When someone calls about removal proceedings, they're usually holding a Notice to Appear or a hearing notice and they're scared. Sometimes they're calling for a relative who was just picked up. Either way, the details your intake captures on that first call shape how fast your attorney can act.
This checklist is built for small immigration firms. It covers what to ask, what to escalate and what your intake staff should never say. Procedure changes, so have your attorneys review it against current rules before you use it.
A quick primer for intake staff
Staff don't need to know immigration law. They do need the vocabulary, so they can recognize what the caller is describing.
- Notice to Appear (NTA). The charging document that starts removal proceedings. It's filed with the immigration court.
- Removal proceedings. The case in immigration court, which is part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), under the Department of Justice. That's a different agency from USCIS, which handles applications and petitions.
- A-number. The person's alien registration number. It usually appears on the NTA and other notices, often as an "A" followed by eight or nine digits.
- Hearing notice. Tells the person the date, time and court for a hearing.
Missing a hearing is serious. Under the immigration statute, a person who got proper notice and doesn't appear can be ordered removed in absentia, meaning without being there. Your intake staff should know that so they treat hearing dates as the most important fact on the call.
Step 1: Figure out who's calling and where the person is
Before anything else, sort the call into one of three buckets:
- The person in proceedings is calling and is not detained.
- A family member or friend is calling because the person is detained.
- ICE contact is happening right now or just happened (someone at the door, a recent arrest, a check-in that went wrong).
Bucket 2 and 3 calls go straight to your escalation path. We cover that below.
Step 2: The core checklist
Use this for every removal defense call. Spell everything back to the caller.
About the caller
- Full name and best phone number.
- Relationship to the person in proceedings, if it's not them.
- Preferred language and whether an interpreter is needed. See our post on multilingual intake.
- Whether it's safe to text or leave a voicemail at that number.
About the person in proceedings
- Full legal name, with spelling, and any other names used.
- Date of birth.
- Country of birth and citizenship.
- A-number, read off the notice if they have it.
- Current address, and whether it's the address the court has on file.
About the case
- What documents they've received. Notice to Appear, hearing notice, a decision, anything from ICE.
- Next hearing date, time and court location. If they don't know, staff can check EOIR's Automated Case Information online or by phone at 1-800-898-7180 with the A-number. EOIR says the official notices from the court control, so ask the caller to keep and send those.
- Whether they've already had a hearing, and what happened, in their own words.
- Whether they've ever missed a hearing.
- Whether they have, or had, another attorney on this case.
If the person is detained
- Name and location of the detention facility.
- Date they were detained.
- Whether they know of a bond hearing or bond amount.
- How the family can reach them, and how the person can reach the firm.
Background the attorney will ask about
- Roughly when and how they entered the U.S. Keep it factual. "When did you first come to the U.S.?" not "Did you come illegally?"
- Any past immigration applications, petitions or visas.
- Any past removal orders or deportations.
- Any arrests, charges or convictions, anywhere. Just the facts, no evaluation.
- Family in the U.S., and their status (U.S. citizen spouse, children, parents).
- Whether they're afraid to return to their home country. Don't probe for details on this call. A yes is enough to flag it for the attorney.
Step 3: Escalate the right calls
Decide with your attorneys which calls can't wait for a normal consult slot. Write it down. A starting list:
- The person is currently detained.
- ICE contact is happening now or happened in the last day or two.
- A hearing is coming up soon. Your attorneys should pick the window, for example within the next two weeks.
- The caller says they missed a hearing or got a removal order.
- The caller mentions a deadline on any notice they don't understand.
For each one, define who gets the call, how (phone, text, both) and what happens after hours. Our post on triaging deadline-driven calls goes deeper on sorting by urgency.
Step 4: Book the consult before you hang up
A removal defense caller who hears "someone will get back to you" will keep dialing. Offer a specific consult time before the call ends, and send a confirmation by text with:
- Date, time and whether it's in person, phone or video.
- The address or link.
- A short list of documents to bring or send. The NTA, any hearing notices, any decisions, ID, and prior immigration paperwork.
If it's a detained case, tell the family exactly what the next step is and when they'll hear from the firm.
What intake staff should never say
These callers want reassurance. Staff want to give it. That's where trouble starts. Ban these lines:
- "You don't need to go to that hearing."
- "That's a strong case."
- "You'll probably get a bond."
- "You qualify for asylum" or any other relief.
- "Don't worry, it'll be fine."
Give them these instead:
"I can't tell you how your case will go. That's exactly what the attorney will look at. What I can do is get every detail down now so they're ready."
"The most important thing you can do right now is keep every paper the court or ICE sends you, and bring them to your consult."
"Please don't make any decisions about your hearing until you've talked with an attorney."
If the caller asks a legal question, write it down word for word. It tells the attorney what the caller is most worried about.
After the call
Every removal defense lead should land in one place, with the hearing date at the top. Staff shouldn't have to scroll through notes to find it. Assign an owner for the next step, and if the consult doesn't book, follow up the same day. These callers don't wait long. More in speed-to-lead for law firms.
Where IntakeGenius fits
IntakeGenius answers every call, day or night, runs your removal defense intake questions and books the consult while the caller's still on the line. IntakeCRM keeps each lead in one record from first call to signed retainer, so the hearing date and the next step don't get lost. We handle the setup, so your team isn't building any of it. See how it works for immigration firms.
Want to see it handle a removal defense call? Grab 15 minutes with us. No slides.