On December 21, 2018, Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) Director James R. McHenry III issued PM 19-08, “Acceptance of Notices to Appear and Use of the Interactive Scheduling System,” which is intended to establish standards for the receipt of Notices to Appear (NTAs) as filed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It provides in part:
[A]lthough DHS may serve an NTA to an individual with a time and date for a hearing on it, the immigration court does not actually acquire jurisdiction–and, thus, the case is not actually “scheduled” and no record of proceedings exists–until DHS files the NTA with the court. Accordingly, although an individual may believe that his or her case has been scheduled for a hearing at the time and date indicated on the NTA and may appear for that hearing, that hearing cannot occur if the NTA has not also been filed with the immigration court.
All individuals who have been served as NTA with a hearing date and time on it are encouraged to contact EOIR’s Automated Case Hotline [1-800-898-7180 (toll-free)] to confirm the time and date of any hearing listed on an NTA. If no information is found … and the scheduled hearing is less than 10 calendar days away, the individual is encouraged to contact the DHS office that issued the NTA or the relevant immigration court.
