Guide · Immigration & Legal Status
How to Check Your Immigration Case Status
A USCIS petition and a pending immigration court case live in two different systems — checking the wrong one won't tell you anything.
"Checking my status" means different things depending on what kind of case you have. If USCIS is handling your application or petition — a green card renewal, a marriage-based petition, a work permit — you check it through USCIS's own tools. If you have a case in immigration court, that's a separate agency entirely, with its own lookup system and its own phone line. Using the wrong one is the most common reason people think their case has "disappeared."
🔍 USCIS: Case Status Online and myUSCIS
Every USCIS filing gets a 13-character receipt number — three letters followed by 10 digits — printed on the notice USCIS mails you after receiving your case. Enter it at egov.uscis.gov's Case Status Online to see the latest update. Better yet, create a free myUSCIS account, sign in, and add the case using that same receipt number; you'll get automatic email or text alerts and can see your full case history, not just the latest status.
⚖️ Immigration court: a different system entirely
If you have a pending case before an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals, that's handled by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) at the Department of Justice — not USCIS. Check it through EOIR's Automated Case Information System at justice.gov/eoir/check-case-status, or by calling 1-800-898-7180, available 24/7. You'll need your Alien Registration Number (A-Number), entering only the digits after the letter "A."
☎️ When to actually call
Before calling anyone, check the posted processing time for your specific form and service center at uscis.gov/processing-times. If your case has been pending longer than that window, USCIS's e-Request tool lets you formally ask about a delay online. If that doesn't resolve it, call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283, Monday through Friday.
Do this first: figure out which agency has your case — USCIS or EOIR immigration court — before you search for a status, and use that agency's own lookup tool with the correct number (receipt number vs. A-Number).
Official source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (uscis.gov) and Executive Office for Immigration Review, US Department of Justice (justice.gov/eoir).
Sources
1. USCIS, "Checking Your Case Status Online" and "Create a USCIS Online Account," uscis.gov, accessed August 2026. 2. Executive Office for Immigration Review, "EOIR Case Information" and Automated Case Information System, justice.gov/eoir, accessed August 2026.
Criollo News guides are practical explainers, not immigration advice — every case is different, and immigration rules change often. Confirm your situation with USCIS directly, an accredited immigration attorney, or a DOJ-recognized nonprofit legal service.