Immigration Appeals & Motions
Motions to reopen or reconsider, appeals to the AAO or BIA, and realistic timelines for each.
How We Help
- Read your denial or order and identify whether appeal, motion, or a new filing actually fits.
- Calculate the real deadline that applies to your specific notice — these vary and change.
- Build a motion to reopen or reconsider, or a BIA appeal, on the actual record of your case.
- Move quickly on an in-absentia order, a stay of removal, or an ineffective-assistance claim.
Deadlines may apply. Have your notice or decision available.
Review a Denial or Appeal DeadlineWhen You Should Speak With a Lawyer
- You have a denial, dismissal, or removal order and a deadline you haven't confirmed yet.
- You were ordered removed after missing a hearing you didn't know about.
- A prior attorney's handling of your case may have been the actual problem.
- Removal could happen before an appeal or motion would normally be decided.
Start with the question closest to your situation
Should You Appeal, File a Motion, or Refile After a Denial?
It depends on who decided your case, why it was denied, whether you have new evidence, and how much time is left on your clock. An appeal challenges a decision to a higher authority; a motion asks the same decision-maker to fix its own error or consider new facts; refiling starts over. Picking the wrong one can waste your only chance.
Read moreWhat Is a Motion to Reopen an Immigration Case?
A motion to reopen asks the same decision-maker — USCIS, an immigration judge, or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) — to revisit a case based on material evidence that wasn't available and couldn't have been discovered or presented before. Each forum has its own deadline, and in most cases you generally get only one.
Read moreWhat Is a Motion to Reconsider?
A motion to reconsider argues that the decision-maker made a legal or factual error based on the record that already existed — it doesn't introduce new evidence. That's the key difference from a motion to reopen, and confusing the two is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes people make after a denial.
Read moreHow Do You Appeal an Immigration Judge's Decision to the BIA?
You file a Notice of Appeal (Form EOIR-26) directly with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) — not the immigration court — within a strict deadline that runs from the immigration judge's decision. You also have to have preserved your right to appeal at the hearing, since waiving it on the record generally forecloses filing later.
Read moreCan You Reopen an In Absentia Removal Order?
Often, yes. If you didn't receive proper notice of your hearing, or you can show exceptional circumstances that kept you from appearing, the law allows the order to be rescinded — and unlike most other motions, this one can automatically pause removal while it's pending. But the standards are specific and the clock starts running immediately, so speed matters.
Read moreCan Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Support Reopening?
Sometimes — but there's a specific, demanding procedural framework the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) requires, generally including a signed statement about the agreement with prior counsel, notice to that counsel with a chance to respond, and either a bar complaint or an explanation for not filing one. Missing any piece is a common reason these motions fail, and the standard has real variation across circuits.
Read moreDoes Filing an Appeal or Motion Stop Removal?
It depends entirely on what you filed and where. A timely appeal to the BIA from an immigration judge's removal order generally pauses removal automatically, by regulation. Most motions to reopen or reconsider do not — a separate stay request is usually necessary. Assuming otherwise, in either direction, can be dangerous.
Read moreWhat Can You Do After USCIS Denies an Application or Petition?
It depends on the form and the specific decision — some USCIS denials can be appealed to the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), some allow only a motion to reopen or reconsider, and some allow neither. Your denial notice generally states which applies, on a short deadline, and in some circumstances a denial can lead to a Notice to Appear in immigration court.
Read moreVideos on immigration appeals & motions
A few real videos from the channel that speak directly to this situation.
Common Questions
What's the difference between an appeal and a motion?
An appeal asks a higher authority (like the BIA) to review the same record for legal error. A motion to reopen or reconsider asks the same decision-maker to revisit the case — for new evidence (reopen) or a legal/factual error in reasoning (reconsider). They run on different tracks with different deadlines, and picking the wrong one can waste time you don't have.
Can you request an appeal and a motion at the same time?
Generally not on the same decision, at the same level, at the same time — filing one typically affects jurisdiction over the other. Which one actually preserves your position depends on your specific deadline and the nature of the issue, which is exactly the kind of sequencing question worth getting right before filing either one.
Not sure what your next immigration step should be?
Schedule a consultation to discuss your immigration history, your options, and the risks associated with each strategy.
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