The process of defending Joran van der Sloot once he arrives in the United States has begun.

According to court records, Kevin Butler, federal public defender for Alabama’s Northern District Court, has filed a motion seeking a public defender for van der Sloot ahead of his planned extradition from Peru.

“Van Der Sloot has been in custody since approximately 2010 and is indigent,” the filing stated.

Attempts to contact Butler were not immediately successful.

Last week, a Peruvian executive order paved the way for van der Sloot, 35, to be extradited to the U.S. to face charges he extorted thousands from Natalee Holloway’s mother.

It remains unclear currently when he is expected to arrive in the U.S.

Van der Sloot, a Dutch national from Aruba, has long been suspected in the disappearance and death of the Mountain Brook High School graduate, who was visiting Aruba in 2005.

Read full coverage of the case here

He is expected be tried in Birmingham’s federal court on charges that he told Natalee’s mother, Beth Holloway, that he would lead her to Natalee’s body in exchange for $250,000.

Holloway paid van der Sloot a $25,000 down payment only to learn he lied about the location of Natalee’s remains.

A federal grand jury in Birmingham indicted van der Sloot in 2010 on charges of extortion and wire fraud.

He is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of Lima college student Stephany Flores, who was killed five years to the day of Natalee’s disappearance.

Van der Sloot would have a temporary extradition, allowing a temporary release a person for prosecution.

According to the UK Daily Mail, van der Sloot could delay his extradition into August with a habeas corpus petition, which would challenge the legality of his imprisonment.

The petition typically argues that the individual’s constitutional rights were violated or lack of sufficient evidence to justify their incarceration.

Col. Carlos López Aeda, the chief of Interpol in Lima, Peru, told Fox News Digital, that the extradition could happen in a matter of days or months.

“Part of it depends on transportation arrangements, a formal commitment from the U.S. government to agree to return van der Sloot to Peru to complete his sentence there before he goes to federal prison, and whether van der Sloot files a habeas corpus petition that could significantly delay his transfer,” that report stated.