Board of Immigration Appeals


The Board of Immigration Appeals is an administrative appellate body within the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the United States Department of Justice.
The BIA reviews the decisions of the U.S. immigration courts, some decisions of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and immigration violation arrests by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. BIA decisions are the final administrative action in a given case, and the next stage of appeal after a BIA decision is usually in the United States courts of appeals if an appeal is allowed by statute.
Most opinions of the BIA are unpublished and do not apply outside of the cases in which they were issued. However, a limited number of BIA decisions are selected for publication in the Administrative Decisions under the Immigration and Nationality Laws of the United States. There are currently 28 volumes of administrative precedent decisions under the Immigration and Nationality laws encompassing decisions dating back to 1940. BIA precedent decisions are legally binding on all components of the Department of Homeland Security. A precedent decision may be overruled by a published decision of the Attorney General, by a Federal court, by a subsequent BIA precedent decision, or by a change in the law.
The BIA is located in Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia, and, as of April 2009, had 14 board members, who 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 fifteen board members under the current authorizing legislation. Decisions issued by the BIA are by made up of three-member panels in limited circumstances. Otherwise, the vast majority of cases are decided by single panel members. A single panel member can also use a process called summary affirmance, which is used in 10 percent of cases, to affirm the lower court without issuing a written decision.
The BIA is notable in that one need not be an attorney to appear before it representing a client. However, non-attorneys must be part of a BIA-recognized organization, 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. A handbook explaining the accreditation and recognition process is available from the nonprofit Catholic Legal Immigration Network.