell you
When the system reports that the judge has decided the case, it does not report when the appeal clock started. Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(b), the 30 calendar days run from the oral decision, if the judge decided from the bench, or from the mailing or electronic notification of a written decision. They do not run from the day the hotline updated, and the hotline may update days after the decision. If you learn of a decision from the system rather than from the courtroom or the mail, assume the clock has been running since the hearing date and act on that assumption.
An in absentia order shows as a decision too. If you never received the hearing notice, a motion to rescind for lack of notice may be filed at any time under INA 240(b)(5)(C)(ii), and filing it stays removal automatically. If you received the notice and could not attend for exceptional circumstances, the motion is due within 180 days of the order under INA 240(b)(5)(C)(i). The system will not tell you which of those you are, or that a motion was filed. See in absentia orders.
When to call the court instead
- To confirm the court received a filing. The court applies a receipt rule: a document is filed when the court has it. The hotline does not report filings, and a mailed application that never arrived was never filed.
- To ask about a motion. Motions are not in the system at all.
- When the notice and the system disagree, after you have already decided to appear on the date on the notice.
- When a hearing notice arrives for a court you did not expect. Detained cases follow custody, and a transfer moves the case; see detained removal defense.
Each court's public phone number and hours are on its EOIR page and on our guides to New York, Newark, and Miami. The clerk can confirm what is on the docket; the clerk cannot give legal advice or explain a decision.
ECAS, for represented parties
Electronic filing through the EOIR Courts & Appeals System is mandatory for attorneys and accredited representatives appearing as practitioners of record, under 8 C.F.R. 1003.31. The practical benefit for a represented person is that counsel can see the record of proceedings, including motions, which the public status system does not report. If your lawyer tells you a motion is pending and the hotline does not mention it, the lawyer is right and the hotline is doing what it is designed to do.
Keeping your address current
All of this is worthless if notices go to an old address. 8 C.F.R. 1003.15(d) requires written notice on Form EOIR-33 within five days of service if the address on the charging document is missing or wrong, and within five days of any later change. Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.26(c)-(d), notice is sufficient if sent to the most recent address you provided, and no written notice is required at all where you never provided one. Filing the EOIR-33 is what keeps the notice obligation alive. Keep proof of every one you file.
This is separate from updating USCIS. Neither agency updates the other.
If nothing is moving
TRAC counted 3,195,137 cases pending in immigration court at the end of June 2026. Long silence is the ordinary condition of a non-detained case, not a malfunction. If the delay is at USCIS rather than the court, for example a family petition or a U visa that the judge is waiting on, and the application is ripe for decision, a mandamus action in federal district court can compel USCIS to act.
uscisdelay.comOur mandamus practice. When the immigration court is continued or administratively closed to wait for a USCIS decision that never comes, this is the tool that makes USCIS decide.
Mandamus for a stalled USCIS petition at uscisdelay.com →
Read next: the Notice to Appear, the deadlines, in absentia orders, or administrative closure.
Common questions
What is the EOIR case status phone number?
The number is 1-800-898-7180. The system is automated. You need the A-number, the alien registration number that appears on every notice you have received. The web version, the Automated Case Information System at acis.eoir.justice.gov, reports the same information in a browser.
Does the system show my bond hearing or my motion?
No. Under the Immigration Court Practice Manual, chapter 1.5(c), the automated case information system does not cover bond proceedings or motions. A pending motion to reopen will not appear there. For those, your representative checks the electronic record through ECAS, or you contact the court.
What if the system and my hearing notice disagree?
Follow the notice and appear on the date it gives. EOIR states that court documents such as hearing notices are the official source of information on case status, and that the system does not reflect a new hearing date until the court has set one. Then raise the discrepancy with the court in writing.
The system says there is no case for my A-number. What does that mean?
Usually that DHS has not yet filed the Notice to Appear with the immigration court. Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.14(a), proceedings commence when the charging document is filed, and being served is not the same as being filed. Keep checking, keep your address current, and treat any hearing date on your notice as real until the court tells you otherwise in writing.
Tell us where your case is. We will tell you what is still possible.
You get a free case review with an attorney, in your language. We speak English, Russian, Spanish and Uzbek in-house, and we bring in a live interpreter for anything else. We will tell you what stage you are at, which forms of relief are open to you, what your deadlines are, and whether we can help. If we cannot, we will say so.