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I-485 denied: what the regulations say about appeals, motions, renewal and your work permit

8 CFR 245.2(a)(5)(ii) says "no appeal lies from the denial" of an adjustment application. The regulations leave two routes: a motion to reopen or reconsider on Form I-290B within 30 days ($800), and, for an applicant who is not an arriving alien, renewing the application in removal proceedings. A work permit has its own validity date and its own revocation rule.

An I-485 denial is different from most USCIS denials in one respect that surprises people: the regulation says it cannot be appealed. The review options that remain are narrower and come with short deadlines, and the denial also reshapes questions about work permission, travel documents and time in the United States.

This page sets out what the regulations say as at 9 October 2026, from the eCFR and the Federal Register: the no-appeal rule, the motion to reopen or reconsider, renewal of the application in removal proceedings, and the rules that govern an employment authorization document (EAD) that was issued on the basis of a pending I-485. It also explains the 2025 change that ended automatic extension of expiring work permits.

It does not tell anyone what their denial means for their status, whether to file a motion, or whether they are at risk of removal. Those answers depend on the reasons stated in the denial, the person's immigration history and entry, and policies that this page does not cover, such as USCIS's guidance on when a denial is followed by a Notice to Appear. Only an attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative can advise on that before USCIS.

The no-appeal rule

The rule is in 8 CFR 245.2(a)(5), which covers decisions on adjustment applications.

Notice. 245.2(a)(5)(i): "The applicant shall be notified of the decision of the director and, if the application is denied, the reasons for the denial." The general rule in 8 CFR 103.3(a)(1)(i) agrees: the officer "shall explain in writing the specific reasons for denial."

No appeal. 245.2(a)(5)(ii): "No appeal lies from the denial of an application by the director, but the applicant, if not an arriving alien, retains the right to renew his or her application in proceedings under 8 CFR part 240."

There are two things to read slowly.

  1. "No appeal lies" is a statement about the I-485 itself. It means the appeal routes that other USCIS decisions can carry (the Form I-290B appeal, or a Board appeal) are not available for the I-485 denial. A different, narrower kind of review remains.
  2. "If not an arriving alien." The renewal right belongs to an applicant who is not an arriving alien. Who counts as an arriving alien is a defined term in the regulations, and whether a person falls on one side of that line is a question for a lawyer or accredited representative.

Parolees. The same paragraph adds that "an applicant who is a parolee and meets the two conditions described in § 245.2(a)(1) may renew a denied application in proceedings under 8 CFR part 240 to determine admissibility."

Renewal and the bars in INA §245(c). "At the time of renewal of the application, an applicant does not need to meet the statutory requirement of section 245(c) of the Act, or § 245.1(g), if, in fact, those requirements were met at the time the renewed application was initially filed with the director." The paragraph closes with: "Nothing in this section shall entitle an alien to proceedings under section 240 of the Act who is not otherwise so entitled."

That final sentence matters. The regulation gives a right to renew the application in proceedings that exist. It does not itself start them, and it does not say when, or whether, USCIS issues a Notice to Appear after a denial. That is a matter of USCIS policy, outside this page.

The motion to reopen or reconsider

A motion is the one USCIS-level step the regulation leaves available. The rules are in 8 CFR 103.5(a).

  • Deadline. A motion to reconsider "must be filed within 30 days of the decision that the motion seeks to reconsider." A motion to reopen has the same 30 days, "except that failure to file before this period expires, may be excused in the discretion of the Service where it is demonstrated that the delay was reasonable and was beyond the control of the applicant or petitioner" (103.5(a)(1)(i)). If the denial was served by mail, 8 CFR 103.8(b) adds three days to a period that runs from service.
  • Form and fee. Form I-290B, signed by the affected party or the representative of record, with "a nonrefundable fee as set forth in 8 CFR 106.2" (103.5(a)(1)(iii)). The fee is $800 under 106.2(a)(16). The fee can be waived only in the cases 106.3 lists, including when "there is no fee for the underlying application or petition or that fee may be waived" (106.3(a)(3)(ii)(D)). The I-485 fee is $1,440 for an applicant 14 or older (106.2(a)(21)). Whether a waiver reaches a given I-485 case should be checked in 106.3 and the form instructions.
  • A motion to reopen "must state the new facts to be provided in the reopened proceeding and be supported by affidavits or other documentary evidence" (103.5(a)(2)). For a case denied for abandonment, it needs evidence the decision was in error on one of three stated grounds.
  • A motion to reconsider "must state the reasons for reconsideration and be supported by any pertinent precedent decisions to establish that the decision was based on an incorrect application of law or Service policy", and, for a decision on an application, must establish the decision "was incorrect based on the evidence of record at the time of the initial decision" (103.5(a)(3)).
  • Statement about court cases. The motion must say whether the validity of the denial "has been or is the subject of any judicial proceeding" (103.5(a)(1)(iii)(C)).
  • No stay. "The filing of a motion to reopen or reconsider or of a subsequent application or petition does not stay the execution of any decision in a case or extend a previously set departure date" unless the Service directs otherwise (103.5(a)(1)(iv)). A pending motion is not by itself permission to remain or to work.
  • Official who decides. The official who made the latest decision, unless the person moved to a new jurisdiction (103.5(a)(1)(ii)). A motion that does not meet the requirements "shall be dismissed" (103.5(a)(4)).

Our page on Form I-290B covers the form in more detail.

Who the "affected party" is. For an I-485, the applicant. 103.3(a)(1)(iii)(B) defines the term as the person "with legal standing in a proceeding".

A new I-485 instead. A fresh application means a new fee and a new record. The regulation does not set a waiting period after a denial. Eligibility rules, including the requirement of an available immigrant visa and the INA §245(c) bars, apply to the new application as at its filing, and whether a second filing makes sense is a legal assessment.

What happens to status, time in the United States and unlawful presence

A denied I-485 does not itself grant, extend or end any status. Whatever status the person had before filing is governed by the rules for that status. The adjustment application is not itself a status.

Two provisions are worth knowing as the starting points.

Interim benefits and removal. In the context of a request held for missing initial evidence, 103.2(b)(10)(ii) says a person "will normally be allowed to remain while a benefit request to extend or obtain status while in the United States is pending", but "the USCIS may choose to pursue other actions to seek removal of a person notwithstanding the pending application." Once an application is denied, it is no longer pending.

Unlawful presence. The statute, 8 U.S.C. §1182(a)(9)(B)(ii), says: "an alien is deemed to be unlawfully present in the United States if the alien is present in the United States after the expiration of the period of stay authorized by the Attorney General or is present in the United States without being admitted or paroled." Whether and when time counts, for a person whose I-485 was pending, depends on what "period of stay authorized" applied to them, and the statute then lists exceptions: time under age 18, a bona fide asylum application, family unity protection, certain battered women and children, trafficking victims, and a tolling rule in clause (iv) for certain people who were lawfully admitted or paroled. The 3-year and 10-year bars attach to a departure after 180 days or one year of unlawful presence. USCIS's policy on when unlawful presence starts to accrue is in its Policy Manual, which this page does not cover.

Travel. 8 CFR 245.2(a)(4)(ii) says departure by an adjustment applicant who is under removal proceedings is "deemed an abandonment of the application", and sets out when travel by someone who is not in proceedings, with advance parole or in certain lawful statuses, is not abandonment. Our page on advance parole covers the form. After a denial, travel is a lawyer's question, not a self-service one.

None of this tells anyone how their own time counts. That requires their dates, their entry and their documents.

The work permit after a denial

An EAD issued because an I-485 was pending is in the category in 8 CFR 274a.12(c)(9). The category text covers "an alien who has filed an application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident pursuant to part 245", and says that for section 245(c)(8) purposes the person "will not be deemed to be an 'unauthorized alien'… while his or her properly filed Form I-485 application is pending final adjudication, if the alien has otherwise obtained permission from the Service pursuant to 8 CFR 274a.12 to engage in employment, or if the alien had been granted employment authorization prior to the filing of the adjustment application and such authorization does not expire during the pendency of the adjustment application."

Notice the words "pending final adjudication". The protection is worded around the period of the pending application.

The card has its own date. An EAD is a separate document. Under 8 CFR 274a.14(a)(1), employment authorization under 274a.12(c) "shall automatically terminate upon the occurrence of one of the following events":

  1. "The expiration date specified by the Service on the employment authorization document is reached;"
  2. "Exclusion or deportation proceedings are instituted (however, this shall not preclude the authorization of employment pursuant to § 274a.12(c) of this part where appropriate)"; or
  3. "The alien is granted voluntary departure."

Automatic termination "does not require the service of a notice of intent to revoke", and it "does not preclude reapplication for employment authorization".

Revocation before the date. Under 274a.14(b)(1), employment authorization "may be revoked by the district director" before its expiration date "when it appears that any condition upon which it was granted has not been met or no longer exists, or for good cause shown", or on a showing that the application information was not true and correct. The process is a written "notice of intent to revoke", a "period of fifteen days from the date of service of the notice within which to submit countervailing evidence", and then a decision that "shall be final and no appeal shall lie" (274a.14(b)(2)).

The regulation does not say in terms that a denial of the I-485 ends or leaves intact an EAD that has not expired. What it gives is the list of automatic events and the revocation rule, and the fact that the (c)(9) category is tied to a pending application. Read those two provisions against the card's date and the denial. How USCIS treats a particular card after a denial is not something this page can say. The 274a.12(c) introduction adds that USCIS "may establish a specific validity period" that "may include any period when an administrative appeal or judicial review of an application or petition is pending".

Fees. The initial I-765 fee is $520, or $260 for an applicant who filed the I-485 with a fee after 1 April 2024 and whose I-485 is still pending (106.2(a)(44)). An I-765 can be waived in the cases 106.3 lists; (c)(33) DACA filers are excluded from that route.

Renewing the work permit: the October 2025 change

Until 30 October 2025, a timely renewal of certain EADs extended the old card automatically, for up to 540 days from expiry under 8 CFR 274a.13(d). The interim final rule at 90 FR 48799 (FR doc. 2025-19702, published 30 October 2025) ended that for renewal requests filed on or after that date. The Federal Register abstract says it "amends DHS regulations to end the practice of automatically extending the validity of employment authorization documents (Forms I-766 or EADs) for aliens who have timely filed an application to renew their EAD in certain employment authorization categories", and does not affect EADs "automatically extended prior to October 30, 2025 or which are otherwise automatically extended by law or Federal Register notice."

The current text, 8 CFR 274a.13(e): for a renewal filed on or after October 30, 2025, "the validity period of an expired or expiring Employment Authorization Document… will not be automatically extended by a request for renewal." For an alien authorized under 274a.12(c), the EAD "will expire, and the attendant employment authorization will terminate, the day after the end validity date on the Employment Authorization Document, pursuant to § 274a.14".

For an I-485 applicant with a (c)(9) card, that has a practical meaning: the date printed on the card is the date, and a renewal I-765 that is pending on that date does not carry the card forward. Whether a renewal is still available depends on the I-485 being pending, and a denial changes that.

Where an EAD had already been automatically extended under the earlier rule, 274a.13(d)(3) says the extension "automatically terminates the earlier of up to 540 days after the expiration date" of the card "or upon issuance of notification of a decision denying the renewal request" (a decision on the renewal, not on the I-485).

What the rules do not settle. Whether work stops on the day of a denial, on the card's date, or on another date is not stated in one sentence of the regulation. A person working on a card after a denial should have that position checked with a lawyer or accredited representative, because an employer's I-9 duties and the person's own exposure to unauthorized employment both depend on it.

Putting the options in one table

Facts only, from the regulations cited. Not a recommendation.

| | Rule | Source | |---|---|---| | Appeal of the denial | None: "No appeal lies" | 8 CFR 245.2(a)(5)(ii) | | Motion to reopen or reconsider | Form I-290B, 30 days, $800 | 8 CFR 103.5(a)(1), 106.2(a)(16) | | Renew the application in proceedings | For an applicant who is "not an arriving alien" or a parolee meeting the 245.2(a)(1) conditions | 8 CFR 245.2(a)(5)(ii); part 240 | | New I-485 | New filing, $1,440 if 14 or older | 8 CFR 106.2(a)(21) | | Pending motion and removal | Does not "stay the execution of any decision" | 8 CFR 103.5(a)(1)(iv) | | EAD ends | On the printed date; on instituted exclusion or deportation proceedings; on voluntary departure; or if revoked on 15 days' notice | 8 CFR 274a.14 | | EAD renewal filed from 30 Oct 2025 | No automatic extension | 8 CFR 274a.13(e); 90 FR 48799 |

The $800 and $1,440 figures are not among the four fees changing on 16 October 2026 (annual asylum fee, I-131 parole fee, initial I-765 for asylum, parole and TPS applicants, and I-821). Check the USCIS fee schedule (G-1055) before paying.

Where I-485 denial steps go wrong, from the rules

From the provisions above:

  • Looking for an appeal that the regulation says does not exist, and missing the 30-day motion period while doing so.
  • Filing a motion with no new facts and no showing of an incorrect legal decision. A motion that does not meet the requirements "shall be dismissed".
  • Treating a pending motion as permission to remain or to work. It does not stay anything.
  • Assuming the renewal right in part 240 is available to every applicant. It belongs to applicants who are not arriving aliens, and to parolees meeting stated conditions.
  • Working on an EAD without knowing its date, or relying on an automatic extension that has not existed for renewals filed since 30 October 2025.
  • Leaving the United States without checking the rules in 245.2(a)(4), including for an applicant in proceedings.
  • Filing a second I-485 without addressing the reason for the first denial.
  • Using a notario or consultant for any of this. Only attorneys, DOJ-accredited representatives and the few categories in 8 CFR 292.1 may represent a person before USCIS or in the proceedings where renewal happens. USCIS says notaries "are not attorneys and cannot represent you in legal matters, including immigration cases".

Who may help. The situation after an I-485 denial often involves the immigration court system, where only attorneys and DOJ-accredited representatives of recognized organizations may appear (8 CFR 1292.1). Our page on who can give immigration advice explains the lists.

Finding a licensed attorney or accredited representative

Migratio's directory lists immigration attorneys and DOJ-accredited representatives. Listings are shown in a neutral order with factual filters (state, language, attorney or accredited representative). Migratio does not recommend, rank or match any lawyer, and it is not a lawyer referral service. Check any listing yourself against the state bar or the EOIR roster before you sign anything.

See attorneys and accredited representatives in the directory.

Notaries public, notarios and immigration consultants are not lawyers and cannot give immigration legal advice. Only a licensed attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative can.

Migratio is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Only a licensed attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative can advise you.

Questions people ask

Can I appeal an I-485 denial?

No. 8 CFR 245.2(a)(5)(ii) says "No appeal lies from the denial of an application by the director." An applicant who is not an arriving alien keeps the right to renew the application in removal proceedings (8 CFR part 240), and a motion to reopen or reconsider can be filed on Form I-290B within 30 days.

How long do I have to file a motion after an I-485 denial?

30 days from the decision (8 CFR 103.5(a)(1)(i)), plus three days if the denial was served by mail (103.8(b)). A late motion to reopen may be excused only where the delay was reasonable and beyond the applicant's control.

What happens to my EAD if my I-485 is denied?

The regulation does not say in one sentence. An EAD under 274a.12(c) terminates automatically on its expiration date, when exclusion or deportation proceedings are instituted, or on a grant of voluntary departure, and it may be revoked on 15 days' notice if a condition no longer exists (8 CFR 274a.14). The (c)(9) category is worded around a pending application. Ask a lawyer or accredited representative how it applies to the card in your hand.

Can I renew my work permit while a motion is pending?

A pending motion does not stay the decision (103.5(a)(1)(iv)). A renewal I-765 filed on or after 30 October 2025 does not extend an expiring card (8 CFR 274a.13(e)). Eligibility for a new EAD depends on the category, which for (c)(9) is tied to a pending I-485.

Will a denied I-485 lead to removal proceedings?

The regulation gives the right to renew the application in removal proceedings, but it does not say when USCIS starts them: "Nothing in this section shall entitle an alien to proceedings under section 240 of the Act who is not otherwise so entitled." USCIS guidance on Notices to Appear is outside what the regulations settle. Get advice from a licensed attorney or accredited representative.

Can I file a new I-485 after a denial?

The regulation sets no waiting period. A new application means a new fee ($1,440 for an applicant 14 or older, 8 CFR 106.2(a)(21)) and is judged on its own record. Whether it makes sense depends on the reason for the first denial.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-09.

Related guides

  • I-485 RFE: the medical exam, birth certificate and I-864 rules, and the 12-week limit — An I-485 RFE has to be answered by the printed date, which can never be more than twelve weeks away and cannot be extended (8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(iv)). The regulations behind the three requests people search for are 8 CFR 245.5 (civil surgeon medical exam), 103.2(b)(2) (birth records) and 213a.2 (affidavit of support).
  • Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID): the 30-day limit, how it differs from an RFE and what comes next — A Notice of Intent to Deny names the reasons USCIS proposes to deny a case and sets a response date that cannot be more than thirty days away. The regulation says additional time "may not be granted" (8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(iv)). The options are a full response, a partial response with a request for a decision on the record, or withdrawal.
  • Form I-290B: how appeals and motions on a USCIS decision work under 8 CFR 103.3 and 103.5 — Form I-290B is the notice of appeal or motion for USCIS decisions that the Board of Immigration Appeals does not review. The fee is $800 (8 CFR 106.2(a)(16)) and the deadline is 30 days from service of the decision (8 CFR 103.3(a)(2)(i) and 103.5(a)(1)(i)). Some decisions, such as an I-485 denial or an I-130 denial, are handled differently.
  • Form I-485 fee 2026: adults, children and add-on forms — As at 9 October 2026 the paper fee for Form I-485 is $1,440 for an applicant 14 or older and $950 for a child under 14 filing with a parent (8 CFR 106.2(a)(21)). A fee waiver is available only to people exempt from the public charge ground, and related forms carry their own fees.
  • Form I-765 fee 2026: $520, $260, $570 or no fee — The standard paper fee for Form I-765 is $520 (8 CFR 106.2(a)(44)). It is $260 with a pending I-485 filed with a fee after 1 April 2024, some groups pay nothing, and a statutory fee applies to initial asylum, parole and TPS work permits, rising from $560 to $570 on 16 October 2026.
  • Advance parole (Form I-131): the fee and the travel rules — Advance parole, a reentry permit and most other travel documents on Form I-131 cost $630 under 8 CFR 106.2(a)(7)(iii); refugee travel documents cost $165 (age 16 or older) or $135. Under 8 CFR 245.2(a)(4)(ii), leaving the US while an adjustment application is pending is treated as abandoning it unless advance parole was granted first and the person was inspected on return.