After a removal order
An immigration judge's order becomes final if nothing is filed in time, and the clocks are short. Which vehicle is right depends on what went wrong: a legal error goes to the Board on appeal, new facts go into a motion to reopen, a missed hearing gets a motion to rescind, and a Board decision goes to the federal court of appeals. Only some of these stop your removal while they are pending.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.
Start with the table. The vehicle you need depends on who decided, what went wrong, and how long ago. Then read the page for that vehicle.
| Vehicle | Use it when | Deadline | Stays removal? | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appeal to the BIA | The immigration judge got the law or the facts wrong | 30 calendar days from the decision | Yes, automatically while pending | BIA appeal |
| Motion to rescind an in absentia order | You were ordered removed for missing a hearing | 180 days (exceptional circumstances) or any time (no notice, or in custody) | Yes, automatically | In absentia orders |
| Motion to reconsider | An error of law or fact on the existing record | 30 days; one motion | No | Reconsider |
| Motion to reopen | New facts or evidence not available before | 90 days; one motion, counted across both tribunals | No, but a stay may be requested | Reopen |
| Reopen, changed country conditions | Conditions in your country changed and you fear return | No time or number limit | No, but a stay may be requested | Reopen |
| Reopen, ineffective assistance | Your prior lawyer or a notario failed you | 90 days, subject to equitable tolling; Lozada requirements | No | Ineffective assistance |
| Petition for review | The Board dismissed your appeal or denied your motion | 30 days from the Board's decision | No; motion for a stay under Nken | Petition for review |
| ICE stay of removal | You need time and no court vehicle carries a stay | Any time; discretionary | Only if ICE grants it | Stays |
Authority: 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(b); 8 C.F.R. 1003.6(a); INA 240(b)(5)(C); INA 240(c)(6), (c)(7); 8 C.F.R. 1003.23(b); INA 242(b)(1), (b)(3)(B); 8 C.F.R. 241.6. Deadlines in immigration court are calendar days and the Board applies a receipt rule.
The appeal, and the 30 days
An appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals is the ordinary route from an immigration judge's decision. The Notice of Appeal, Form EOIR-26, must be received by the Board within 30 calendar days of the decision under 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(b) and (c), with the government filing fee of $1,030 or a fee waiver request on Form EOIR-26A, or it is not properly filed. The fee is paid to the Department of Justice through the EOIR Payment Portal and is not our legal fee. A timely appeal stays removal while it is pending.
The regulation prints a deadline that never took effect
An interim rule published in early 2026 shortened the general appeal deadline to 10 days. On March 8, 2026, in Amica Center for Immigrant Rights v. EOIR, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated that provision the day before it would have taken effect. The government appealed and then dismissed its appeal on August 17, 2026. EOIR's own policy memorandum instructs immigration judges not to tell anyone the deadline is 10 days. The eCFR, however, has not been updated and still prints the vacated text. The deadline is 30 days. A source that says 10 is reading a rule that never applied.
The Board reviews the judge's factual findings, including credibility, for clear error, and questions of law and discretion de novo, under 8 C.F.R. 1003.1(d)(3). Briefing is simultaneous, generally 20 days, with no reply brief unless the Board asks for one. An appeal that does not state its reasons, or that promises a brief and does not file one, can be summarily dismissed. See the BIA appeal.
Motions: reconsider, reopen, rescind
A motion to reconsider says the decision was wrong on the record that already exists. It is due within 30 days under INA 240(c)(6), and you get one. A motion to reopen says there are new facts or new evidence that were not available before. It is due within 90 days under INA 240(c)(7), and you get one. In Matter of M-M-L-J-, 29 I&N Dec. 843 (BIA 2026), decided August 18, 2026, the Board held that a motion to the immigration judge and a motion to the Board are the same single allowance, and that equitable tolling does not apply to the number bar. The first motion has to be the good one.
The exceptions that matter most: a motion to reopen to apply for asylum, withholding or CAT protection based on changed country conditions has no time limit by statute and no numerical limit under 8 C.F.R. 1003.23(b)(4)(i). A motion to reopen based on ineffective assistance of counsel must satisfy Matter of Lozada, 19 I&N Dec. 637 (BIA 1988), and the 90 days may be equitably tolled in the Second and Eleventh Circuits. And the Board and the judge retain authority to reopen on their own motion in exceptional situations, which is asked for but rarely granted.
A motion to rescind an in absentia order is its own track. Under INA 240(b)(5)(C) it is due within 180 days for exceptional circumstances, or at any time if you did not receive notice or were in custody through no fault of your own. Filing it stays removal automatically, and there is no fee for the no-notice motion.
None of the ordinary motions stay removal. Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.23(b)(1)(v), filing a motion to reopen or reconsider does not stay execution of the order, though a stay may be requested. Motions before the immigration judge and the Board carry government filing fees of $1,065 and $1,030, rising to $1,095 and $1,060 for motions filed on or after October 1, 2026. Those are not our legal fees. Leaving the United States after filing withdraws the motion.
The federal court of appeals
After the Board decides, the next step is a petition for review in the United States court of appeals for the circuit where the immigration judge completed the case, filed within 30 days of the Board's decision under INA 242(b)(1). The deadline is not extended by filing a motion to reopen, under Stone v. INS, 514 U.S. 386 (1995). The petition does not stay removal under INA 242(b)(3)(B); a stay is requested by motion under the four-factor standard of Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418 (2009).
What the court can review is limited. Discretionary denials and certain criminal grounds are outside its jurisdiction under INA 242(a)(2)(B) and (C), but constitutional claims and questions of law are always reviewable under 242(a)(2)(D), and the Supreme Court has read "questions of law" to include the application of a legal standard to established facts. Factual findings are reviewed for substantial evidence. See the petition for review.
Stays of removal
A stay is what keeps you in the country while a vehicle is pending, and only two vehicles carry one automatically: a timely BIA appeal and an in absentia rescission motion. Everything else requires a request: to the immigration judge or the Board with a motion to reopen, to the court of appeals with a petition for review, or to ICE on Form I-246 under 8 C.F.R. 241.6. Where removal is imminent, the stay request is filed with the motion and is often argued first. See stays of removal.
Reinstated orders are different
If you were removed before and returned, the prior order can be reinstated under INA 241(a)(5) without a new hearing, and the statute says it cannot be reopened or reviewed. The route from there is a reasonable fear interview and withholding-only proceedings, and a petition for review of the reinstatement order itself within 30 days. See reinstatement of removal.
A motion to reopen on changed country conditions is an asylum motion, and our asylum site carries the full treatment of the four elements and the evidence that proves them.
Changed country conditions at asylumadvocate.com →
icebail.comPeople with final orders are often taken into custody. Bond and federal habeas corpus, including for prolonged detention after an order, are handled at our detention site.
Detention and habeas at icebail.com →
Read next: the BIA appeal, motions to reopen, in absentia orders, or stays of removal.
Common questions
Does filing an appeal stop my deportation?
A timely appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals from an immigration judge's decision generally stays removal while the appeal is pending, under 8 C.F.R. 1003.6(a). A petition for review in the court of appeals does not, under INA 242(b)(3)(B); a stay has to be requested by motion. An ordinary motion to reopen or reconsider does not stay removal either. A motion to rescind an in absentia order does, automatically, under INA 240(b)(5)(C).
Is the appeal deadline 10 days or 30?
Thirty calendar days. A regulation published in early 2026 set a 10-day deadline for most appeals, but a federal court vacated it on March 8, 2026, the day before it would have taken effect, and the government dismissed its appeal of that ruling on August 17, 2026. The Board applies a receipt rule, so the Notice of Appeal must arrive within the 30 days. The eCFR still displays the vacated 10-day text, which is why so many sources get this wrong.
What if I already had one motion to reopen denied?
The statute allows one motion to reopen, and in August 2026 the Board held in Matter of M-M-L-J- that a motion filed with the immigration judge and one filed with the Board count as the same single motion. The exceptions are changed country conditions for an asylum, withholding or CAT claim, which has no time or number limit under the regulation, and certain in absentia and VAWA motions. Whether one of those applies to you is the first question.
Can I leave the country and fight from abroad?
Leaving after filing a motion to reopen or reconsider withdraws the motion under 8 C.F.R. 1003.23(b)(1). Leaving while a removal order is outstanding executes the order and can trigger long bars to returning. Do not leave without legal advice that accounts for both rules.
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