GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
(Please read carefully before completing and filing Form EOIR-26)
A. When to Appeal:
● Use this form (Form EOIR-26) only to appeal a decision by an Immigration Judge. If you wish to appeal a
decision of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), you must use a different form (Form
EOIR-29).
● You must send the Notice of Appeal so that it is received by the Board within thirty (30) calendar days
after the Immigration Judge’s oral decision, or within thirty (30) calendar days after the date the
Immigration Judge’s written decision was mailed (if no oral decision was rendered).
● Simply mailing your Notice of Appeal in thirty (30) days or less is not enough. Your Notice of Appeal must
arrive at the Board in thirty (30) days or less. If your Notice of Appeal arrives late, your appeal will be dismissed.
B. Where to Appeal:
C. How to Appeal:
● Read all of these instructions. Note: If you are the person in proceedings, you are the “Respondent” or Applicant.”
● Fill out all three pages of the Notice of Appeal completely, answering items # 1 - 12 in English only.
● List in item # 1 the name(s) and Alien Number(s) (“A” numbers) of all Respondents/Applicants who
are appealing the decision of the Immigration Judge.
● Sign item # 9.
● List the mailing address of the Respondent(s)/Applicant(s) in item # 10.
● Translate all documents that you attach to the Notice of Appeal into English. All translations must include
the translator’s statement stating that the translator is competent and that the translation is true and accurate.
● Write your name(s) and “A” Number(s) on all documents attached to the Notice of Appeal.
● Mail or give a copy of the completed Notice of Appeal and any attached documents to the opposing party. Complete
and sign the “Proof of Service” to show you did this (item # 12). Note: If you are the Respondent or Applicant, the
“Opposing Party” is the Assistant Chief Counsel of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the
Department of Homeland Security (DH