What is the Board of Immigration Appeals?

The Board of Immigration Appeals is an appellate body that many immigrants need for particular issues. It is found within the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the U.S. Department of Justice, and it is the highest such body when it comes to laws for immigration. If you’re someone at risk of being deported, then you can go to the Board of Immigration Appeals and file an appeal. Since the Trump administration deported 551,449 people, you never know when more are going to be deported.

If you don’t know what the Board of Immigration Appeals does and you’re not sure how to file your appeal, read on. This article will offer you all the information you need.

What Is the Board of Immigration Appeals?

The Board of Immigration Appeals, BIA for short, is known as the administrative body that deals with immigration law interpretation and application. It can be found at the EOIR headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. The administration has up to 21 Board Members. The ones responsible for the management of BIA are the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

You should be aware, though, that BIA is not the one that does courtroom proceedings. Instead, it looks at papers for certain cases and then decides the appeals. There are very rare occasions when they have oral arguments for appealed cases. BIA will usually hear appeals from immigration judges’ decisions. Sometimes, they even hear them from officials from the Department of Homeland Security.

It’s important to note that the administrative body doesn’t hear decisions or appeals made by USCIS. Those will have to be appealed to a different place, respectively the Administrative Appeals Office.

You can file an appeal to the BIA if you want them to review an asylum denial, removal cases withholding, and final deportation orders. However, there are other situations, like denial of parole or bond, alien exclusion after they applied to be admitted to the U.S., and a few others.

How to Appeal an Immigration Court Decision with the BIA

If you want to appeal an immigration court decision, you need to know how to do it and where it should be done. Appeals refer to asking someone of a higher authority to look at the record and transcripts of the situation and decide whether the decision of the judge was a fair one or not.

Where to File Your Appeal

Before you file for an appeal, you should know that you cannot go in person to the B.I.A. After all, they are not trying to offer you another chance to present your case – all they do is review the decision of the judge. There will be no hearings, except for very rare cases. You will have to send the appeal to them.

That being said, you have to file your appeal at the next address:

Board of Immigration Appeals
Clerk’s Office
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2000
Falls Church, VA 22041

Required Paperwork for Appeal

To make an appeal against an order of immigration judge, you will have to file Form EOIR-26. It is known as the Notice of Appeal from a Decision of an Immigration Judge. Although you can send your supporting documentation when you send the form, you can also do it afterward to submit a brief. You have to show this intention on your appeal form, though.

Submitting a brief can be a great idea in case your lawyer will want to give some arguments in your favor, together with the laws that back it up. If none of this is provided, then you risk having the B.I.A. agree with the decision of the judge instead, without even looking at your case.

Your legal representative or attorney will have to submit the Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Representative Before the Board of Immigration Appeal. It is also known as Form EOIR-27. This form will show that the lawyer wants to represent you during the process. In addition, you should know that you need to submit your appeal together with a required fee. In late 2019, it was $110, but you can expect it to change, so it’s best to check it beforehand. You have to send this cash through a check or money order which is payable to the “United States Department of Justice.” But in case you cannot afford this fee, you can also try a fee waiver by using Form EOIR-26A.

There’s another thing that you shouldn’t forget when submitting your paperwork at the Board of Immigration Appeals. Before filing the actual appeal, it is necessary to make a copy of it and mail it to the Assistant Chief Counsel of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security. A confirmation will be needed too, which can be done in your EOIR Form-26 “Proof of Service” part.

You can also download the Practice Manual from B.I.A. if you want to know more about the requirements of the procedure.

When to File Your Appeal

Once you manage to file your appeal, it has to arrive at the B.I.A. within 30 days after your judge gave the order. Conversely, if the order of the judge has been sent to you in a written form and not in open court, then your appeal has to be filed and received within 30 days from the date when the order has been mailed to you. If you send it too late and it doesn’t make it in time, the appeal will be denied.

Don’t forget the fact that holidays, Saturdays and Sundays until the 30-day deadline have to be calculated as well. But if the deadline happens to be on a federal holiday, Saturday or Sunday, then the deadline will fall on the first business day that follows, being extended this way.

When you file, make sure that you have the mailing label and everything else filled out correctly. Also, you have to use the right amount of postage.

What Happens After You File

When B.I.A. receives your file, you are going to get a receipt notice within two weeks. There are situations when the receipt will not get to you, in which case you need to contact the B.I.A. and find out the reason.

If you receive your receipt, the next step will be the setting of a briefing schedule. You will receive 30 days to file your opening brief, while the opposing counsel will also have 30 days offered to file a reply. If needed, the period can be extended to 90 days as long as enough proof is provided.

BIA will decide on the appeal after they successfully go through both of the parties’ submissions. However, be aware that this may take a few months and even years, in some situations.

Conclusion

The Board of Immigration Appeals can be very helpful in your situation if you think the immigration judge made a wrong decision. Therefore, if your asylum was denied or you’re about to be deported, you can file an appeal at the B.I.A. and hope for the best. You will need a good attorney and you will require proper paperwork if you want to have any chance. We hope that our article gave you an insight into this matter. For any other curiosity, such as the EOIR forms, Stilt can help you find the answer.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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