Appealing Immigration Decisions

How Immigration Appeals Work

In the US immigration system, an appeal asks a higher body to review a decision, and the route depends on who made it. Immigration judges sit within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and their rulings, including asylum denials, are appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals on Form EOIR-26 within 30 days. A BIA decision can then be challenged through a petition for review in a federal circuit court of appeals.

USCIS decisions follow a separate track: a denied naturalization application is contested with Form N-336, which leads to a hearing before another USCIS officer, while many other denials go to the Administrative Appeals Office on Form I-290B. An appeal argues that the original decision was wrong, whereas a motion to reopen relies on new facts and a motion to reconsider on a legal error.

In the UK, refused protection and human rights claims are appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), with onward appeal to the Upper Tribunal only on a point of law. Canada divides this work between the Refugee Appeal Division and the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board, while other decisions can reach the Federal Court only by judicial review with leave.