Two Changes to Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual

On October 16, 2018, the Execution Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) made two important changes to the Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual. You may find the changes on pages 40 and 65 of the Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual [PDF version]. You may see the change-log by searching “Table of Changes” in the Manual (PDF page 217). In this post, I will discuss the changes.

Chapter 3:3.(c)(iii)

This update is found on page 40 of the Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual.

Under the revised provision, briefs and other submissions to the Board of Immigration Appeals shall be limited to 25 pages. However, if a party before the Board believes that it cannot adequately dispose of the issues in 25 pages, it may file a motion with the Board of Immigration Appeals to increase the page limit.

Briefs and other submissions to the Board “should always be paginated.”

Filing briefs and other submissions to the Board of Immigration Appeals is addressed in chapter 3 of the Practice Manual (pages 31-47).

Chapter 4:4.7(c)(i)(A)

This update is found on page 65 of the Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual.

The Board of Immigration Appeals updated its policy on briefing extensions in non-detained cases. The Practice Manual states that, in general, the Board will grant one briefing extension per case if the briefing extension is “filed in a timely fashion.” The Board will grant an additional 21 days to file a brief in response to a timely filed briefing extension, “regardless of the amount of time requested.” The Board adds these 21 days to the original filing deadline, and does not calculate the extension from either the date of the briefing extension request made or the date that the briefing notice was received.

The Board will generally not grant requests for a second briefing extension. The Board will only deviate from this policy “in rare circumstances.”

Conclusion

Familiarity with the Board of Immigration Appeals Practice Manual is a requirement for practitioners who practice before the Board. Accordingly, it is important for immigration attorneys to stay abreast of updates to the Practice Manual.

For those interested in important decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals, please see our growing index of articles on immigration precedent decisions [see index].