Assembled from EOIR rosters, state bar directories, published fee schedules and court filing instructions. Nothing here is legal advice, and the forms change often — check dates before relying on any figure.
Most immigration problems tolerate a few weeks of shopping for a lawyer. A handful do not. The list below is the second group: clocks that run on their own schedule, where the difference between calling on day three and day thirty-three is not price but whether an option still exists.
Every figure here comes from regulations and court instructions that change. Check the date on whatever page you are reading, including this one, and confirm against the current rule before you rely on a number.
1. The thirty-day appeal from an immigration judge's decision
An appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals must arrive within 30 calendar days of the judge's oral or written decision. Not be postmarked. Not be started. Arrive.
What a careful reader checks
Whether the 30 days run from the hearing date or the mailing date of a written order, because those can differ; whether the form in hand (EOIR-26) is the current edition; whether the fee applies or a fee waiver request is being filed in the same envelope. A late notice is generally not fixable by explanation.
2. In absentia orders and the 180-day window
If a removal order was entered because you were not at the hearing, a motion to reopen based on exceptional circumstances is subject to a 180-day limit. Reopening based on lack of notice has no such limit, which is why the distinction matters more than it sounds.
What a careful reader checks
The address the court had on file, and whether an EOIR-33 change of address was ever filed. That form is due within five days of moving. Most in absentia cases turn on the mail.
3. Voluntary departure
A grant of voluntary departure comes with a fixed period, commonly 60 days after a judge's grant or 120 days if granted earlier in proceedings. Overstay it and the grant converts to a removal order, plus a civil penalty and a bar on some future relief.
What a careful reader checks
The exact last day written on the order, whether a bond was required and posted, and what filing an appeal does to the period. Some filings terminate it.
4. Detention and the first bond hearing
Detention is the one item on this list where days genuinely compound: transfers between facilities can move a case to a different court and a different set of local counsel.
Where emergency help exists
Many immigration courts host a Legal Orientation Program presentation and some have a self-help window or a duty attorney on hearing days. EOIR publishes a List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers by court location. Detention hotlines run by nonprofits in the region are usually faster than a general referral line. Ask the facility law library for the posted list.
5. The asylum one-year filing deadline
An asylum application is due within one year of the last arrival, with narrow exceptions for changed or extraordinary circumstances. The clock does not pause while you wait for a consultation.
6. USCIS appeals and motions: thirty days, sometimes thirty-three
A Form I-290B appeal or motion is generally due 30 days after the decision, or 33 if the decision was mailed. Some denials carry a shorter window. The denial notice states which.
What a careful reader checks
The date on the notice, not the date it was received, and which office the filing goes to. Filing at the wrong lockbox can consume the whole window.
7. Responses to a Notice of Intent to Deny or Revoke
These carry their own periods, often 30 days for a NOID and 15 for some revocations. They are not extendable by request in most cases.
8. Status expiry versus visa expiry
The visa in a passport is travel permission. The I-94 record controls how long you may stay. People routinely read the visa date and lose status months earlier than they think.
What a careful reader checks
The I-94 admit-until date online, whether it says D/S, and whether a timely extension filing was received before that date. A pending timely filing changes the analysis; a late one usually does not.
9. The 180-day and one-year unlawful presence marks
Unlawful presence accruing past 180 days can trigger a three-year bar on return after departure; past one year, a ten-year bar. Departing to fix something can be the act that creates the bar.
The practical rule
Write the deadline and its source on the first page of the file. If the date is inside two weeks, say so in the first sentence of every call you make. Intake staff triage by date, and most will not ask.