Eoir-29_supporting Statement_2021

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
OMB No. 1125-0010
Notice of Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals from a Decision of a DHS Officer
Form EOIR- 29
______________________________________________________________________________
Part A. Justification
1. Necessity of Information Collection - A party affected by a decision of a Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Officer may appeal that decision to the Board of
Immigration Appeals (Board), provided the Board has jurisdiction pursuant to 8 C.F.R.
§ 1003.1(b). An appeal from a DHS officer’s decision is taken by completing the Form
EOIR-29 and filing it with DHS directly. DHS then forwards the appeal to the Board.
The Form EOIR-29 requests the appellant’s name, mailing address, basic information
about the case being appealed, including any name and alien (A) number of the
beneficiary of a visa petition; all of this information is necessary to identify and process
the appeal.
EOIR has not made any substantive changes to the current Form EOIR-29. EOIR
has made a few non-substantive changes to the instructions only. First, Appellate
Immigration Judge (AIJ) was substituted for Board Member in several places do to recent
regulatory changes wherein Board Members shall also be known as Appellate
Immigration Judges. See 8 CFR § 1003.1(a)(1). The reference to the BIA Practice
Manual was also updated to reflect that the practice manual is now a part of EOIR’s
larger Policy Manual. Lastly, the revision date of the form has been updated.

2. Needs and Uses - The form is filed and considered in the context of an administrative
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appeal. Accordingly, information contained in the form is considered only to the extent
necessary to process the appeal. The form is inserted into EOIR’s official file for the
respondent/applicant/alien and certain information on the form is entered into EOIR’s
internal database. The form is reviewed by the Board in order to determine the
sufficiency and merit of a party’s appeal.

3. Use of Technology - The use of this form provides the most efficient means for
collecting and processing the required data. The Form EOIR-29 is available on EOIR’s
website for printing. The information can be typed into the online form, which is then
printed out for submission to the agency, or the form can be printed in its entirety and
then completed by typing or printing legibly.

Currently, EOIR does not have the capability to accept electronic submission of the Form
EOIR-29. However, EOIR has developed an eRegistry, which is part of a long-term
agency initiative to create an electronic case access and filing system for the Immigration
Court and the Board of Immigration Appeals. eRegistry allows attorneys and accredited
representatives with full accreditation to create and maintain a personal profile in order to
electronically submit forms and update existing forms. EOIR is also in the process of
deploying its electronic case filing system to the Board and all of the immigration courts
nationwide. The electronic filing system will allow parties to file applications, motions,
appeals and other forms electronically. Electronic submission of the Form EOIR-29 is
part of EOIR’s long-term electronic filing initiative.

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4. Efforts to Identify Duplication - The only method for appealing a DHS Officer’s
decision to the Board is to file a Form EOIR-29. A review of EOIR’s existing forms
revealed no duplication of effort, and there is no similar information currently available
which can be used for this purpose.

5. Impact on Small Businesses - This collection does not have an impact on small
businesses or other small entities.

6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection - Failure to collect and present the
information regarding a party’s reasons for appeal would deprive the party of a
mechanism through which to preserve and exercise the regulatory right to appeal from a
decision of a DHS Officer to the Board.

7. Special Circumstances Influencing Collection - A party affected by a DHS Officer’s
decision who wishes to appeal the decision to the Board must file the Form EOIR-29
within 30 days of the service of the decision being appealed. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.3(a)(2).
None of the other eight special circumstances identified in OMB instruction number 7
apply to this collection.

8. Federal Register Publication and Consultation- A 60-day notice covering this
collection was published in the Federal Register on March 3, 2021. See 86 Fed. Reg.
12497 (Mar. 3, 2021). A 30-day notice covering this collection will be published in the
Federal Register. No comments were received during the 60-day comment period. If
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comments are received during the 30-day comment period, they will be considered and
incorporated where appropriate.

9. Payment or Gift to Claimants - EOIR does not provide any payment or gifts to parties
in immigration proceedings.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality - The original Notice of Appeal to the Board of
Immigration Appeals from a Decision of a DHS Officer is maintained by EOIR in the
official court record of proceeding (ROP) and is accessed by those EOIR employees
processing the ROP. The confidentiality of the contents of a party’s Form EOIR-29 is
protected by EOIR, as are all the documents in the ROP, to the extent permitted by the
law, including the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions - There are no questions of a sensitive nature in
the Form EOIR-29.

12. Estimate of Hour Burden
a. Number of Respondents

1,664

b. Number of Responses per Respondent

1

c. Total Annual responses

1,664

d. Hours per response

30 minutes

e. Total annual hourly reporting burden

832

The total annual reporting burden is derived by multiplying the number of respondents
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(1,664) by the frequency of response (1) by the number of hours per response (30 minutes
or .50 hour): 1664 respondents x 1 response per respondent x .50 hour per respondent =
832 burden hours.

13. Estimate of Cost Burden
There are no capital or start-up costs associated with this information collection. The
estimated public cost is zero.

For informational purposes only, there may be additional costs to respondents.
Respondents may incur a cost if they hire a private practitioner to assist them with
completing the Form EOIR-29. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median
hourly wage for lawyers is $61.03. The estimated public cost is a maximum of $50,776.
This amount is reached by multiplying 832 burden hours by $61.03 (the current median
hourly wage for attorneys. For those respondents who proceed without a practitioner,
there is an estimated cost of $10 per hour for completing the form (the individuals’ time
and supplies) in lieu of the practitioner cost. Respondents may also incur a cost of $110,
which is the amount of the filing fee for this form.

14. Estimated Cost to Federal Government - It is estimated that the annual government
cost for printing, distributing, stocking, processing and maintaining the Form EOIR-29 is
$33,492 for EOIR. EOIR acknowledges that DHS will also incur costs for printing
distributing, stocking, processing and maintaining the Form EOIR-29, as respondents
must file the Form EOIR-29 with DHS. EOIR estimates that the cost to DHS is $75,345.
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When the costs to both federal agencies are combined, the total annual government costs
are $108,837.

15. Reason for Change in Burden - There is decrease in the burden on account of less
applications received by EOIR over the last three fiscal years.

16. Plans for Publication - EOIR does not intend to employ the use of statistics or the
publication thereof for this collection of information.

17. Exceptions to Certification Statement - EOIR does not request an exception to the
certification of this information collection.

Section B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods
This collection does not employ statistical methods.

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PAPERWORK CERTIFICATION

In submitting this request for OMB approval, I certify that the requirements of the Privacy Act
and OMB directives have been complied with, including paperwork regulations, any applicable
statistical standards or directives, and any other information policy directives promulgated under
5 C.F.R. § 1320.

Digitally signed by
CHRISTINA
CHRISTINA BAPTISTA
Date: 2021.06.02 12:08:58
BAPTISTA
-04'00'
_____________________
Christina Baptista
Senior Counsel for Immigration
Executive Office for Immigration Review

06/02/2021
__________________
Date

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