In general, an appeal is an application – mostly in writing – to the authority, which oversees the decision maker. For obvious reasons, an appeal is made by the party unhappy or unsettled with the result of litigation. Depending on the nature of the litigation, the institution to which the appeal is addressed might be a different department within the same administrative agency that made the original decision, a different administrative agency or court of higher authority. Three types of results might happen during an appeal – the original decision may be reversed and vacated, modified or left intact.

In immigration context, depending on the case, each administrative decision must be first appealed to an administrative agency with higher authority. For the most part, there are two major administrative appellate bodies that oversee immigration appeals – The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) formerly known as Administrative Appeals Unit (AAU).

The BIA is charged with adjudicating all direct as well as interlocutory appeals of decisions of the immigration courts nationwide, attorney disciplinary actions and appeals of the family visa petitions or I-130 petition as they are widely known. AAO is charged with adjudicating all other appeals of the decisions coming out of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency charged in the U.S. Immigration System with the responsibility of adjudicating immigration benefits nationwide.