I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion
Use this form to file:
- An appeal with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO);
- A motion with the USCIS office that issued the latest decision in your case (including a field office, service center, or the AAO); or
- Certain appeals of the denial of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Form I-17, Petition for Approval of School for Attendance by Nonimmigrant Student, with the ICE Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
Do not use this form if you:
- Are the beneficiary of a petition. Generally, only an applicant or petitioner may file an appeal or motion.
- EXCEPTION: If you are the beneficiary of a Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker and we have revoked your approved Form I-140 and advised you that you may file a motion or appeal, you may then file a Form I-290B. Please include the USCIS revocation notice with your Form I-290B. For more information, please see the Motions and Appeals section of our I-140 Filing and Processing Procedures page.
- Want to file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Appeals of Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, fall under the appellate jurisdiction of the BIA. The BIA also has jurisdiction over appeals of immigrant petitions that widow(er)s have filed using Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant. You may file an appeal with the BIA using Form EOIR-29, Notice of Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
- Want to appeal a USCIS “no risk” determination under the Adam Walsh Act. You may seek further review by filing a motion to reopen or reconsider on Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion, but there is no appeal available from such a determination.
- Want to appeal a Department of State consular officer’s denial of your U.S. visa application (for example, Forms DS-156, DS-156E, DS-156K, DS-117, DS-157, DS-230, or DS-260). For information about U.S. visa application denials, please visit the Department of State website.
- Want to appeal a Special Agricultural Worker or Legalization application. You must file these appeals on Form I-694, Notice of Appeal of Decision, Under Sections 245A or 210 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Form Details
Dates are listed in mm/dd/yy format.
If you complete and print this form to mail it, make sure that the form edition date and page numbers are visible at the bottom of all pages and that all pages are from the same form edition. If any of the form’s pages are missing or are from a different form edition, we may reject your form.
If you need help downloading and printing forms, read our instructions.
File your appeal or motion at the appropriate address listed on our Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion page. Do not file Form I-290B directly with the Administrative Appeals Office.
Whether you can use Form I-290B to seek further review of an adverse decision first depends on:
- The benefit request that USCIS denied (for example: I-129, I-485, I-601, I-765, etc.); and
- Whether you wish to pursue a motion or an appeal.
You can find a complete list of USCIS benefit types (by form number) and whether you can file a motion or appeal, along with additional information about appeals and motions on the When to Use Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion webpage.
If you are eligible to file Form I-290B, in most cases, you must file your appeal or motion within 30 calendar days of the date of service of the adverse decision (or within 33 calendar days if we mailed the decision to you). However, if you are appealing a decision to revoke the approval of an immigrant petition under 8 CFR 205.2, you must file the appeal within 15 calendar days (or within 18 calendar days if we mailed the decision to you).
NOTE: If we sent you the decision by mail, the “date of service” is the date we mailed the decision, not the date you received it. See 8 CFR 103.8(b). Decisions are normally mailed the same day they are issued.
We will reject a late-filed appeal unless the office that issued the adverse decision determines that the untimely appeal meets the requirements of a motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider.
We will deny a late-filed motion, except we may excuse the failure to timely file a motion to reopen if we determine that the delay was reasonable and beyond your control.
You can pay the fee with a money order, personal check, cashier’s check, or pay by credit card using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. If you pay by check, you must make your check payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing and biometric services fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request. Use our Fee Calculator to help determine your fee.
Pay each filing fee separately. We are transitioning to electronically processing immigration benefit requests, which requires us to use multiple systems to process your package. We may reject your entire package if you submit a single, combined payment for multiple forms.
If you are a special immigrant Iraqi or Afghan national who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government, you do not need to pay a fee when you file Form I-290B to appeal a denial of a petition for a special immigrant visa.
Filing Tips for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion
- You must file a separate Form I-290B for each motion or appeal. If you submit other immigration benefit requests with your Form I-290B, you must include a separate filing fee (or submit a fee waiver request) for each additional form you file. If you submit one payment for multiple benefit requests, we may reject your request.
- In most cases, a copy of a USCIS notice, if available, is acceptable evidence of a prior related filing. If you prefer to provide a copy of a completed prior application, petition, or request in support of a new filing, please be sure that the prior application, petition, or request is clearly marked as a “COPY” at the top of each page to ensure it is processed as intended.
Complete all sections of the form that apply to you. We will reject the form if it is the incorrect version, if the fee is incorrect or not paid, or if the following fields are left blank:
- Part 1 – Information About the Applicant or Petitioner
- Family Name or Complete Name of Business/Organization
- Mailing Address
- Note: If you are the beneficiary of a revoked Form I-140 with a favorably adjudicated porting request, and we have advised you that you may file an appeal using Form I-290B, provide the information about you in Part 1.
- Part 2 – Information About the Appeal or Motion
- You must select only one box indicating that you are filing an appeal or motion, not both. If you select more than one box, we may reject your filing.
Filing Tips: Review our Tips for Filing Forms by Mail page for information on how to ensure we will accept your form.
Don’t forget to sign your form. We will reject any unsigned form.
For additional filing help, please visit the AAO Practice Manual.
E-Notification: If you want to receive an e-mail and/or a text that we have accepted your form at a USCIS Lockbox, complete Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, and clip it to the first page of your form.