The U.S. Supreme Court held in Bouarfa v. Mayorkas, No. 23-583 (Dec. 10, 2024), that one cannot appeal a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) revocation of an approved visa petition in federal court because such revocation is a discretionary agency decision, thus not subject to judicial review.

This decision applies to petition revocations and federal judicial review only. It does not apply to judicial review of denied visa petitions. For an initial denial a petitioner may seek relief through either USCIS or federal court. For a revocation of an approved petition, a petitioner may still seek a reversal through in-agency options, including filing a motion to reopen or reconsider with USCIS or an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Office.

In Bouarfa v. Mayorkas, USCIS had revoked an approved I-130 petition filed on behalf of a Palestinian national on the basis of his marriage to the petitioner in 2017. USCIS revoked the petition on the ground that the beneficiary had previously entered into a sham marriage with an ex-wife for immigration purposes. USCIS initially approved the I-130 in 2015.

Following an unsuccessful appeal to USCIS, the petitioner filed suit in federal district court in Florida, with subsequent appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The petitioner primarily argued that because federal courts can review an initial denial of a petition, the same should hold in the case of a later revocation of an approved petition.

In a unanimous decision, the Court affirmed the Eleventh Circuit’s decision that federal courts lack the authority to review a USCIS revocation. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stated that “Congress granted the Secretary [of Homeland Security] broad authority to revoke an approved visa petition ‘at any time, for what he deems to be good and sufficient cause.’ Such a revocation is thus ‘in the discretion of’ the agency.”