Judicial Appeal

Your right to appeal

If you receive a denial notice, it will advise you of your right to appeal, the correct appellate jurisdiction-AAO or Board of Immigration Appeals-BIA-, and provide the appropriate appeal form and time limit.

There are strict deadlines that must be met to properly file an appeal. In addition to deadlines, the appeal must be filed with the correct fee and with the office that made the original decision.

Many people have an attorney file a brief (a written explanation) in support of the appeal.

After review, the appellate authority may:

    1) agree with you and change the original decision
    2) disagree with you and affirm the original decision
    3) send the matter back to the original office for further action

In addition to the right to appeal (in which you ask a higher authority to review a denial), you may file a motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider with the office that made the unfavorable decision. By filing these motions, you may ask the office to reexamine or reconsider its decision.

Any motion to reopen or reconsider must be filed with the correct fee within 30 days of the decision. Contact Malee about your immigration appeal options.

Board of Immigration Appeals - BIA

From USDOJ: http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/biainfo.htm

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board) is the highest administrative body for interpreting and applying immigration laws. It is authorized up to 15 Board Members, including the Chairman and Vice Chairman who share responsibility for Board management. The Board is located at EOIR headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. Generally, the Board does not conduct courtroom proceedings - it decides appeals by conducting a "paper review" of cases. On rare occasions, however, the Board does hear oral arguments of appealed cases, predominately at headquarters.

The Board has been given nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals from certain decisions rendered by Immigration Judges and by District Directors of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a wide variety of proceedings in which the Government of the United States is one party and the other party is either an alien, a citizen, or a business firm. In addition, the Board is responsible for the recognition of organizations and accreditation of representatives requesting permission to practice before DHS, the Immigration Courts, and the Board.

Decisions of the Board are binding on all DHS officers and Immigration Judges unless modified or overruled by the Attorney General or a Federal court. All Board decisions are subject to judicial review in the Federal courts. The majority of appeals reaching the Board involve orders of removal and applications for relief from removal. Other cases before the Board include the exclusion of aliens applying for admission to the United States, petitions to classify the status of alien relatives for the issuance of preference immigrant visas, fines imposed upon carriers for the violation of immigration laws, and motions for reopening and reconsideration of decisions previously rendered.

The Board is directed to exercise its independent judgment in hearing appeals for the Attorney General. Board decisions designated for publication are printed in bound volumes entitled Administrative Decisions Under Immigration and Nationality Laws of the United States.

BIA