Board of Immigration Appeals

The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) is the part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review that reviews the decisions of the Immigration Courts and some decisions of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is an administrative appellate body that is part of the U.S. Department of Justice. BIA decisions are the final administrative action in a given case. The next stage of appeal after a BIA decision is usually in the U.S. Court of Appeals, if an appeal is allowed by statute.

“I retained your firm to defend me against the USCIS’s decisions to deport me from the United States and deny my citizenship application. You assigned my case to Ms. Amy Prokop. As you also know, Ms. Prokop was successful in reversing both decisions and I am now a citizen of the United States of America…” (More client reviews…)

The BIA is notable in that you need not be an attorney to appear before it representing a client. However, non-attorneys must be part of a BIA-recognized organization (generally a nonprofit), and also have obtained BIA accreditation as individuals.

A practice manual for appearing before the BIA is available from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The BIA is located in Falls Church, Virginia. Its Board Members are administrative judges appointed by the U.S. Attorney General. The size of the full BIA varies from time to time, depending on resignations, retirements and new appointments; it may have up to 15 Board Members under the current authorizing legislation. However, following the practice of appellate courts, many decisions of the BIA are by panels that are composed of three Board Members. Other decisions are made by a single Board Member.

• Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)
• Precedent Decisions of the Attorney General and the BIA
• Board Precedents and Related Court Decisions Chart
• Practice Manual
• Practice Manual Quick Navigation
• Questions and Answers Regarding Proceedings Before the BIA
• Adjudicating Requests for Stays
• Questions and Answers Regarding Oral Argument
• E-Mail Notification Service (New BIA Decisions)
• Frequently Requested FOIA Records From the BIA
• Attorney General Holder Appoints BIA Member Forced Off the Board by former AG Ashcroft (August 3, 2009)
• Five New Members Appointed to the BIA (May 30, 2008)
• Attorney General’s Memo to BIA – January 9, 2006
• Memoranda Regarding “Streamlining” of Cases
• Summary and Conclusions Re: BIA Reform Study (October 2003)
• Study – Board of Immigration Appeals: Procedural Reforms To Improve Case Management (October 2003) – 248 Pages
• Regulations To Revamp BIA (Effective 9-25-02)
• Justice Department Press Release: Regulations To Revamp BIA
• Justice Department Fact Sheet: Regulations To Revamp BIA

PRACTICE ADVISORIES FROM THE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAW FOUNDATION (AILF)

• Terminating Removal Proceedings to Pursue Naturalization before DHS: Strategies for Challenging Matter of Acosta Hidalgo (3-18-08)
• Employment Authorization and Asylum: Strategies to Avoid Stopping the Asylum Clock (2-28-06)
• Staying The Voluntary Departure Period When Filing A Motion To Reopen (12-16-05)
• EOIR Background and Security Check Regulations–Effective April 1, 2005 (4-6-05)
• Objecting to Video Merits Hearings (12-12-03)
• Practicing Before the BIA Under the New “Procedural Reforms” Rule (9-17-02, Amended 1-10-03)

Affirmance Without Opinion

• BIA “Affirmance Without Opinion”: What Federal Court Challenges Remain? (4-27-05)
• How to Challenge an Affirmance Without Opinion by a BIA Member (9-27-02)