The EOIR has issued a proposed rule that would set up a streamlined appellate review procedure for the Board of Immigration Appeals. The EOIR attributes the need for a new rule to a sudden increase in the number of appeals being filed with the BIA. In thirteen years, the number of appeals filed has jumped form 3,000 a year to 25,000 a year.

The new rule would allow a single BIA member to review cases in order to affirm cases without issuing an opinion. Under current rules, a panel of judges must hear every case and every case requires an opinion. Under the new procedure, the opinion of the lower Immigration Judge would stand as the final agency decision.

An affirmation without an opinion will only be issued when the following criteria are met:

- the result reached in the decision under review was correct;

- any errors in the decision under review were harmless or nonmaterial; and

- either a) the issue on appeal is squarely controlled by existing BIA or federal court decisions and does not involve the application of such precedent to a novel fact situation or b) the factual and legal questions raised on appeal are so minor that a three member BIA review is not granted.

Cases not meeting these criteria will be presented to a three-member panel and an opinion will be issued.

According to EOIR, the new rule will allow the BIA to more effectively allocate resources to more significant cases requiring greater deliberation or that may present unusual or interesting legal questions.