For an immigration judge to hear a case, BCIS officer must issue a document called NTA (Notice to appear). this NTA is issued to a person whom BCIS believe to be removable or deportable. There are a several reason why would an NTA will be issued to a person but the usual reason is violation of status and violation of status could be overstaying your non immigrant visa, working without prior BCIS authorization, etc.
The NTA will specify what are the allege charges that are brought up against the person to make him removable.
In the master hearing the person being charged could plead innocent or plead guilty to the charges:
If a person pleaded guilty to the charges, the judge will determine if the person is statutary qualified for discretionary relief. There are several forms of discretionary relief but for non immigrant I believe a person should be asking for ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS if that person is qualified for this relief.
