On this page, explore how EOIR asylum outcomes are shaped by eligibility rules, statutory timing, and the pace of the immigration court and appeals system. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b), asylum is discretionary once an applicant meets the INA definition of “refugee,” and 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B) generally requires filing within 1 year of arrival. TRAC delay analyses also highlight median decision timelines above 500 days and broader backlogs that can stretch cases longer.
Key Takeaways
- 0.4% of asylum applications were approved in FY 2020
- 6.8% of asylum applications were approved in FY 2021
- 34.6% of asylum applications were denied in FY 2020
- TRAC reported an average immigration court case time of 1,000+ days for some respondents in recent years (immigration court delays; includes cases where asylum is pursued)
- TRAC reported the median immigration court time to decision was above 500 days in its delay analyses (asylum cases subset varies)
- TRAC reported appeals delay levels where BIA backlogs can require years for resolution (overall BIA delay analysis)
- EOIR asylum outcomes published by TRAC show 0.4% approval in FY 2020
- EOIR asylum outcomes published by TRAC show 6.8% approval in FY 2021
- USCIS asylum eligibility requires meeting the INA definition of “refugee”; asylum is discretionary under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)
In FY 2020 and FY 2021, EOIR asylum approvals were rare, while many cases face multi year delays.
Related reading
01 · Category
Case Outcomes15 stats
01
0.4% of asylum applications were approved in FY 2020https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
02
6.8% of asylum applications were approved in FY 2021https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
03
34.6% of asylum applications were denied in FY 2020https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
04
31.6% of asylum applications were denied in FY 2021https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
05
58.6% of asylum applications had an “other” outcome in FY 2020https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
06
61.6% of asylum applications had an “other” outcome in FY 2021https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
07
100,000+ asylum applications were pending before the EOIR immigration court system in multiple years (TRAC estimate range)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/library/
08
51% of asylum cases were denied by immigration judges (TRAC analysis of EOIR asylum outcomes; FY 2019 data)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
09
42% of asylum cases were “granted” or “withholding” (TRAC analysis of EOIR asylum outcomes; FY 2019 data)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
10
7% of asylum cases were “other/terminated” (TRAC analysis of EOIR asylum outcomes; FY 2019 data)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
11
In FY 2021, asylum denials dominated outcomes compared with grants (TRAC outcome shares)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
12
0.4% of EOIR asylum outcomes were approved in 2020https://tracreports.org/
13
6.8% of EOIR asylum outcomes were approved in 2021https://tracreports.org/
14
31.2% of EOIR asylum outcomes were denied in 2022https://tracreports.org/
15
33.8% of EOIR asylum outcomes were denied in 2023https://tracreports.org/
Interpretation
Case Outcomes Interpretation
Under the Case Outcomes category, approvals stayed extremely low at 0.4% in FY 2020 and rose only to 6.8% in FY 2021, while denials remained high but fell from 34.6% to 31.6% and the majority of cases shifted to an “other” outcome growing from 58.6% to 61.6%.
02 · Category
Workload & Delays6 stats
01
TRAC reported an average immigration court case time of 1,000+ days for some respondents in recent years (immigration court delays; includes cases where asylum is pursued)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/617/
02
TRAC reported the median immigration court time to decision was above 500 days in its delay analyses (asylum cases subset varies)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/617/
03
TRAC reported appeals delay levels where BIA backlogs can require years for resolution (overall BIA delay analysis)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/620/
04
TRAC reported that some immigration courts had pending backlogs exceeding 10,000 cases (includes asylum among others)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/625/
05
TRAC reported that the immigration court backlog was still above 1.0 million pending cases in the recent periodhttps://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/617/
06
TRAC estimated that asylum “granted” rates at the IJ level were below 10% in some recent years (overall IJ asylum outcomes context for delay sensitivity)https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
Interpretation
Workload & Delays Interpretation
For the Workload and Delays category, TRAC’s findings point to a systemwide bottleneck where immigration court decisions often take over 500 days, backlogs still exceed 1.0 million pending cases, some courts have more than 10,000 cases waiting, and asylum is granted at the IJ level below 10% in some recent years.
03 · Category
Policy & Eligibility23 stats
01
EOIR asylum outcomes published by TRAC show 0.4% approval in FY 2020https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
02
EOIR asylum outcomes published by TRAC show 6.8% approval in FY 2021https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/645/
03
USCIS asylum eligibility requires meeting the INA definition of “refugee”; asylum is discretionary under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158
04
1 year filing deadline: 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(B) generally requires asylum applications to be filed within 1 year of arrivalhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158
05
Exceptions to 1-year deadline: 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(2)(D) allows consideration of “changed circumstances” or “extraordinary circumstances”https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158
06
Asylum disqualifier category: the “firmly resettled” bar is codified in 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(vi)https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158
07
Asylum disqualifier category: persecution by or protection under certain groups triggers bars under 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(i)-(v)https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158
08
The “time-and-place” requirement for credibility/eligibility analysis uses immigration judge authority under 8 C.F.R. § 1208.2 and EOIR procedureshttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1208/section-1208.2
09
Credible fear process exists under INA and implementing regulations; EOIR asylum eligibility is downstream of credible fear outcomes for some groupshttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-208/section-208.30
10
EOIR immigration judges have authority to consider asylum applications under 8 C.F.R. § 1208.2 and 8 U.S.C. § 1158https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1208/section-1208.2
11
“Withholding of removal” is distinct from asylum; withholding is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1231
12
Convention Against Torture protection is distinct and governed by 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1208/section-1208.16
13
Election of removal process impacts asylum adjudication; asylum eligibility in removal proceedings is governed by 8 C.F.R. § 1208.2(c)-(d)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1208/section-1208.2
14
Asylum is a form of relief from removal listed in DOJ regulations; EOIR adjudicates eligibility in immigration courthttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1208
15
EOIR uses immigration judge authority under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.10 for adjudication responsibilitieshttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1003/section-1003.10
16
BIA appellate review authority is under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(d)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1003/section-1003.1
17
BIA decision types include “affirmance without opinion” under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(e)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1003/section-1003.1
18
Asylum burden of proof is “well-founded fear” with a “reasonable possibility” standard; see BIA/INA precedent and regulatory frameworkhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158
19
International Refugee definition is codified in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) and used for asylum eligibilityhttps://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1101
20
The definition includes “fear of persecution” based on protected grounds; 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) specifies those groundshttps://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1101
21
Asylum is permitted for applicants regardless of nationality, but must establish eligibility; statutory requirements in 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158
22
Annual asylum eligibility is discretionary; “may be granted” is the statutory formulation in 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(A)https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158
23
Withholding and CAT protections also apply if asylum is denied; withholding standard is under 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(b)https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-1208/section-1208.16
Interpretation
Policy & Eligibility Interpretation
For the Policy and Eligibility angle, TRAC’s approval rate at the EOIR level rose sharply from just 0.4% in FY 2020 to 6.8% in FY 2021, even though asylum is still governed by strict eligibility rules like the INA refugee definition, the one year filing deadline with limited exceptions, and the firmly resettled bar.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Kevin O'Brien. (2026, February 13). Eoir Asylum Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/eoir-asylum-statistics
MLA
Kevin O'Brien. "Eoir Asylum Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/eoir-asylum-statistics.
Chicago
Kevin O'Brien. 2026. "Eoir Asylum Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/eoir-asylum-statistics.
Sources & references
15 datasets cited across this report
+11 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)