In the United States, the amount of time it takes to complete an immigration court case depends on many things, such as the type of case, where the court is located, and how many cases are currently in the system. In general, though, it is not unusual for immigration court cases to take months or even years to be settled.
According to the most recent information from the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), as of September 2021, it took an average of 1,089 days (or about 3 years) for immigration court cases to be finished all over the country. But processing times can vary a lot depending on where the court is and what kind of case is being heard.
For example, the average time it took to handle asylum cases ranged from 1,269 to 2,773 days in the Arlington and New York Immigration Courts, respectively. In the same way, the average time it took to handle cases involving people in detention ranged from 72 days in the Stewart Immigration Court to 738 days in the San Francisco Immigration Court.
It is important to remember that these processing times are always changing and can be affected by many things, like changes in immigration policies or the resources the EOIR has. It is also important to note that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a big effect on how immigration courts work. Many courts have had to close or reduce their capacity, which has caused delays and backlogs.
