You moved. The immigration court needs to know within five days.

When people move, they update their bank, their phone company and their employer. If you have a case in immigration court, the court has to be on that list, and it has a deadline.

This matters because of how hearing notices work. The court mails them to the address it has for you. If that address is old, you may never see the notice, and the judge can order you removed for not showing up.

The court: five days, Form EOIR-33

The rule is 8 C.F.R. 1003.15(d). It has two parts:

• When your case starts. If your Notice to Appear has no address for you, or the address is wrong, you must give the court a written address and phone number "within five days of service of that document." Form EOIR-33 does this.
• Every time you move. "Within five days of any change of address," you must give written notice of the change on Form EOIR-33 to the immigration court where your case is. If your case was moved to another court, file it with the new court.

Five days is short. File the form the week you move, not when you get around to it.

Why it matters so much

Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.26, a judge orders a person removed in absentia, meaning in their absence, if DHS proves removability and proves that written notice of the hearing was provided. The rule then says two things about notice:

1. Written notice "shall be considered sufficient" if it was provided "at the most recent address provided by the alien."
2. If you failed to provide your address as required, "no written notice shall be required" at all.

DHS and USCIS: ten days, Form AR-11

A separate law, INA 265(a), requires noncitizens who must register to notify the government "in writing of each change of address and new address within ten days from the date of such change." USCIS handles this through Form AR-11 or its online change of address tool.

This is a different filing from EOIR-33. The immigration court is part of the Justice Department, and USCIS is part of DHS. They do not share address updates with each other. If you have an asylum application, work permit renewal, or anything else pending with USCIS, update your address there too.

Common ways this goes wrong

Most missed-notice problems are not about the law. They are about everyday life. These come up again and again:

• Staying with friends or family for a while. If you are not sure how long you will be somewhere, give the court an address where mail will reliably reach you, and update it again when you settle.
• Apartment numbers. A notice addressed without the apartment or unit number can be returned or lost. Write the full address exactly as the mail carrier needs it.
• Telling only the lawyer, or only USCIS. Each office needs its own notice. Ask your lawyer to confirm that the court has your new address on file.
• A lawyer who withdrew. If your lawyer leaves the case, notices may start coming to you directly. Make sure the court has your current address the day that happens.
• Waiting until the next hearing to mention the move. By then the court may already have mailed something important to the old address.

If you are released from detention

People released from immigration detention often move several times in the first weeks: from a shelter, to a relative, to a place of their own. Each move needs a new EOIR-33 within five days, and the address you gave at release may not be where you are a month later. Keep a copy of every form you file, with the date, in one folder.

A moving checklist

1. File Form EOIR-33 with the immigration court within five days. Keep proof of filing.
2. Update your address with USCIS within ten days, using AR-11 or the online tool. Save the confirmation.
3. Tell your lawyer, who must also update the court and serve DHS.
4. Keep getting mail at the old address for a while, if you can. Set up mail forwarding.
5. Ask whether your case should move. A new address in another state does not move your case by itself. That takes a motion. See how to move your immigration court case.
6. Check your hearing date regularly through the court's automated case information, so a lost letter never becomes a missed hearing.

If you have already missed a hearing, read how an in absentia order can be reopened and speak with a lawyer right away.