How much time can a Justice grant to extend a certiorari petition?

Establish the ordinary petition deadline from the applicable judgment, discretionary-review denial or qualifying rehearing event. Rule 13.3 expressly distinguishes entry from mandate issuance.

Read the actual extension order and identify the parties receiving relief. The application must name each party for whom an extension is sought.

A requested maximum, a filing acknowledgment or a pending application is not the Justice’s grant. Preserve the actual disposition and operative filing date.

1. Establish the applicable ordinary petition deadline.
2. Identify the actual Justice’s order.
3. Confirm that your party is covered.
4. Use the granted relief and operative filing date, then check filing requirements.

The 60 days in Rule 13.5 are a maximum amount of discretionary relief. Do not add 60 days to the ordinary petition date. Read the actual order for the named parties, granted relief and operative filing date.

Rule 30.1 excludes the starting day and addresses a final Saturday, Sunday, federal legal holiday listed in 5 U.S.C. 6103 or Court-building closure ordered by the Court or Chief Justice. A computed holiday adjustment cannot establish that a Justice granted an extension.

A discretionary ceiling cannot supply an operative date without the actual grant. The guide does not invent a Justice’s order.

Good cause and actual grant

A Justice may extend time for good cause. Rule 13.5 does not make a request, the maximum amount or a pending application an extension.

Named parties only

The application must identify every party for whom relief is sought. Any granted extension applies solely to the named parties.

Application timing

Rule 13.5 ordinarily requires filing the application at least ten days before the petition is due. Rule 30.2 also requires filing within the period sought to be extended. The extraordinary-circumstances provisions do not promise relief.

Denial and renewal

Rule 30.3 directs the application to an individual Justice and prohibits renewal once denied. An extension application is not favored under Rule 13.5.

Petition eligibility and statutes

Rule 13.1 begins with an exception where law provides otherwise. This guide reviews the Court rule and does not determine jurisdiction, statutory eligibility or timeliness of a particular petition.

• This guide does not determine jurisdiction or statutory eligibility.
• It does not infer good cause, an extraordinary circumstance or relief from silence.

• Identify the judgment and any rehearing order, and establish the petition’s due date.
• State the basis for jurisdiction and specific reasons supporting the requested relief.
• Include the opinion and any order respecting rehearing.
• Name every party seeking the extension.
• Check the ten-day advance requirement and the still-open period under Rule 30.2.
• Present the application to an individual Justice under Rule 22 and serve the other parties.
• Rule 29.2 distinguishes timely paper receipt, qualifying USPS postmark, commercial-carrier delivery and proper electronic submission. Under the March 2026 rule, electronic timeliness requires the paper copies to be delivered or mailed by a specified method within three days. Rule 29.7 and the current guidelines impose additional electronic-submission requirements for represented filers and identify exceptions. Filing with the Court does not itself transmit the document to other parties.
• Preserve the application, service proof and actual disposition.