# Notice to Appear **Status: stub — expand.** The **Notice to Appear (Form I-862)** is the charging document that opens a formal removal case under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a. Section 1229(a) requires a single document stating the nature of the proceedings, the factual allegations, the statutory charges, and the time and place of the hearing; jurisdiction vests in the immigration court only when DHS files it there (8 C.F.R. § 1003.14). Because DHS controls whether and when to file, the NTA is also the pipeline's main lever of prosecutorial discretion. The Supreme Court has twice enforced the "single document" requirement: *Pereira v. Sessions* (2018) held that a notice missing the hearing's time and place does not trigger the stop-time rule for cancellation of removal, and *Niz-Chavez v. Garland* (2021) held that the defect cannot be cured by a later hearing notice. The bypass tracks on the [[Immigration Removal Pipeline]] — [[Expedited Removal]], reinstatement, administrative removal — are precisely the routes on which no NTA is ever issued and no immigration judge ever sees the case. ## See also - [[Immigration Removal Pipeline]] — Stage 3 - [[Expedited Removal]] · [[Executive Office for Immigration Review]]