Defective notice remains one of the strongest grounds to reopen a case decided in your absence.
If you never received a hearing notice, or the notice omitted the time and place of the hearing, a motion to reopen may be filed without the usual time limit.
Exceptional circumstances — serious illness, a death in the immediate family, or detention elsewhere — can also support reopening within 180 days.
Supporting affidavits, mail records, and address-change filings are the evidence that decides these motions.
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