In the event that your immigration hearing does not go to plan and the immigration judge at your merits hearing decides to issue you with a deportation notice, you may have decided to submit an appeal. In order to try and reverse your deportation order. To discover a handy guide to appealing your deportation order, simply continue reading. Especially if you’re interested in what information and evidence will be considered by the Board of Immigration Appeals during your appeal.

The Role Of Evidence In An Appeal

New Evidence

Can new evidence be presented in an appeal? No, new evidence will not be accepted by the Board of Immigration Appeals. If you come across new pieces of evidence which you would like to present to strengthen your case, you need to apply to reopen your immigration case instead. Some examples of evidence that you can present in court if your motion to reopen your case is granted include, evidence on the political state of your country of origin if you face persecution if you are deported from the United States. For instance, your attorney may encourage you to ask an expert about the politics in your home country, such as a college professor to be a witness in your reopened court case.

A U.S. Appeal Lawyer Can Guide You Legally In Your Immigration Case

Do keep in mind that regardless of whether you file a motion to reopen your concluded immigration case or you wish to present brand new evidence in a reopened immigration hearing, you’ll need to submit your application within 30 days of the date of your merits hearing. Once 30 days have passed, you will have no choice but to adhere to the instructions on your deportation notice. As appeals can not be made once 30 days have passed since your merits hearing. There are no exceptions to this rule. Even if you are seeking asylum in the United States you will not be permitted to lodge an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals once 30 days have passed since you were issued your deportation notice.

The Key Pieces Of Information That The Board Of Immigration Appeals Will Consider

As it’s not permissible to present brand new evidence as part of your appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, you may be wondering what evidence the Board of Immigration Appeals will consider. The BIA will have access to all of the documents that were presented during your primary immigration hearing and your merits hearing. This includes any evidence which was submitted during both hearings and the records from your hearings. If you are yet to attend your primary hearing or merits hearing, it’s a wise idea to collate as much supplementary evidence as possible before your hearings, so that if the judge hands you a deportation order, this information will be considered by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

If you reach out to an immigration attorney for assistance prior to the commencement of your immigration hearings, your attorney will be able to help you collate all the evidence which you’ll need to present a strong case. Which will increase your chances of avoiding receiving a deportation order and having to go through the lengthy appeals process. Experienced attorneys will know which pieces of evidence may help your defense. So if you want to minimize your chances of having to appeal a disappointing verdict, it’s the perfect time to start searching for an immigration attorney who has successfully represented a large number of clients.

The Board Of Immigration Appeals Process

What will happen once you submit your appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals? You will not be required to turn up to any further immigration hearings. Instead, the Board of Immigration Appeals will simply go through your appeal and all the documents which are related to your case, in order to see if you have a case to appeal your judge’s decision.

Remember that in order to appeal your judge’s decision to remove you from the United States, you’ll need to argue that the judge who was in charge of your case misinterpreted key information in your case. Or failed to apply the right immigration laws to your immigration case. If you can convince the BIA that the judge did not come to the correct conclusion for either of these key reasons, you’ll have a strong case to get your deportation order canceled.

The Board of Immigration Appeals is relatively straightforward and once your appeal is being processed, all that you’ll need to do is to wait for the BIA to come to a conclusion. Unfortunately, it can take a long time to receive news from the BIA. In fact, you may need to wait for 6-12 months for a decision to be made about your appeal.

Avoid Getting Deported Before You Receive A Veredict

It’s fairly easy to avoid being deported while you’re waiting for your appeal to be processed. If you decide to petition for an appeal on the day that your immigration trial concludes, you won’t need to do anything in order to have your deportation date pushed out. As it will automatically be deferred. However, if you wait until after your merits hearing in order to voice your desire to appeal the decision which you were handed you will need to formally go through the process of applying for an extension of your scheduled deportation.

Keep in mind that without an approved extension, there is every chance that you will be forcibly removed from the United States before the Board of Immigration Appeals has had a chance to work their way through your appeal. Especially as the appeals process can take 12 months or longer. Particularly when the Board of Immigration Appeals has a backlog of appeals to get through.

Conclusion

Remember that it’s not possible to present brand new information in your immigration appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals. Instead, you’ll need to apply to reopen your case. If you haven’t been through your immigration hearings yet, make sure to present all of your available evidence in these two hearings as if you later need to appeal the judge’s decision, all of this evidence will be considered by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

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