What If I Can’t Attend My Removal Hearing

It is extremely important that you attend all hearings scheduled by the Immigration Court. If you do not attend your hearing and do not notify the court in advance, the judge can order you removed in your absence. If you are ill, have a family emergency, or a personal emergency, you can request a continuance. To do this, you need to file a Motion to Continue with the court and send a copy to the attorney who represents the government. In the Motion, you need to clearly explain why you are requesting the continuance and include evidence of the reason you are requesting a continuance. For example, if your family member is ill, you could include a letter from the family member’s doctor as well as explain the situation in the Motion. 

If there is an emergency on the day of your hearing, you need to call the court and tell the clerk the reason you cannot attend the hearing. It is incredibly important that you only do this in the case of a true emergency. The Court will want you to state on the record the reasons you cannot attend the hearing and potentially present evidence to confirm the reason you could not attend.