Immigration appeal lawyers help people after they receive a denial of immigration benefits or an unfavorable immigration court decision. If either of these things have happened to you or you feel you were treated unfairly while seeking immigration benefits, the sooner you contact an immigration appeal lawyer, the better.
Many people end up needing help from an immigration appeal lawyer because they applied for immigration benefits without an experienced immigration attorney. Issues can also arise when clients aren’t completely upfront with their immigration attorney in the first place. Other times, people do everything right, but a mistake is made by a government employee. Regardless of what happened in your situation, an experienced immigration appeal lawyer is your best chance.
Jorge Munoz Law Firm is known for skillful removal defense, but is also trusted with immigration cases of all kinds. If you receive an unfavorable decision, our legal team may use one of the following strategies:
An immigration appeal is a request to an authority separate from the one that made the original decision. Your immigration appeal lawyer may request a review from either the AAO or the BOA depending on the type of immigration case you have. The BIA and the AAO have jurisdiction over different types of cases.
A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) motion to reopen or reconsider is a request to the specific USCIS office that made the original decision. Your attorney may file a motion even if your case isn’t eligible for appeal.
Your attorney may suggest litigation when relief isn’t available through other means. Litigation is when your attorney files a lawsuit on your behalf with the intention of taking your case to court.
The AAO and BIA are two separate appellate bodies. The AAO’s parent agency is USCIS. The BIA’s parent agency is the Department of Justice.
About 50 types of USCIS petitions and applications fall under the jurisdiction of the AAO. Some decisions issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also fall under its jurisdiction. For decisions that can be appealed to the AAO, your immigration appeal lawyer will file Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion.
Some common petitions and applications that fall under the AAO’s jurisdiction include:
Attempting to appeal a USCIS or ICE decision without an immigration appeal lawyer could cause irreparable harm to your immigration case. Consider that the AAO uses what’s called a “de novo review” of all cases.
A de novo review is when the entire case is examined from a fresh perspective as though the case is completely new. Because of this, a de novo review could catch additional strikes against your case that had not been looked at in the first decision.
That means that the office could find other reasons to deny your petition or application. A skilled immigration appeal lawyer will be able to detect potential issues and prepare to defend you from them.
The BIA is part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Most BIA reviews involve appealing an unfavorable decision made by an immigration judge, such as ordering removal or denying asylum. The BIA also reviews USCIS denials of family-based visa petitions.
When requesting a review by the BIA because of an unfavorable decision in immigration court, your attorney will submit Form EOIR-26, Notice of Appeal from a Decision of an Immigration Judge to the board.
Since this notice must arrive at the BIA no later than 30 days from the unfavorable decision, your attorney will encourage you to avoid all delays. After the Notice of Appeal has been submitted, it could take several months for the BOA to reach out to you for the next step.
To appeal an unfavorable decision by USCIS under the BIA jurisdiction, your attorney will submit Form EOIR-29, Notice of Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals from a Decision of a DHS Officer.
To ask USCIS to take another look at your case without appealing to a separate higher authority, your attorney will file Form I-290B, the same form used to appeal to the AAO.
Motions related to USCIS denials ask USCIS to take another look at the evidence.
Sometimes, relief can’t be found outside of the courtroom and your attorney will suggest litigation in federal court. The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) allows people to sue a federal agency under certain circumstances.
Common reasons attorneys may suggest litigation include:
Filing a lawsuit is sometimes advantageous because the government may offer to approve a petition outright to avoid having to litigate the issue. Plus, federal courts are a place of neutrality, and many find they can produce a more favorable decision.
If you don’t see the answer to your question here, please feel free to call us or get in touch with us online to ask!
If you need help with an unfavorable decision by immigration officials or an immigration judge, contact Jorge Munoz Law Firm today to set up a confidential consultation with an experienced immigration attorney.
