Does Missing an Immigration Hearing Affect My Status?

You may be mailed or hand-delivered a Notice to Appear (NTA) that essentially initiates immigration removal proceedings against you. Importantly, you must carefully read this notice and note the listed date, time, and location of your first court hearing. In short, a failure to appear on time or at all can be detrimental to your defense and overall chances of remaining in the United States. That said, please read on to discover the consequences of missing a scheduled immigration hearing and how one of the seasoned Lancaster, PA deportation defense lawyers at Lupton Law LLC can help you avoid this terrible fate at all costs.

How does missing a scheduled immigration hearing affect my current status?

With a pending immigration hearing, you are already put in a tough spot with having to defend your eligibility to stay in the United States. But with a failure to show up at all, an immigration judge may assume that you relinquished your right to defend yourself. In turn, they may respond by issuing an absentia removal order. This is essentially an order to deport you from the country, which also may prompt Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest and detain you to ensure this is executed.

So, not only may this make you ineligible for voluntary departure, but you may also lose your opportunity to adjust your immigrant status to cancel out this removal order. In essence, you may no longer be considered to have a valid legal status in the country. This is especially likely if you also fail to respond quickly by hiring a legal representative, who may file a motion to reopen or rescind your deportation case right away. Or, if you have no valid excuse for missing this scheduled court date in the first place.

Does a failure to appear affect my future immigration opportunities?

To reiterate, you may lose your current immigration status in the United States immediately following your failure to appear before an immigration judge. What’s worse, though, is that a failure to appear may be considered a violation of U.S. immigration law. And so, you may be barred from reentering the country for five years, 10 years, 20 years, or even permanently. Also, even when this bar is lifted, this history of noncompliance with court orders on your immigration record may limit your future immigration opportunities.

To mitigate this scrutiny with your future applications, it is important to get ahead of this issue and have your lawyer file a motion to reopen your deportation case on your behalf. Here, you must help your lawyer gather valuable evidence that establishes your acceptable excuse for missing this scheduled court date (i.e., medical emergency, family emergency, transportation troubles, etc). At this time, you may also work together to file relevant waivers of inadmissibility or waivers to adjust your status.

To conclude, before you step into an immigration courtroom, you must seek one of the competent Lancaster, PA deportation defense lawyers to stand by your side. Please contact our office, Lupton Law LLC, as soon as you are ready.