Atlanta immigration court: which court is yours, how to check your case, and free help
Atlanta has two downtown immigration courts, and a third one for detained cases: Ted Turner Drive (180 Ted Turner Drive SW, Suite 241), W. Peachtree Street (401 W. Peachtree Street, Suite 2600, in the Peachtree Summit Federal Building) and the Stewart Immigration Court (146 CCA Road, Lumpkin, inside the Stewart Detention Center). Your hearing notice says which one is yours: go to that address, not the one a friend went to. To confirm your date, use your A-Number at acis.eoir.justice.gov or call 1-800-898-7180. The Justice Department's free-lawyer list for the Atlanta court is short, so start calling the same day.
The three Georgia immigration courts
All three belong to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the Justice Department, and share the same Assistant Chief Immigration Judge. They are courts, not USCIS: green card, citizenship and asylum interviews happen at USCIS offices. See the USCIS Atlanta field office.
| Court | Address and contact |
|---|---|
| Ted Turner Drive Downtown · 5 judges | 180 Ted Turner Drive SW, Suite 241, Atlanta, GA 30303 404-653-2140 · email the court · MARTA Garnett Station, about one block |
| W. Peachtree Street Downtown · 13 judges and 1 temporary judge | Peachtree Summit Federal Building, 401 W. Peachtree Street, Suite 2600, Atlanta, GA 30308 404-554-9400 · email the court · MARTA Civic Center Station, about one block |
| Stewart Detained cases · 6 judges and 1 temporary judge | 146 CCA Road, PO Box 248, Lumpkin, GA 31815, inside a DHS-controlled detention facility; the entrance is to the left of the facility's main entrance 229-838-1324 · email the court · free parking on site |
Public hours at all three are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (filing window until 4 p.m.), Monday to Friday except federal holidays. Courts can close without warning for weather. Before you leave home, check EOIR's operational status page. The courts don't accept faxes or emailed filings unless the judge or staff asked for them. Downtown, street parking is metered and a few lots charge a fee.
Court or USCIS: the Peachtree trap
The USCIS Atlanta Asylum Office is at 401 West Peachtree Street NW, Suite 2400, the same street address as the W. Peachtree immigration court (Suite 2600). They are different agencies in different suites. An asylum interview is USCIS; a hearing before a judge is the court. If you have a Notice to Appear (NTA), you are in court proceedings; check the agency name at the top of your notice before you go.
What's confirmed and what's only reported
- OfficialAddresses, phones, emails, hours, judges and the MARTA stations above, as published by EOIR. All three court pages were last updated on October 8, 2026. EOIR court pages.
- OfficialPeople without an attorney or accredited representative always default to an in-person hearing, whatever the court's video settings say. EOIR, internet-based hearings page.
- OfficialYou must report a new address within five working days on Form EOIR-33. The court sends every notice to the address on that form. EOIR-33/IC.
- OfficialEvery document in Spanish you give the judge needs an English translation with the translator's signed certification of competence and accuracy. 8 CFR 1003.33.
- OfficialEach court has its own mailbox only for asylum work-permit clock requests (below). EOIR says the court won't answer any other message sent there. EOIR court pages.
- ReportedGeorgia law bars a notary who is not a lawyer from services that amount to practicing law, and from advertising as a “legal consultant”. We could only read summaries and an older edition of the code (O.C.G.A. 45-17-8.2), not the current official text. FindLaw.
Before your hearing, step by step
Find your court and your date
Your Notice to Appear (NTA) or Notice of Hearing gives the court, the address, the date and the time. Confirm it online at EOIR Automated Case Information with your A-Number (the 9-digit number starting with A on your papers) and your nationality, or by phone at 1-800-898-7180 (TDD 800-828-1120). A rescheduled date only shows up once the court has set it.
Fix your address now, not later
If you've moved since your NTA, or the NTA has the wrong address, file the EOIR-33 online through Respondent Access (no login needed), in person or by mail. Then send a copy to ICE's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor. Telling USCIS (Form AR-11) does not update the court: do both. See change of address: USCIS, court and ICE.
Look for a lawyer the day the notice arrives
Free organizations can fill up weeks ahead. Call the providers below, ask for a consultation, and bring every paper you have. If you can't get anyone before a first hearing (a master calendar hearing), you can go and ask the judge for time to find a lawyer.
Asylum work-permit clock
If you have a pending asylum case and think your clock for the work permit is wrong, email the court's clock mailbox: Ted Turner Drive, W. Peachtree or Stewart. EOIR asks for your name, your A-Number and the reason the clock should be adjusted. Ask your lawyer first: whether and how a clock is adjusted depends on your case.
Translate what you'll file
Birth certificates, police reports, medical records: anything in Spanish needs a full English translation and the translator's certification. Same rule as at USCIS: how to do it right.
Plan the day
Arrive early: you'll go through a metal detector and a bag check, and you may have to take your shoes off. No food or drinks, and no photos or recordings anywhere in the court. At Ted Turner Drive, EOIR asks visitors not to wait in the lobby or near the entrance; to meet your lawyer before the hearing, tell the security officer, who will direct you to the pro bono room. Hearings are generally open to the public (the law sets some exceptions), so a family member can usually come with you and wait.
Never skip a hearing, even if you're afraid. If you don't show up, the judge can order your removal without you, and that order can bar you for ten years from relief like cancellation of removal, voluntary departure or a green card through adjustment of status. If you fear being detained at court, talk to a lawyer before the date.
Free legal help for the Atlanta courts
These are the providers on the Justice Department's official pro bono list (October 2026 edition, updated every January, April, July and October). The Atlanta court's list has only three entries, and only two take people who are not detained. That is not a mistake on this page: call them all, and then use the recognized organizations below. The Justice Department's list is made of providers that commit to pro bono hours before the court where they appear, so the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network is on the Atlanta court's list even though its accredited representative on the roster is DHS-only (attorneys are not counted there).
| Court | Organization | Contact | Who they help |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court: Atlanta | Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network | Contact: 678-335-6040 help@georgiaasylum.org P.O. Box 56268, Atlanta, GA 30343 | Who they help: Please call for an appointment. Affirmative and defensive asylum, VAWA, U and T visas. |
| Court: Atlanta | Family and Immigration Rights Center (FIRC) | Contact: 850-739-0017 Tallahassee, FL | Who they help: Only unaccompanied children in North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama, at no cost. |
| Court: Atlanta and Stewart | ABA Immigration Detention Hotline | Contact: Speed dial 2150# from detention · immcenter@americanbar.org | Who they help: Only people detained by ICE. It helps you prepare your own case (pro se); it doesn't represent you. Families can email on behalf of a detained person. |
| Court: Stewart | Amica Center for Immigrant Rights | Contact: 202-331-3329 (detention line) · adults@caircoalition.org | Who they help: Detained adults. Its own entry says it serves detained adults and children in DC, Maryland and Virginia, so ask whether it can take a Stewart case. |
| Court: Stewart | Immigration Justice Campaign (referral service) | Contact: 202-946-8271 · justice@immcouncil.org | Who they help: A referral service, not a law office. The list gives no further detail. |
Recognized organizations in Georgia: whose accredited representatives can go to court
Beyond that list, the Justice Department recognizes 18 organizations in Georgia that serve mostly low-income people at little or no cost. What matters is what kind of accreditation their representatives have (8 CFR 1292.12): full accreditation lets a representative appear before the immigration court and the Board of Immigration Appeals as well as DHS; partial (“DHS only”) means USCIS only, not the court. The roster counts accredited representatives, not attorneys, and groups them by organization, not by office: it does not say where each one works. An organization with only partial representatives may still have lawyers who can go to court. Ask.
| Organization | Contact | Representatives on the roster |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta | Contact: 678-222-3932 2305 Parklake Drive NE, Suite 150, Atlanta 30345 | Representatives on the roster: 1 full (renewal pending) and 2 DHS-only |
| International Rescue Committee | Contact: 404-292-7731 2305 Parklake Drive, Suite 100, Atlanta 30345 | Representatives on the roster: 1 full (renewal pending) and 53 DHS-only, nationwide in 26 locations; ask whether the full one works in Atlanta |
| Tahirih Justice Center | Contact: 470-481-7400 230 Peachtree Street NW, Suite 1960, Atlanta 30303 | Representatives on the roster: 4 full (two with renewal pending) and 1 DHS-only, across 5 offices in the country; ask whether the full ones work in Atlanta |
| Angkor Resource Center | Contact: 404-596-8770 640 Hwy 138 SW, Riverdale 30274 | Representatives on the roster: 1 full and 3 DHS-only; the roster shows its recognition date as Oct 28, 2026 with renewal pending |
| Only DHS-only representatives on the roster (USCIS and other DHS agencies, not the immigration court; attorneys not counted): Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (on the Atlanta court's pro bono list, including defensive asylum), Latin American Association, New American Pathways, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta, Georgia Legal Services Program, Bridging the Gap Project, Immigrant Connection - Georgia, Inspiritus, Immigrant Hope - Atlanta, Tapestri, Christian International Counseling & Ministries, Equal Immigration Rights Center, Cherokee Family Violence Center and Hope Immigration Center. | ||
Source: EOIR roster, report updated November 8, 2026. An asterisk on the roster means pending renewal. Under 8 CFR 1292.16, when an organization asks on time for renewal, its recognition and its representatives' accreditation stay valid while the Justice Department decides, so a pending renewal is not an expired one. Phones can change, so confirm before you travel. Enter your ZIP code in the tool that shows the closest organizations and whether they can go to court.
Only attorneys and accredited representatives can represent you in immigration court. A notario, a tax preparer or an “immigration consultant” can't, and a wrong filing in court is very hard to undo. If you lost TPS and are thinking about asylum, read asylum after TPS: the deadline is running and the latest on the TPS court order. Hearing in another city? See the Houston, Dallas, Miami, Orlando, Chicago or Denver immigration court.
Questions people ask
Where is the Atlanta immigration court?
Atlanta has two downtown courts: Ted Turner Drive (180 Ted Turner Drive SW, Suite 241, Atlanta, GA 30303) and W. Peachtree Street (Peachtree Summit Federal Building, 401 W. Peachtree Street, Suite 2600, Atlanta, GA 30308). People in ICE detention at the Stewart Detention Center are heard at the Stewart Immigration Court, 146 CCA Road, Lumpkin, GA 31815. Go to the address printed on your hearing notice.
How do I check my immigration court case in Atlanta?
Online, with EOIR's Automated Case Information system: enter your A-Number and nationality. By phone, call 1-800-898-7180 (TDD 800-828-1120). It shows your next hearing date, time and location, but a new date only appears once the court has set it; the paper notice is the official word.
Is the Atlanta immigration court the same as the USCIS Atlanta office?
No. Immigration courts belong to the Justice Department's EOIR. USCIS, which runs green card, citizenship and asylum interviews, is part of Homeland Security. The USCIS Atlanta Asylum Office is in the same building as the W. Peachtree court (401 W. Peachtree Street, Suite 2400, a different suite and a different agency), so check your notice to see which one is yours.
How do I ask the Atlanta court to correct my asylum work-permit clock?
Each court has a mailbox only for asylum EAD clock requests: Asylum.Clock.Atlanta-Ted.Turner@usdoj.gov, Asylum.Clock.Atlanta-Peachtree@usdoj.gov or Asylum.Clock.Stewart@usdoj.gov. EOIR says to include your name, your A-Number and why the clock should be adjusted, and that the court does not answer any other message sent there.
What happens if I miss my immigration court hearing?
The judge can hold the hearing without you and order your removal, and DHS may take you into custody. With an in-absentia order you can become ineligible for ten years for relief such as cancellation of removal, voluntary departure and adjustment of status.
Where can I find a free immigration lawyer in Atlanta?
The Justice Department's pro bono list for the Atlanta court (October 2026) names only two providers for people who are not detained: the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (678-335-6040, by appointment) and, for unaccompanied children in North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama, the Family and Immigration Rights Center in Tallahassee (850-739-0017). Other Atlanta nonprofits are recognized by the Justice Department; the table below shows which have an accredited representative who can appear in court.
Sources checked on November 10, 2026
- EOIR — Atlanta - Ted Turner Drive Immigration Court (updated Oct 8, 2026)
- EOIR — Atlanta - W. Peachtree Street Immigration Court (updated Oct 8, 2026)
- EOIR — Stewart Immigration Court, Lumpkin, GA (updated Oct 8, 2026)
- EOIR — List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers (October 2026), Georgia pages
- EOIR — Recognized Organizations and Accredited Representatives Roster by State and City (report updated Nov 8, 2026)
- EOIR — Check Case Status (hotline 1-800-898-7180)
- EOIR — Automated Case Information
- EOIR — Respondent Access (file the EOIR-33 online)
- EOIR — Find an Immigration Court and Access Internet-Based Hearings
- EOIR — Immigration Court Operational Status
- 8 CFR 1292.16 — Reaffirmation and renewal of recognition and accreditation
- USCIS — Atlanta Asylum Office
- 8 CFR 1003.33 — Translation of documents
- FindLaw — O.C.G.A. 45-17-8.2 (notaries and the unauthorized practice of law; third-party text, older edition)
Something changed or looks wrong? Send us a correction. This guide is general information, not legal advice.