5.8 - Motions to Remand

(a) Purpose

A motion to remand seeks to return jurisdiction of a case pending before the Board to the immigration judge.  Parties may, in appropriate circumstances, move to remand proceedings to the immigration judge to consider newly available evidence or newly acquired eligibility for relief.

(b) Requirements

Motions to remand are subject to the same substantive requirements as motions to reopen.  See Matter of Coelho, 20 I&N Dec. 464 (BIA 1992).  Accordingly, evidence and applications for relief, if involved, must be submitted with the motion.

The Board may deny a motion to remand where the evidence was discoverable at an earlier stage in the proceedings, is not material or probative, or is otherwise defective.  As with motions to reopen, parties submitting new evidence should articulate the purpose of the new evidence and explain its prior unavailability.  See Chapter 5.2(f) (Evidence).

(c) Limitations

Unlike motions to reopen, motions to remand are not limited in time or number because they are made during the pendency of an appeal.

(d) Remands to DHS

Where an appeal is taken from a decision made by a DHS officer, the Board may remand the case to DHS.  For example, the Board may remand a visa petition denial to DHS for further development of the petition record.  Where an appeal is taken from an immigration judge decision, however, the Board cannot remand proceedings to DHS.  For example, the Board cannot remand proceedings to a DHS Asylum Office once an immigration judge has ruled on an asylum application.

(e) Post-Remand Appeals

If the Board grants a motion to remand resulting in a new immigration judge decision, a party may file a new appeal.  In that new appeal, the party may pursue any new issues or any unresolved issues from the prior appeal.