Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Practice Manual
This chart shows which types of appeals of denied petitions are subject to AAO's jurisdiction, including an appeal of a denied Petition for Spouse or Child under VAWA.
EOIR Policy Manual includes Part II OCIJ Practice Manual (= Immigration Court Practice Manual).
EOIR Policy Manual includes Part III Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) Practice Manual & is useful to those who need to appeal an adverse immigration judge decision.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Policy Manual
This Policy Manual "will ultimately replace the Adjudicator’s Field Manual, the USCIS Immigration Policy Memoranda site, and other policy repositories."
$ Westlaw Precision: Asylum Case Law Sourcebook (Sept. 2023 update)
Subject-arranged federal court case abstracts re. asylum issues. Abstracts link to texts of decisions. Searchable.
Tips: Text & footnotes of legal treatises such as $ Lexis+: Immigration Law and Procedure + $ Westlaw Precision: Law of Asylum in the United States & Steel on Immigration Law discuss/link to key decisions.
Up to 3 BLS students, faculty and administrators can access $ AILALink at one time. $ AILALink provides Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook. Kurzban's highlights many court and administrative decisions. Asylum researchers can identify pertinent decisions through AILA's Asylum Primer: A Practical Guide to U.S. Asylum Law and Procedure. AILA conference publications also highlight recent decisions. Example: Immigration Practice Pointers (2022-23 ed.). See also guide section: Books.
Law students who create an AILA.org account can apply to request AILA law student membership. AILA law student membership includes free access to $ AILALink.
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) > Administrative Appeals Office (AAO):
Links to AAO Decisions, grouped by non-precedent, precedent & "adopted" decisions. This site explains that USCIS "occasionally 'adopts' an AAO non-precedent decision to provide policy guidance for USCIS personnel."
Full-text search page for AAO non-precedent decisions (from 2005-)
AAO precedent decisions are available as published in vols. 8-27 of I. & N. Dec. This is a list of vols., not a searchable database.
"Adopted" AAO decisions from 2005- are available on the AAO Decisions page.
Links to an Appeals Resources page, which includes filing information, AAO-related regulations, and AAO-related policy memoranda.
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, U.S. Visa Administrative Appeals Office Decision Database (scope: 2017-June 30, 2020)
Need a Google account to use this database.
Related content: Resources on U Visas (including: U Visa Certification Advocacy Toolkit)
U.S. Dep't. of Justice > Executive Office for Immigration Review > Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA):
AG/BIA Decisions Listing (accessible by volume # of I. & N. Dec. or by searching multiple indexes)
$ AILALink: Law students who obtain free membership in AILA can access $ AILALink & $ Fastcase Premium.
Tip for asylum law researchers: Log in to $ AILALink & click button: Documents @ top of screen. Click menu option: Court and Admin Decisions > click: Asylum Cases by Topic.
To find decisions: Log in to $ AILALink & click button: Search. Researchers can "filter search" by menu option: Court and Admin Decisions (meaning: if desired, in left frame: uncheck all document categories except: Court and Admin Decisions).
Search options include: Advanced Search (provides a template), Boolean Search (search sceen includes Search Syntax Guide noting that the multiple character wild card in $ AILALink = *, for example: persecut*) & Find a Case (by case name or cite).
$ Lexis+ legal research home screen: in search box, type a database name, like: Immigration Precedent Decisions BIA & click link.
$ Lexis+ > Practice Center > Immigration
Tip: To search a specific database(s), bullet Select Sources to search and check the database(s).
Narrower, searchable databases under Administrative Agency Decisions include:
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services: Immigration Precedent Decisions AAO/AAU (1940-)
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services: Immigration Non-Precedent Decisions AAO/AAU
U.S. Dep't. of Justice/Executive Office for Immigration Review/Board of Immigration Appeals: Immigration Precedent Decisions: BIA (1940-)
U.S. Dep't. of Justice/Executive Office for Immigration Review/Board of Immigration Appeals: Immigration Non-Precedent Decisions: BIA
U.S. Dep't. of Justice/Executive Office for Immigration Review: Office of Chief Admin. Hearing Officer Immigration Review Decisions (Mar. 11, 1988-)
U.S. Dep't. of Labor/Board of Alien Labor Certification: Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals Decisions (Feb. 11, 1987-)
$ Westlaw Precision > Practice Area > Immigration > box: Immigration Resources includes: Cases + Administrative Decisions & Guidance.
Narrower, searchable databases under Administrative Decisions & Guidance include:
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services: Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Decisions (1989-)
U.S. Dep't. of Justice/Executive Office for Immigration Review/Board of Immigration Appeals: Board of Immigration Appeals Decisions (Aug. 1940-) provides BIA decisions + reviews of decisions by the U.S. Attorney General.
U.S. Dep't. of Justice/Executive Office for Immigration Review: Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer Decisions (Mar. 1988-)
U.S. Dep't. of Labor/Board of Alien Labor Certification: Decisions of the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (Nov. 1987-)