To change your address with the Board of Immigration Appeals, file Form EOIR-33/BIA with the BIA Clerk’s Office within five business days of moving, and serve a copy on the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor handling your case. It is the only document the Board accepts for this purpose. Letters, motions, phone calls, and other filings will not update your address, no matter what they say.1U.S. Department of Justice. Change of Address/Contact Information Form Board of Immigration Appeals
When the BIA Form Is the Right One
Use the EOIR-33/BIA only while the Board has jurisdiction over your case. That window opens when a Notice of Appeal (Form EOIR-26) is filed and closes when the Board issues a final decision. If your case is still before an immigration judge, the correct form is the EOIR-33/IC instead. Filing the wrong version does not satisfy your obligation.2Executive Office for Immigration Review. Forms and Fees
The five-day rule comes from 8 C.F.R. § 1003.38(e). “Working days” means business days, so weekends and federal holidays do not count.3eCFR. 8 CFR 1003.38 – Appeals The Board also recommends filing a fresh EOIR-33/BIA whenever you file a motion to reopen, a motion to reconsider, or when a federal court remands your case to the Board, even if nothing about your address has changed. That way the Board has current contact information the moment it picks the case back up.4Human Rights First. Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual
If an attorney or accredited representative is on your case, that person should notify the Board of any change to their own business address. Their filing does not replace yours. You still need to submit the form for your personal address.3eCFR. 8 CFR 1003.38 – Appeals
Filling Out the Form
The EOIR-33/BIA is a single page, with a proof-of-service section on the back. Download it from the EOIR forms page, or complete it online through the Respondent Access portal.2Executive Office for Immigration Review. Forms and Fees
Start with your Alien Registration Number at the top. The A-Number is the letter “A” followed by seven, eight, or nine digits. If yours has fewer than nine digits, pad it with a zero after the “A”: A12345678 becomes A012345678.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigrant Fee Payment – Tips on Finding Your A-Number and DOS Case ID Enter your full legal name exactly as it appears in your immigration records. A minor spelling variation can cause the clerks to mismatch the filing with your case file.
Fill in both the old and new addresses completely, including apartment or suite numbers. The old address helps the Board locate your existing file; the new address is where the Board will send every future notice, briefing schedule, and decision by standard mail. Check the zip code and street spelling carefully. The Board relies on the address from your Notice of Appeal until an EOIR-33/BIA replaces it, and the BIA Practice Manual is explicit that changes communicated any other way will not be recognized.4Human Rights First. Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual
Sign and date the declaration. Your signature certifies under penalty of perjury, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, that the information is true and correct.1U.S. Department of Justice. Change of Address/Contact Information Form Board of Immigration Appeals An unsigned form will be rejected. Then flip to the back and complete the proof-of-service section, which certifies that you will provide a copy to the Department of Homeland Security. Skipping this section can cause the Board to disregard the entire filing.
Where to Send It
You have three ways to submit the form.
- Respondent Access portal. Unrepresented respondents can file online at respondentaccess.eoir.justice.gov. Enrollment is phased, and you will receive an official notice from the immigration court when you are eligible to register. The paper form also carries a QR code that takes you to the portal.6Executive Office for Immigration Review. EOIR Courts and Appeals System (ECAS) – Online Filing
- ECAS Case Portal. Attorneys and fully accredited representatives must file electronically through portal.eoir.justice.gov for cases eligible for electronic filing.4Human Rights First. Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual
- Mail or in-person delivery to the BIA Clerk’s Office at 5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2000, Falls Church, VA 22041.1U.S. Department of Justice. Change of Address/Contact Information Form Board of Immigration Appeals
Serving ICE OPLA
After filing with the Board, mail or deliver a copy to the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor nearest to the immigration court where your case was originally heard. Find the correct address in the ICE field office directory at ice.gov/contact/field-offices, filtered by “Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.” Some OPLA offices have a physical address that differs from their designated mailing address, so check both before sending anything.7Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE Field Offices
Keep Proof
Photocopy the signed form and the proof-of-service page before you mail anything. If you use the mail, choose a method that gives you a tracking number or return receipt. That receipt is your evidence that you met the five-day deadline, and it can be what saves your appeal if the Board later says it never received the update. Store the records somewhere you can find them months or years later.
What Happens If You Skip It
The Board sends every communication to the last address you properly provided. If a briefing deadline or final decision goes to an old address and you miss it, the Board can treat the failure to keep your address current as abandonment of the appeal or motion.4Human Rights First. Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual A dismissed appeal makes the immigration judge’s underlying order, often a removal order, final.
The immigration court side is just as harsh. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5), if written notice of a hearing was sent to the most recent address you provided and you fail to appear, the judge can order you removed in absentia. If you never provided a current address at all, no written notice is required before the judge enters that order.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings The regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 1003.26(d) mirrors that rule.9eCFR. 8 CFR 1003.26 – In Absentia Hearings
An in absentia removal order also triggers a ten-year bar on certain forms of discretionary relief, including cancellation of removal, voluntary departure, and adjustment of status. If you leave or are removed after failing to attend a hearing without reasonable cause, you become inadmissible for five years if you try to return.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings
If You Were Already Ordered Removed in Absentia
You can file a motion to reopen to rescind the order. There are two paths:
- Lack of proper notice. If you can show you did not receive notice of the hearing in accordance with the statute, there is no deadline; you can file the motion at any time.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings
- Exceptional circumstances. If you did receive notice but missed the hearing because of exceptional circumstances such as serious illness, the death of a close family member, or similar events beyond your control, you must file within 180 days of the removal order.
You get only one motion to reopen to rescind an in absentia order. It must carry a cover page labeled “MOTION TO REOPEN AN IN ABSENTIA ORDER” and should include a current EOIR-33 so the court has your correct address going forward. If you have a new attorney, add a Form EOIR-28. Filing the motion automatically stays your removal while the judge considers it.10Executive Office for Immigration Review. Motions to Reopen In Absentia Orders
Filing Form EOIR-33/BIA costs nothing and takes about ten minutes. Skipping it can cost you the appeal, ten years of eligibility for relief, and five years of admissibility. Every time you move, update the Board and serve ICE OPLA.