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Immigration court · San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Immigration Court

72.2% asylum grant rate across 47,971 merits decisions (FY2015–2025) - above the 48.2% national average.

Data updated 2026-06-21

72.2%
Asylum grant rate
27.8%
Asylum denial rate
104,890
Pending cases
40 mo
Time to decision

The verdict

The San Francisco Immigration Court granted asylum in 72.2% of the 47,971 cases it decided on the merits - above the 48.2% national rate.

72.2%
Asylum grant rate
47,971
Merits decisions, FY2015–2025
75
Judges with reported asylum decisions
104,890
Pending cases (all types)
Statistical data only. Grant rates reflect historical case outcomes and are not predictive of any individual case result. Consult a licensed immigration attorney for legal advice.

Case Insights: San Francisco Immigration Court

The San Francisco Immigration Court, based in San Francisco, CA, decided 47,971 asylum cases on the merits between FY2015 and FY2025 - out of 542,570 total proceedings of all case types it handled. Of those asylum decisions, 34,617 were granted (72.2%) and 13,354 were denied (27.8%). The court has 75 immigration judges with enough asylum decisions to report, whose individual grant rates shape the court-wide average shown above.

Between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2025, the grant rate at San Francisco Immigration Court fell by 7.1 percentage points, moving from 77.4% to 70.3%. That window spans 11 fiscal years of reported data, covering shifts in bench composition, policy guidance, and nationality mix. The year-by-year table lower on this page shows the underlying annual case volume for every year in the series.

Outcomes vary substantially judge-to-judge. Judge ICD decided the most asylum cases here - 2,646 merits decisions (90.7% grant rate). The spread between the highest-grant and lowest-grant judges at this court is 91.5 percentage points - SML at 96.0% versus ASM at 4.5%. These differences reflect case mix, nationality assignments, and docket type rather than any single factor, and they are why EOIR cautions readers against treating any judge's rate as predictive of an individual case.

72.2%
Asylum Grant Rate
27.8%
Asylum Denial Rate
47,971
Asylum Decisions
40 mo
Avg Time to Decision
Granted34617Denied13354
Asylum Outcomes at San Francisco Immigration Court - 47,971 merits decisions, FY2015–2025

Asylum Grant Rate

72.2% of merits decisions

Asylum cases decided at San Francisco Immigration Court

Pending Cases

104,890

Open proceedings (all case types)

Asylum Decisions

47,971

Merits decisions, FY2015–2025

Grant rate over time

Asylum grant rate by fiscal year at San Francisco Immigration Court.

Fiscal year Decisions Grant rate
FY2015 982 77.4%
FY2016 1,468 76.4%
FY2017 2,093 77.4%
FY2018 2,683 71.2%
FY2019 5,983 70.9%
FY2020 6,766 56.9%
FY2021 2,921 69.9%
FY2022 6,050 77.3%
FY2023 7,418 81.1%
FY2024 5,674 74.2%
FY2025 5,933 70.3%

The judge lottery at San Francisco Immigration Court

75 judges with enough asylum decisions to report. Grant rates run from 96.0% (1,210 decisions) down to 4.5% (264 decisions) - a 91.5-point spread on the same bench. Rates based on smaller decision counts carry more statistical noise.

Judge names below are the anonymized judge codes EOIR assigns in its public case-data release, not verified public identities. EOIR does not publish immigration judges' full names in this dataset. See our methodology for detail.

# Judge Decisions Asylum grant rate
1 Judge SML 1,210
96.0%
2 Judge CSD 718
94.0%
3 Judge RAW 29
93.1%
4 Judge ECB 364
92.9%
5 Judge MH 389
92.8%
6 Judge ADG 1,316
92.2%
7 Judge SYK 216
92.1%
8 Judge DLM 900
91.2%
9 Judge ICD 2,646
90.7%
10 Judge KSL 75
90.7%
11 Judge JLV 218
90.4%
12 Judge PSS 1,912
90.3%
13 Judge LLR 548
90.1%
14 Judge SGN 995
89.2%
15 Judge CMN 89
88.8%
16 Judge LAG 1,274
88.5%
17 Judge JVJ 1,559
87.5%
18 Judge JRW 135
87.4%
19 Judge SSG 199
86.9%
20 Judge HRD 602
86.5%
21 Judge JMP 1,034
86.1%
22 Judge JJS 128
85.9%
23 Judge RBJ 380
85.3%
24 Judge CJL 298
85.2%
25 Judge ACH 187
84.5%
26 Judge CAK 283
82.7%
27 Judge PAW 258
82.6%
28 Judge ACL 783
82.5%
29 Judge JYB 829
81.8%
30 Judge JJJ 531
81.7%
31 Judge AAS 1,590
79.8%
32 Judge CSG 1,972
79.2%
33 Judge EJC 50
78.0%
34 Judge LCF 764
77.6%
35 Judge MAS 592
76.9%
36 Judge AED 312
76.9%
37 Judge CPE 99
76.8%
38 Judge ELY 783
76.2%
39 Judge KWS 832
76.1%
40 Judge LSG 944
75.7%
41 Judge RKP 964
75.2%
42 Judge LLM 514
73.3%
43 Judge SMS 1,025
70.4%
44 Judge PRM 43
69.8%
45 Judge ISS 247
69.6%
46 Judge CFP 503
69.4%
47 Judge JRS 295
67.8%
48 Judge LLJ 476
67.0%
49 Judge DRH 188
64.9%
50 Judge SMK 1,394
62.7%
51 Judge JYP 1,173
60.0%
52 Judge SDG 1,194
56.7%
53 Judge CMP 644
56.4%
54 Judge PSO 1,547
55.1%
55 Judge RHD 452
54.4%
56 Judge NRF 795
54.0%
57 Judge NBW 61
52.5%
58 Judge DAD 207
51.7%
59 Judge KBL 520
51.0%
60 Judge SPN 1,327
50.0%
61 Judge MWN 299
49.2%
62 Judge GSS 620
44.8%
63 Judge AJC 747
42.0%
64 Judge LWP 50
40.0%
65 Judge FAS 2,321
39.9%
66 Judge VAB 156
38.5%
67 Judge GMT 58
29.3%
68 Judge JLN 815
29.0%
69 Judge RRH 260
27.7%
70 Judge CPH 64
18.8%
71 Judge WDN 38
13.2%
72 Judge VRW 25
12.0%
73 Judge NNA 246
8.1%
74 Judge SS2 47
6.4%
75 Judge ASM 264
4.5%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the grant rate at the San Francisco Immigration Court immigration court? ▼
The San Francisco Immigration Court immigration court has an overall grant rate of 72.2% and a denial rate of 27.8%, based on 47,971 asylum merits decisions (FY2015–2025) from DOJ EOIR records.
How many immigration judges serve at San Francisco Immigration Court? ▼
San Francisco Immigration Court has 75 immigration judges on record. Grant rates vary significantly between judges, from 4.5% to 96.0%.
How long do cases take at San Francisco Immigration Court? ▼
The average wait time at San Francisco Immigration Court is approximately 40 months. Wait times vary based on case type, docket load, and whether continuances are granted.
Where is the San Francisco Immigration Court immigration court located? ▼
The San Francisco Immigration Court immigration court is located in San Francisco, CA. It is part of the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) system.
Does the grant rate predict my case outcome at San Francisco Immigration Court? ▼
No. Grant rates are historical averages reflecting aggregate outcomes across all case types and judges. Individual outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case, the judge assigned, the type of relief sought, and whether you have legal representation. Always consult a licensed immigration attorney.
How has the San Francisco Immigration Court grant rate changed over time? ▼
Between FY2015 and FY2025, the grant rate at San Francisco Immigration Court decreased from 77.4% to 70.3%. Year-by-year data is shown in the trends table on this page.

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Data from the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) via FOIA bulk case data. Statistical information only, not legal advice.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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Source: U.S. EOIR, Immigration Court Statistics Immigration court outcomes by court and case type · 2025

Every figure on PlainImmigration is rendered directly from federal immigration court records, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on DOJ EOIR case-level records, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.