To Appeal or Refile?

Published: December 14, 2011

The Administrative Appeals Office (“AAO”) is a specially designated unit within the Department of Homeland Security/Citizenship and Immigration Service charged with reviewing appeals of various immigration related petitions and applications.  Sometimes the choice of filing an appeal vs. simply re-filing the same application or petition with new evidence depends on a variety of factors, including the time it takes the Administrative Appeals Office to review the original decision and issue their own assessment.  Since processing times at the AAO can be quite prohibitive, re-filing a new petition or application with the office that has already issued a denial, but this time – with new evidence or authority, is indeed a bona fide option for applicants to consider after their initial filing is denied for a legal or factual deficiency.  It should also be noted though, that most every appeal to the AAO will first get reviewed by a supervisor from the unit that originally issued the denial, and if determined to have merit, the appeal will be treated as a request to reopen proceedings and effectuate a reversal, and without the filing ever being sent for AAO review, and subject to AAO processing delays.  The following are current AAO processing times:

**** “CURRENT” means “within the USCIS processing time goal of six months or less”

PUBLISHED December 14, 2011 – “IMMIGRATION LAW FORUM”
Copyright © 2011, By Law Offices of Richard Hanus, Chicago, Illinois