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Motion to reopen / reconsider (I-290B): what it is

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Motion to reopen / reconsider: definition

Key answer

A motion asks the SAME USCIS office to revisit a denial and is filed on Form I-290B. A Motion to Reopen is for new facts and evidence; a Motion to Reconsider argues the officer misapplied the law to the existing record. The deadline is short and stated in the denial notice. Alternatives: refile or appeal to the AAO.

After an I-140 or I-129 denial there are three paths: refile, a motion on the I-290B, or an AAO appeal (the same I-290B form). The Administrative Appeals Office handles appeals and takes many months; in the database of 1,242 real AAO EB-1A appeals about 3% were sustained, about 18% remanded and about 80% dismissed.

The filing deadline in the denial notice (typically about 30-33 days including mailing) cannot be missed. When the underlying petition is denied, an I-485 based on it is generally denied too.

Motion to reopen / reconsider: the official source

I-290B: how many cases USCIS handles

Q3 of fiscal year 2026 (April-June 2026): USCIS received 10,144 filings on this line, approved 2,967 and denied 4,922 (38% of decisions were approvals); 28,258 were waiting at the end of the quarter. Half of the completed cases took up to 2.9 months.

Line in the reportReceivedApprovedDeniedPendingMedian, mo.
I-290B, appeals and motions10,1442,9674,92228,2582.9

Decisions are counted in the quarter they were issued, so some were filed earlier; the line covers every category of the form, not your visa alone. Source: USCIS, Number of Service-wide Forms (xlsx), read 2026-10-11.

Motion to reopen / reconsider: what to do - tools

Motion to reopen / reconsider: read next

Motion to reopen / reconsider: documents and templates from the library

Motion to reopen / reconsider: from community discussions

  • «Achievements in the US - do they want the achievements to be specifically in the US context (publications in US journals, awards specifically in the US) during the time the person lived here? Or will achievements made while living in the US but not related to the US work for them?»

    Anton · from public community chats

  • «I got a NOID on my EB-1A petition. They recognized 3 criteria (publications, authorship, participation in peer review), but didn't accept the evidence of critical role and high salary. Is there anyone here who successfully got through a NOID and got an approval?»

    community member · from public community chats

  • «Based on YC you can prove the other criteria: Membership - show the low acceptance rate; Awards - $500k of investment; Media - get PR publications about your startup; Original Contributions - if there's traction, show how important it is for the industry (testimonials, LoIs, MRR); Critical Employment - show the key role; High remuneration - depends on the startup.»

    Egor · from public community chats

Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.

Motion to reopen / reconsider: related terms

All glossary terms

A reference definition, not legal advice. Requirements and procedures depend on your case - verify on uscis.gov.

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