During the hearing, the court will hear testimony and review the evidence presented by you and the ICE attorney. You and the ICE attorney will have the opportunity to present final legal arguments as to why you should or should not be expelled from the United States. The date of the hearing on the merits of the lawsuit (the IH) will generally be several (4 to 1 months in the future, or longer). Usually, the IJ asks how long it will take to complete the IC.
You should ask for at least three or four hours, and don't hesitate to ask for more time if you really think you need it. You'll find that three is the minimum to file a full case. Unfortunately, IJ's are hesitant to schedule more than four hours for a hearing. Once the hearing date is set, the MCH session is postponed.
During your individual hearing, the judge devotes attention to your case and to no other case. You are expected to start by presenting your defense and fully demonstrating why you deserve the relief you are requesting, such as a green card. Your case will be heard by an immigration judge, even if it takes place on a series of different days. If you don't have an NTA and your information isn't in the system, you may not have a case in immigration court and instead be able to apply for asylum with USCIS.
On MCH dates, the IJ deals with administrative matters, including scheduling, filing applications, pleadings to immigration charges, and other issues that arise. Immigration courts schedule hearings as soon as possible, usually within a few weeks or, at most, a few months. If you choose to appeal, then you (or your lawyer) will have 30 days from the immigration judge's decision to file a lawsuit with B. If the system says the immigration judge ordered the deportation and you never had an individual hearing, you most likely received a deportation order because you didn't have one audition.
For more information on this stage of the process, see When You Will Receive the Immigration Judge's Decision. To find out when and where you have your next hearing and what type of hearing it is, you can check the immigration court system. Again, there are strict rules when filing any of these motions, so it's very important to follow the Immigration Court Practice Manual. In some cases, the defendant may have a pending immigrant petition, which could provide relief from the deportation process; IJs are sometimes willing to allow time for these petitions to complete the processing.
However, immigration procedures are not governed by the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and tend to be more informal than those governed by APA standards. Whether you appear in court on the day you're supposed to or not, the immigration judge can still decide the case. If you cannot confirm with the immigration court before your scheduled hearing date, you should plan to attend the hearing on that date. If you have a case in immigration court, you can apply for asylum by filing an asylum application (Form I-58) with the immigration court and attending all court hearings.
Unlike the asylum interview, deportation procedures are contradictory, with an attorney from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (most of the time) fighting compensation for the applicant.
