Arlington Immigration Court: Information Guide

Arlington Immigration Court Overview

The Arlington Immigration Court is found in Arlington, Virginia. The court handles immigration, deportation, and asylum cases for people in North Virginia. The State of Virginia has 4 immigration courts, and the Arlington court has 19 judges.

The court not only hears cases in person, but also hears cases at jails in Arlington and other counties in Virginia including:

• Farmville Detention Center
• Hampton Roads Regional Jail
• Caroline Detention Facility
• Dc Department of Corrections
• Norfolk, Virginia Center
• Rappahannock Regional Jail
• Arlington Detained Location
• Virginia Department of Corrections
• Arlington Juvenile Center
• Florida State Prison – TAL
• Arlington Juvenile Detainees

In this guide, you will find all the information you need about the Arlington, Virginia Immigration Court including its contact information, location, judges, processing time, backlog, and other important information and data.

Arlington Immigration Court Contact Information

Address

The Arlington Immigration Court is located at:

1901 South Bell Street, Suite 200
Arlington, VA 22202

Phone number

703-603-1300

You can contact the court’s clerks and legal assistants by dialing the number above.

To find out how to check your case status or court date, visit this page.

Hours

The Window Filing Hours are only from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm. However, the court’s phones are answered until 5:00 pm.

Getting to the Arlington Immigration Court

The Immigration Court in Arlington is located in the Crystal City Shops in Arlington, Virginia. It is surrounded by the Bloomberg Industry Group and Public Parking Garage.

To get there, you can take the Richmond Hwy, then get on I-95 N in Springfield and take I-395 N to S Hayes St in Arlington. After that, take exit 8C from I-395 N and continue on S Hayes St to the court.

What the court looks like

From the front, the Arlington court looks like this:

The back of the court building looks like this:

Immigration Judges in Arlington

19 judges currently serve at the Arlington Immigration Court with Judge Rebecca J. Walters acting as the Assistant Chief Immigration Judge.

Judges

• John Cody Barnes
• Francisco Mendez
• John M. Bryant
• Deepali (Dee) Nadkarni
• Lawrence Burman
• Matthew J. O’Brien
• Raphael Choi
• Helaine R. Perlman
• Roxanne C. Hladylowycz
• Emmett D. Soper
• Wynne P. Kelly
• Karen D. Stevens
• Lolita M. Lukose
• Cynthia S. Torg
• Elisa Manuel
• David White
• Paul A. McCloskey

Of the 19 judges, judge Raphael has the highest denial rate (79.1%), and judge Cynthia has the second-highest denial rate (71.9%). On the other hand, judge Lawrence has the highest grant rate (88%).

Getting a Bond at the Arlington Immigration Court

There is no immigration bond form online for the Arlington Immigration Court.

Since 2000, the Arlington Immigration Court has heard 13,895. 7,317 of these cases were granted while 6,578 cases were not. In other words, the Immigration Court in Arlington has a denial rate of 47.3%.

El Salvador comes in first place with the number of bond hearings at 4,295 cases. 2,292 of these cases were granted while 2,003 cases were not.

Mexico comes in second place with the number of bond hearings at 2,303 cases. 1,260 of these cases were granted while 1,043 cases were not.

Asylum Decisions in Arlington

Asylum Denial Rates in Arlington

In the past 20 years, 18,347 asylum cases were considered by the Arlington Immigration Court. 16,358 of them were represented, while 1,989 cases were not.
Of the represented cases, the asylum was denied in 7,275 of them while it was granted in 9,083 cases. In other words, the court has a denial rate of 44.4% for asylum cases.  This percentage is actually good compared to other immigration courts in other states such as the Immigration Court in Los Angeles and the Immigration court in California.

Nationalities

By nationality, El Salvador comes in the first place for asylum seekers before the court. Since 2000, it has heard 5,246 asylum cases from Salvadoreans.

In addition, Ethiopia is in second. Since 2000, it has heard 2,632 asylum cases from Ethiopians.

Finally, Honduras comes in third place. Since 2000, it has heard 1,972 asylum cases from Hondurans.

Backlog and Wait Time Arlington

The Immigration Court in Arlington has 69,302 pending cases, which is a high backlog compared to other immigration courts in other states such as the San Antonio Immigration Court (50,100) and the Houston Immigration Court (42,487).

The court takes 1,155 days to resolve an immigration case. This is a slow rate but since the number of cases is large, it is acceptable. Besides, compared to other immigration courts in other states, it has roughly the same processing time. For example, the San Antonio Immigration Court takes an average of 1,006 days while the Houston Immigration Court takes 1,205.

Free Lawyers for the Arlington Immigration Court

Ten organizations provide free legal services to people at the Arlington Immigration Court. Of course, it is helpful to use a free lawyer, but you should expect some downsides as well. If you want to learn more about how to get legal help for your immigration case, please check our Immigration Court Page.

Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition

This organization provides legal services for detained adults and children in the states of DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Also, it helps people who speaks Spanish, French, and other languages.

Main Office:
1612 K Street, NW, Ste. 204
Washington, DC 20006

Tel: (202) 331-3320 (Main Line)
Tel: (202) 331-3329 (Detention Line)
Fax: (202) 331-3341

For Help with DETAINED ADULTS:
Email: [email protected]
Dial: 202-331-3320 Ext. 7027

For Help with DETAINED CHILDREN:
Email: [email protected]

Northern Virginia Family Service

This organization does not accept cases from detained clients. Also, it provides services for people who speak Spanish.

Address: 

6400 Arlington Blvd, Suite 110
Falls Church, VA 22042

Tel: (571) 748-2800
Fax: (703) 237-2083
www.nvfs.org