Matter of Morales-Morales, 28 I&N Dec. 714 (BIA 2023)

Matter of Morales-Morales, 28 I&N Dec. 714 (BIA 2023) - (1) The Board of Immigration Appeals has authority to accept what are otherwise untimely appeals, and consider them timely, in certain situations because 8 C.F.R. § 1003.38(b) (2022) is a claim-processing rule and not a jurisdictional provision. Matter of Liadov, 23 I&N Dec. 990 (BIA 2006), overruled. (2) The Board will accept a late-filed appeal where a party can establish that equitable tolling applies, which requires the party to show both diligence in the filing of the notice of appeal and that an extraordinary circumstance prevented timely filing.

"Because the respondents have not shown that they pursued their appeal right diligently and that an extraordinary circumstance prevented a timely filing, we conclude that equitable tolling does not apply in this case and we properly dismissed the respondents’ appeal as untimely. We will therefore deny the respondents’ motion to reconsider our May 10, 2022, decision. Accordingly, the following order will be entered. ORDER: The motion to reconsider is denied."