Checklist: the first week after a removal order

The clock that matters most is 30 calendar days from the immigration judge's decision to get a Notice of Appeal received by the Board of Immigration Appeals. In the first week, get the decision in writing, fix its date, count forward, decide which vehicle fits what went wrong, and do not leave the country. Everything on this list can be done in seven days.

Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.

Get the decision, find its date, count 30 days, choose the vehicle, prepare the filing, stay in the country, ask about a stay. The full explanation of each vehicle, with the comparison table, is on after a removal order. This page is the week-one list.

Day one: get the decision and its date

If the judge decided orally in court, the date of the decision is the hearing date. Write it down before you leave the building. Ask the clerk for the summary order.
If the decision was written and mailed or sent electronically, the clock runs from the date of mailing or the electronic notification under 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(c), not from the day you opened it. Keep the envelope.
Get the whole decision, not only the order page. The reasons are what an appeal argues against.
Read the order for the word "waived" or "reserved" next to appeal. If it says you waived appeal, bring the order to a lawyer the same day.
Check whether the order grants voluntary departure with an alternate order of removal. That changes the calculation below.
Confirm your address with the court. If it has changed, file Form EOIR-33 within five days under 8 C.F.R. 1003.15(d). If a decision was mailed to an old address, that is a problem to raise now, not later.

Count 30 calendar days from the decision

Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(b) and (c), the Notice of Appeal must be received by the Board within 30 calendar days of the decision. Calendar days, not business days. Received, not mailed. Write the 30th day on a calendar and treat it as a closed door. Plan to have the appeal at the Board well before then, so a courier delay or a rejected filing can be fixed. Sources that say 10 days are quoting a rule that was vacated before it took effect.

Days two and three: choose the vehicle

Use the table on after a removal order. The short version:

The judge got the law or the facts wrong: an appeal to the Board on Form EOIR-26, 30 days. See the BIA appeal.
You missed the hearing: a motion to rescind the in absentia order with the immigration judge, 180 days for exceptional circumstances or any time for lack of notice or custody, under INA 240(b)(5)(C). Not an appeal. See in absentia orders.
The decision is wrong on the record as it stands: a motion to reconsider, 30 days, one motion, under INA 240(c)(6). See motions to reconsider.
There are new facts or evidence that were not available: a motion to reopen, 90 days, one motion counted across the judge and the Board, under INA 240(c)(7) and Matter of M-M-L-J-, 29 I&N Dec. 843 (BIA 2026). See motions to reopen.
Your prior lawyer failed you: a motion to reopen that meets Matter of Lozada, 19 I&N Dec. 637 (BIA 1988). See ineffective assistance of counsel.
The Board has already decided: a petition for review in the federal court of appeals, 30 days from the Board's decision, under INA 242(b)(1). See the petition for review.

The first motion to reopen is the only one, so it is filed when it is ready, not when it is rushed.

If the judge granted voluntary departure

Filing a motion to reopen or reconsider during the voluntary departure period, or a petition for review, automatically terminates the grant and the alternate removal order takes effect, under 8 C.F.R. 1240.26(e)(1) and (i). Failing to leave within the period brings a civil penalty and a 10-year bar to cancellation, adjustment and other relief under INA 240B(d)(1). The choice between departing and fighting has to be made inside the departure period, with advice. See voluntary departure.

Days three to five: prepare the filing

For an appeal to the Board:

Form EOIR-26, the Notice of Appeal. State the reasons for the appeal specifically. An appeal that does not say why the judge was wrong, or that promises a brief and then does not file one, can be summarily dismissed under 8 C.F.R. 1003.1(d)(2)(i).
The government filing fee or a fee waiver request. The fee for a Notice of Appeal to the Board is $1,030, paid to the Department of Justice through the EOIR Payment Portal, under 8 C.F.R. 1103.7(b). That is a government filing fee, not our legal fee. If you cannot pay, Form EOIR-26A asks the Board to waive it. Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(d), an EOIR-26 without one or the other is not properly filed. Bond appeals carry no fee.
Proof of service on the DHS trial attorney's office.
Form EOIR-27, if a lawyer is appearing before the Board for you.
The decision you are appealing, attached.
Proof of the filing date. A lawyer files electronically through ECAS and receives a receipt. Keep it.

For a motion before the immigration judge or the Board, government filing fees also apply, and the fee page at the Department of Justice is the authoritative schedule: justice.gov/eoir/fees. A motion to rescind an in absentia order for lack of notice has no fee.

Briefing at the Board is simultaneous, generally 20 days, with no reply brief unless the Board asks for one. The Notice of Appeal preserves the right to file it.

All week: do not leave, and ask about a stay

Do not leave the United States. Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.23(b)(1), departure after filing a motion to reopen or reconsider withdraws the motion. Leaving with an order outstanding also raises the separate problem of returning after removal, which requires consent to reapply under INA 212(a)(9)(A)(iii). Do not go to the border or the airport without advice.
Know which filings stay removal by themselves. A timely appeal to the Board does, under 8 C.F.R. 1003.6(a). A motion to rescind an in absentia order does, under INA 240(b)(5)(C). Nothing else does.
If you are filing a motion to reopen or reconsider, ask the judge or the Board for a stay in the same filing. It is not automatic, but it may be requested under 8 C.F.R. 1003.23(b)(1)(v).
If you are filing a petition for review, file a motion for a stay with it under the four factors of Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418 (2009). The petition alone does not stop removal, under INA 242(b)(3)(B).
If no court vehicle carries a stay and removal is close, ask about a stay from ICE on Form I-246 under 8 C.F.R. 241.6, filed in person at the ICE field office. The ICE fee is $155 as of September 2026, ICE may waive it, and it is not our legal fee. It is discretionary, and a pending request does not stop removal. See stays of removal.
Gather the record. Ask your prior lawyer, or the court, for the complete file: the transcript, the exhibits, and everything filed. A motion to reopen needs the new evidence, and a Lozada motion needs the agreement with the prior lawyer and proof that the lawyer was notified.

Common questions

The regulation I found online says 10 days. Which is right?

Thirty days. An interim rule published in early 2026 set a 10-day general deadline for appeals to the Board, but the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated it on March 8, 2026, the day before it would have taken effect, and the government dismissed its appeal on August 17, 2026. The eCFR still prints the vacated text at 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(b)(1). EOIR's own policy memorandum applies 30 days. Count 30 calendar days and get the appeal there early.

I was ordered removed because I missed my hearing. Do I appeal?

No. An in absentia order is not appealed to the Board directly. The vehicle is a motion to rescind filed with the immigration judge under INA 240(b)(5)(C): within 180 days if you missed the hearing because of exceptional circumstances, or at any time if you did not receive notice or were in custody. Filing the motion stays removal automatically, and there is no government filing fee for the no-notice motion. See in absentia orders.

Does filing the appeal stop ICE from removing me?

A timely appeal to the Board generally stays execution of the judge's decision while the appeal is pending, under 8 C.F.R. 1003.6(a). An ordinary motion to reopen or reconsider does not, and neither does a petition for review in the court of appeals. For those, a stay has to be requested separately: from the judge or the Board with the motion, from the court of appeals under Nken v. Holder, or from ICE on Form I-246.

I cannot afford the appeal fee. Can I still file?

Under 8 C.F.R. 1003.38(d), the Notice of Appeal must be accompanied by the government filing fee or by a fee waiver request on Form EOIR-26A, or it is not properly filed. The waiver asks the Board to excuse the fee on a showing of inability to pay. Prepare it with the appeal, not after, because an appeal that arrives without either one is treated as not filed.

Reviewed by Mikhail Usher, Esq. Mr. Usher is the managing attorney of Usher Law Group, P.C. and is admitted in New York, New Jersey and Florida. He reviewed this page on September 17, 2026. This page explains the law in general terms and is not legal advice about your case.

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