What Will Happen at Your Master Calendar Hearing?

A master calendar hearing ("MCH") is a short, preliminary hearing on immigration matters—the usual start to efforts to remove a noncitizen from the United States. If called to an MCH, you will then meet with the immigration judge (IJ) and the government attorney to figure out how your case will proceed. The IJ will schedule dates for you to submit written documents and (unless you choose not to defend yourself but to leave the U.S. right away) for your individual merits hearing. Only at that individual hearing will the actual substance of your applications or claims and/or defenses be addressed in detail. If you have an attorney representing you, they will answer most of the IJ's questions at the MCH.

Here's what will NOT happen during an MCH: The IJ will not hear witnesses or make rulings on the merits of your case. However, the IJ may ask questions about the forms of relief you are seeking. The entire hearing (which might not last long) focuses on scheduling dates for important steps in the proceedings, confirming pleadings, and addressing any preliminary matters.

How to Prepare for Your Master Calendar Hearing

In advance of the MCH, you will receive a Notice to Appear ("NTA"), which will specify the date and place of your hearing. (Also see What Does My Notice to Appear (NTA) Mean?.)

Under normal circumstances (without any public-health adjustments), you must personally attend your MCH, even if your lawyer attends as well, or even if you haven't yet found a lawyer.

You may bring family members with you to the immigration court. Make sure that they have legal immigration status. Otherwise, they could be arrested. It is not a good idea to bring children, unless they are also included in the removal proceedings. Dress appropriately, in clean, neat, relatively conservative clothes.

Be especially careful to arrive on time at your MCH. If you are absent, or even late, you could be ordered deported "in absentia" (due to your absence). Or, the IJ might deny your legal claims or defenses. Arriving early is a particularly wise idea because going through a federal security checkpoint can take a while.

Try to find out ahead of time how your local immigration court operates. Bring important documents with you, such as:

• your identification documents (passports, a driving license)
• your NTA (or another "hearing notice" that directed you to come to court), and
• any original documents that might be helpful at this preliminary stage (based on your lawyer's suggestions).

Also bring your personal calendar, because the IJ will schedule deadlines in your case, and if it turns out you have a conflict, rescheduling will be difficult.

During a typical MCH, you will be before the IJ for about 5 to 20 minutes only, although you might be in court for several hours (including time to check in and wait). Plan accordingly.

Who Will Be at Your Master Calendar Hearing

You will not normally be the only one in the courtroom at the time of your MCH. Other people will have their MCHs scheduled in the same time block as yours, and might be in the same room with you.

Of course, if you have hired a lawyer, they will be there with you. Or, volunteer lawyers might be available to help that day. If you don't have an attorney, and no volunteer lawyers are there, and this is your first MCH, many IJs will grant a continuance to give you time to find a lawyer. Be prepared to explain that you are still looking for legal representation. It's important to attend the hearing and make this request in person.

You will also see the IJ at the front of the room, and at a desk across the room from your attorney's, the attorney representing the U.S. government and arguing for your deportation.

You cannot bring your own interpreter. However, if you do not feel comfortable using English, do not force yourself. By attempting to communicate in a language you do not fully understand, you can only hurt yourself, in the likely event that you misunderstand some aspect of the court proceedings. Tell the IJ that you need an interpreter, and one will be provided for free, most likely via electronic communication.

If you cannot understand the interpreter or they are not translating correctly, alert the IJ, who will then look for another interpreter or reschedule the MCH for another date (when another interpreter is available). If an interpreter is provided, make sure to listen until they finish translating, and then answer in your native language.

Step by Step at a Master Calendar Hearing

Once ready for your case, the IJ will call you by your Alien Registration Number ("A-Number") and your name. You and your lawyer, if you have one, will then go forward.

The IJ will start by asking you for brief identification information: your name, address, native language, and any other languages in which you are fluent. If you brought an attorney along, you will also have an opportunity to officially present them as your lawyer (enter their "notice of appearance").

The judge will also review the charges listed against you in the NTA (the legal reasons the U.S. government seeks to deport you). You will then have to admit or deny each charge. Make sure to read your NTA carefully before your MCH. Tell the judge if anything in the NTA is incorrect.

If you believe you received the NTA in error and are not removable, you can raise this issue at this time. The IJ may ask whether you admit or deny the charges and allegations in the NTA. If you deny them, the judge may schedule a future hearing to review evidence and determine whether the government can prove removability.

If you are applying for asylum, for example, the charges against you will typically include the following: the date when you entered the United States, your nationality, and whether you either entered the United States without being inspected at the border by immigration officials, overstayed a visa, or entered using false travel documents.

If you are charged with fraud, you should never automatically deny charges of fraud without legal advice. Admitting a charge of fraud could have serious consequences, but denying it without a basis could be considered misrepresentation or lack of candor. The best practice is to review the charges with an attorney before responding.

You will then be able to tell the judge what forms of defense you are claiming or what relief you are seeking. Examples include asylum, withholding of removal, voluntary departure, cancellation of removal (for an undocumented person or a green card holder), and adjustment of status. If you are seeking asylum, make sure to also apply for (1) withholding of removal, and (2) protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. (For more information on those, see Which Should I Apply for: Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and/or Protection Under Convention Against Torture?.)

The IJ will set important dates for your case, such as for:

• when to submit any pertinent applications (or amendments or additional information)
• when to hold another MCH, if necessary, and
• when your individual merits hearing will be conducted.

You must meet all of the deadlines set by the IJ. Therefore, you'll want to ask for extensions of deadlines and/or for "continuances" (rescheduled hearings) if the time proposed by the judge does not give you sufficient time to present your arguments well. Be ready to explain why you need additional time.

At the conclusion of your MCH, you will be given another Notice, specifying the date for your next MCH or for your individual merits hearing.

Special Considerations If Applying for Asylum

If you are applying for asylum, there are many important issues you must be ready to address at this initial hearing. Do everything you can to line up an attorney before you appear in court.

First, the IJ will ask you to designate a country of removal. It's best not to designate any country. The basis of your asylum application is that you are too afraid to go back to your home country where you might face persecution, so never designate your home country. The judge will then typically designate your home country as a country of removal, as a formality.

If you are applying for asylum and accept an "expedited proceedings" schedule, your individual merits hearing will be scheduled for within 180 days of when you first submitted your asylum application. Realize that this might not give you sufficient time in which to prepare a detailed asylum application and strong supporting documents. If you waive expedited proceedings, however, you will not be eligible for employment authorization (a work permit or EAD) while your application is going through the Immigration Court process. (If you are detained, you will be placed in an expedited removal schedule, and will not be allowed to waive it.) Also see When Can Asylum Applicants Get a Work Permit (EAD Card)?.

Another consideration is the basis upon which you are applying for asylum. The persecution you feared or experienced must, as a matter of basic eligibility, have been due to your fitting into on one of five categories or "grounds." (See Why Were You Persecuted? Proving the "Nexus" or Motivation in an Asylum Claim.) If "particular social group" is the ground you're claiming, some immigration judges will want to hear your description of that group at the master calendar hearing, and will consider any definition that comes later as being too late. (This was the result of a case called Matter of W-Y-C.) It's a complicated analysis that truly needs a lawyer's help.

Getting Legal Help

If you're in removal proceedings, this would be an excellent time to consult with or hire an experienced immigration lawyer. The lawyer can research the law as it applies to the facts or your case, figure out your best defense or strategy, help prepare evidence and court memoranda, and prepare you for further hearings. If you are low income, also see How to Get a Lawyer to Represent You Pro Bono (Free) in Immigration Court Removal Proceedings.