To file a motion to change venue in immigration court, you write a motion under 8 CFR ยง 1003.20 asking the judge to move your case to a different court location, serve a copy on the DHS attorney, file the original with the court where your case is currently pending, and keep attending every scheduled hearing until the judge signs an order granting the transfer. There is no government form for the motion itself, and filing it does not pause your case.1U.S. Department of Justice. Self-Help Guide: Have You Moved? Do You Need to Move Your Case?
What Counts as Good Cause
The judge cannot grant the transfer without finding “good cause.” The regulation does not define the term, so judges weigh factors drawn from a 1992 Board of Immigration Appeals decision: administrative convenience, whether transfer would speed up or delay the case, where witnesses are located, the cost of moving witnesses or evidence, and circumstances tied to where you actually live.2Department of Justice. Matter of Rahman, Interim Decision 3174
The most common reason is that you moved. But relocation alone is not always enough. The Board has said that living in a new city, without showing other meaningful factors tied to that residence, may not overcome DHS opposition. Explain why you moved. A new job, family who can support you, or school enrollment ties the move to something concrete and makes the motion harder to knock down.
Internal EOIR policy also identifies patterns that judges disfavor: more than two venue-change requests by the same party, motions filed mainly to delay, and motions filed after the merits hearing has started.3Department of Justice. OPPM 18-01: Change of Venue If any of those fit your situation, expect closer scrutiny.
The DHS attorney gets a chance to respond before the judge rules.4eCFR. 8 CFR 1003.20 – Change of Venue A written opposition from ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor can sink a thin motion, so the strength of your written explanation matters. A one-line “I moved” is easy to oppose; a motion backed by proof of your new address, a clear reason for the move, and an explanation that the transfer will not cause delay is much harder to defeat.
What to Put in the Motion
There is no standard form. You draft the document yourself or through an attorney. Include:
- Your full legal name
- Your A-Number (alien registration number)
- The city and state of your current immigration court
- The city and state of the court you want the case transferred to
- The date and time of your next scheduled hearing
- A fixed street address, with city, state, and ZIP code, where you can receive hearing notices
The regulation requires that street address, and a motion without it will not be granted.4eCFR. 8 CFR 1003.20 – Change of Venue A P.O. box alone does not satisfy the rule.
The body of the motion is your written explanation of why the transfer is warranted. Attach evidence that you actually live at the new address. Useful documents include a signed lease or mortgage, recent utility bills in your name, a driver’s license or state ID showing the new address, and an employment offer letter or pay stubs from a job near the new court.1U.S. Department of Justice. Self-Help Guide: Have You Moved? Do You Need to Move Your Case?
Your packet should also include a proposed order (a short draft document the judge can sign) and a certificate of service confirming you sent a copy of everything to the DHS attorney.
Form EOIR-33 Is Separate and Also Required
Filing the motion does not update your address in the court’s records. You have to file Form EOIR-33 (Change of Address/Contact Information) with the immigration court within five working days of any change to your contact information.5U.S. Department of Justice. Form EOIR-33 Change of Address/Contact Information Form The court will not pull your new address out of the motion itself. If a hearing notice goes to your old address and you miss the hearing, the judge can order removal in your absence.
Prepare the EOIR-33 at the same time as the motion. Include a completed copy in the packet you file with the court, and give another copy to the DHS attorney when you serve them.1U.S. Department of Justice. Self-Help Guide: Have You Moved? Do You Need to Move Your Case? That way both offices have your current contact information no matter how the judge rules.
Where and How to File
Two steps, and the order matters.
First, serve the DHS attorney. Send a complete copy of the packet to the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor assigned to your current court, by mail or through the designated online portal. Keep proof of when and how you sent it; your certificate of service has to reflect that.
Second, file the original packet with the immigration court where your case is currently pending. A common and damaging mistake is sending the motion to the new court. That court has no jurisdiction over your case yet, so filing there accomplishes nothing. File with the current court by mail, in person, or electronically through the EOIR Respondent Access Portal at respondentaccess.eoir.justice.gov.1U.S. Department of Justice. Self-Help Guide: Have You Moved? Do You Need to Move Your Case?
The Respondent Access Portal is voluntary for unrepresented individuals and is being rolled out in phases. EOIR notifies eligible respondents by mail with instructions for creating a DOJ Login account.6Executive Office for Immigration Review. Respondent Access Portal Frequently Asked Questions If you have not received that notice, file by mail or in person.
Filing Fees
A motion to change venue is not on EOIR’s schedule of required filing fees. The FY 2026 fee schedule, effective February 1, 2026, lists fees for motions to reopen ($1,065 before an immigration judge) and motions to reconsider, but a change of venue motion is not among them.7Department of Justice. Inflation Adjustment for EOIR OBBBA Fees; Fiscal Year 2026 Do not confuse a motion to change venue with a motion to reopen. They are different filings with different purposes.
Keep Attending Every Scheduled Hearing
Filing the motion changes nothing about your existing hearing dates. You must appear at your current court until a judge signs an order granting the transfer. Missing a hearing while a motion is pending can lead to an in absentia removal order, meaning deportation is ordered without you being present.8Executive Office for Immigration Review. 5.9 – Motions to Reopen In Absentia Orders Rescinding that kind of order requires a separate motion to reopen, which is harder and more expensive than the venue change would have been.
What Happens After You File
DHS has a chance to file a response supporting or opposing the transfer. The judge then decides whether good cause exists.
If the motion is granted, the order closes your case at the current court and transfers the file to the new one. You will receive a new hearing notice from the receiving court. EOIR’s internal scheduling targets are 14 days for detained individuals and 60 days for non-detained individuals after transfer.3Department of Justice. OPPM 18-01: Change of Venue Backlogs at the receiving court can push those timelines longer in practice. Keep your address current so the new hearing notice reaches you.
If the motion is denied, your case stays where it is and you keep appearing there. Denials usually reflect insufficient evidence, agreement with a DHS opposition, or a finding that transfer would cause undue delay. You can file a new motion with stronger evidence, but EOIR policy disfavors more than two venue-change requests from the same party, so make each attempt count.3Department of Justice. OPPM 18-01: Change of Venue
If You Have a Pending Asylum Application
A granted change of venue does not stop the Asylum EAD Clock for cases pending before EOIR, under the Garcia Perez settlement.9Executive Office for Immigration Review. Garcia Perez Settlement FAQ The reason for any hearing delay afterward still matters. If the next hearing is adjourned because of the court or DHS, you continue accumulating days toward the 180-day threshold. If the adjournment is attributed to you or your attorney, the clock stops until the next hearing.10USCIS. Applicant-Caused Delays in Adjudications of Asylum Applications and Impact on Employment Authorization A scheduling gap caused by the new court’s own backlog should not count against you.
If You Are in ICE Detention
The setup is different when you are in custody. ICE is supposed to file Form I-830 notifying the court of your detention status and location. When that filing is delayed after you have been moved to a facility in a different court’s jurisdiction, filing your own venue motion may be the way to alert the court to where you actually are. Your evidence changes too: instead of a lease or utility bill, you document the detention facility and its location relative to the immigration court. Practical obstacles matter as well. Certified mail may not be available inside the facility, so you may have to rely on regular mail or ask someone outside to help send the packet.