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Process and timing

Motion to reopen or reconsider

Also called MTR, motion to reopen, motion to reconsider.

A motion to reopen or reconsider is a request on Form I-290B, costing $800, that asks the USCIS office which made the latest decision in a case to look at it again, and it must be filed within 30 calendar days of that decision, or 33 days where the decision came by mail.

What it decides

The two are separate requests sharing one form and one fee, and a separate Form I-290B is needed for each motion or appeal. A motion to reopen must state new facts and support them with affidavits or documents. A motion to reconsider must show that the decision misapplied law or policy and was wrong on the evidence already before the officer, so fresh evidence does not help it. The deadline is the trap, because it runs from the date of the decision, and a mailed decision is served on the day USCIS posts it rather than the day it arrives. A late motion to reconsider is denied outright, while lateness on a motion to reopen may be excused only where the delay was reasonable and beyond the filer's control. Filing a motion does not stay the decision or push back a departure date. A denial for abandonment cannot be appealed at all, but it can be attacked by a motion to reopen showing that the request was answered or that the notice was never properly served.

Governed by 8 CFR 103.5(a)(1)(i) for the thirty day deadline and for the excuse available only on a motion to reopen, (a)(1)(ii) for which office has jurisdiction, (a)(1)(iii) for Form I-290B and the fee, (a)(1)(iv) for the absence of any stay, (a)(2) for what a motion to reopen must contain, including the three grounds after a denial for abandonment, and (a)(3) for a motion to reconsider. 8 CFR 103.2(b)(15) for the rule that a denial for abandonment cannot be appealed but can be moved on. 8 CFR 103.8(b) for the three extra days where the decision came by mail. The $800 is Form G-1055, Fee Schedule, edition 05/29/26, which lists Form I-290B at $800 for general filing with no reduced online rate; 8 CFR 106.2(a)(16) states the same $800 and adds that the fee is the same for an appeal as for a motion. The rule that each motion or appeal needs its own form, and that the date of service of a mailed decision is the date of mailing, is the USCIS Form I-290B page, form edition 05/31/24.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into motion to reopen or reconsider rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

  • Administrative Appeals OfficeThe Administrative Appeals Office, or AAO, is the USCIS body that reviews denials of EB-5 investor petitions, regional center applications and project approvals, looking at the whole record afresh rather than deferring to the officer below, and no court may take up an EB-5 determination until its review has been exhausted.
  • Form I-290BForm I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion, is the single form carrying three different requests: an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Office, a motion to reopen on new facts, and a motion to reconsider on legal error.
  • Request for EvidenceA Request for Evidence, or RFE, is a written USCIS notice that the record as filed does not establish eligibility and that named further evidence must reach USCIS by a stated deadline, which can never exceed twelve weeks and cannot be extended. It is a stage in the adjudication rather than a denial, but USCIS is under no duty to issue one before denying.
  • Notice of Intent to DenyA Notice of Intent to Deny, or NOID, is a written USCIS notice that the officer has reached a proposed refusal, setting out the grounds and allowing one answer within a period that can never exceed 30 days. On an EB-5 filing it is always discretionary, never something the petitioner can insist on, and USCIS may deny without issuing one.
  • Denial and revocationDenial and revocation are the two ways USCIS refuses an EB-5 petition: a denial rejects a petition that has not established eligibility, and a revocation withdraws an approval already granted, which is why an approved EB-5 petition is never finally settled.

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