San Francisco Immigration Court (SFR): Asylum Approval Rates, Judges and Recorded Hearings
2,246 asylum merits decisions; 17.8% granted (2025-09 to 2026-08). Historical EOIR decisions do not predict an individual case. Judge-code history is not verified personal tenure.
How we estimate
EOIR grant rate means grants divided by grants plus denials for asylum merits decisions, excluding other closures. Rates require at least 2 decisions; rankings require at least 30. Proceedings history can extend to 1951; the first recorded asylum merits month in this import is Dec 1972. Each dataset states its own coverage. Do not interpret proceedings coverage as asylum decision coverage. Reconstructed pending counts may differ from agency totals. Historical judge-code attribution is not verified personal tenure.
Address and official contact
San Francisco: 100 MONTGOMERY ST., SUITE 800
4157054415
Contacts come from the imported court record; a separate contact-review date and opening hours are not published. Verify current addresses, phone numbers and hearings with EOIR.
Asylum approval rate and decisions
San Francisco has 2,246 recorded asylum merits decisions in 2025-09 to 2026-08.
The merits grant rate is 17.8%: grants divided by grants plus denials.
Historical EOIR decisions do not predict an individual case. Judge-code history is not verified personal tenure.
- Metric
- Asylum merits grant rate
- Value
- 17.8%
- Sample size
- 2,246
- Period
- 2025-09 to 2026-08
- Source
- EOIR FOIA case data
- Last updated
- Oct 4, 2026
Cite this page: San Francisco Immigration Court (SFR): Asylum Approval Rate. https://asylumstats.com/courts/san-francisco-sfr. Data through Aug 2026; source published Sep 1, 2026; imported Oct 4, 2026. Include your access date when citing.
Asylum approval rate and decisions
Totals and breakdowns use the canonical page period. Court and nationality trend tables include all available decision history; other trend tables use their labeled periods. All tables apply the display floor. Interactive filters can select a different period. Empty buckets and cells below the floor have no reported rate.
| Group | Grants | Denials | Merits decisions | Asylum merits grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Too few decisions to report a rate (minimum 2). |
| 1975 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Too few decisions to report a rate (minimum 2). |
| 1976 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Too few decisions to report a rate (minimum 2). |
| 1977 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Too few decisions to report a rate (minimum 2). |
| 1978 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Too few decisions to report a rate (minimum 2). |
| 1979 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Too few decisions to report a rate (minimum 2). |
| 1980 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Too few decisions to report a rate (minimum 2). |
| 1981 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.0% |
| 1982 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 28.6% |
| 1983 | 27 | 17 | 44 | 61.4% |
| 1984 | 23 | 133 | 156 | 14.7% |
| 1985 | 108 | 328 | 436 | 24.8% |
| 1986 | 219 | 475 | 694 | 31.6% |
| 1987 | 257 | 271 | 528 | 48.7% |
| 1988 | 579 | 406 | 985 | 58.8% |
| 1989 | 626 | 571 | 1,197 | 52.3% |
| 1990 | 733 | 945 | 1,678 | 43.7% |
| 1991 | 343 | 548 | 891 | 38.5% |
| 1992 | 444 | 402 | 846 | 52.5% |
| 1993 | 365 | 489 | 854 | 42.7% |
| 1994 | 413 | 578 | 991 | 41.7% |
| 1995 | 492 | 951 | 1,443 | 34.1% |
| 1996 | 545 | 1,005 | 1,550 | 35.2% |
| 1997 | 556 | 866 | 1,422 | 39.1% |
| 1998 | 621 | 1,068 | 1,689 | 36.8% |
| 1999 | 760 | 1,014 | 1,774 | 42.8% |
| 2000 | 1,102 | 868 | 1,970 | 55.9% |
| 2001 | 1,229 | 655 | 1,884 | 65.2% |
| 2002 | 1,170 | 1,000 | 2,170 | 53.9% |
| 2003 | 1,547 | 2,326 | 3,873 | 39.9% |
| 2004 | 1,202 | 1,542 | 2,744 | 43.8% |
| 2005 | 925 | 1,141 | 2,066 | 44.8% |
| 2006 | 945 | 951 | 1,896 | 49.8% |
| 2007 | 832 | 995 | 1,827 | 45.5% |
| 2008 | 626 | 795 | 1,421 | 44.0% |
| 2009 | 569 | 667 | 1,236 | 46.0% |
| 2010 | 550 | 579 | 1,129 | 48.7% |
| 2011 | 713 | 718 | 1,431 | 49.8% |
| 2012 | 696 | 585 | 1,281 | 54.3% |
| 2013 | 670 | 536 | 1,206 | 55.6% |
| 2014 | 607 | 499 | 1,106 | 54.9% |
| 2015 | 753 | 356 | 1,109 | 67.9% |
| 2016 | 1,154 | 496 | 1,650 | 69.9% |
| 2017 | 1,462 | 707 | 2,169 | 67.4% |
| 2018 | 2,011 | 1,232 | 3,243 | 62.0% |
| 2019 | 4,579 | 2,888 | 7,467 | 61.3% |
| 2020 | 2,136 | 1,976 | 4,112 | 52.0% |
| 2021 | 2,218 | 773 | 2,991 | 74.2% |
| 2022 | 5,100 | 1,621 | 6,721 | 75.9% |
| 2023 | 5,659 | 1,586 | 7,245 | 78.1% |
| 2024 | 3,219 | 1,501 | 4,720 | 68.2% |
| 2025 | 1,989 | 2,345 | 4,334 | 45.9% |
| 2026 | 90 | 1,022 | 1,112 | 8.1% |
| Group | Grants | Denials | Merits decisions | Asylum merits grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Represented | 375 | 1,421 | 1,796 | 20.9% |
| Not represented | 25 | 425 | 450 | 5.6% |
| Group | Grants | Denials | Merits decisions | Asylum merits grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never detained | 350 | 1,586 | 1,936 | 18.1% |
| Released | 46 | 156 | 202 | 22.8% |
| Detained | 4 | 104 | 108 | 3.7% |
Recorded judges and nationalities
Recorded judges and nationalities
- Seminerio, Frank A.
- Kirchner, Steven M.
- Begovich, Samantha
- O'Brien, Patrick S.
- Gordon, Louis A.
- Nelson, Julie L.
- Davis, Howard R.
- Chen, Shuting
- Greene III, Charles S.
- Slayton, Michelle A.
- George, Amber D
- Schulz, Karen W.
- Savage, Patrick S.
- Johnson, Jeremiah
- Park, Joseph Y.
- Swink, Arwen A.
- Levine, Shira M.
- Grande, Guy G.
- Deiss, Ila C.
- Dillon, Chloe S.
- Gambill, Scott D.
- Mccleskey, Loi L.
- Hyatt, Kiley
- Francis, Leon J.
- Nava, Marlem
- Pierce, Curtis F.
- Vigil, Jami
- Dinh, Roger H.
Recorded judges and nationalities
Guides
Sources and questions
What is the asylum grant rate for San Francisco?
2,246 asylum merits decisions; 17.8% granted (2025-09 to 2026-08). Rates reflect the period and sample on this page. Historical EOIR decisions do not predict an individual case. Judge-code history is not verified personal tenure.
How many proceedings are pending at San Francisco?
The snapshot records 5 pending proceedings as of Aug 2026. Pending counts are reconstructed from recorded proceeding dates and can differ from EOIR’s published totals. They do not measure the number of people or guarantee a hearing date.
What is the average wait time for an immigration hearing?
No reliable median or elapsed hearing wait is available for this page’s scope. Backlog divided by recent monthly completions is a workload ratio, not a predicted hearing date. Check your own notice or official EOIR case information.
Where is San Francisco?
100 MONTGOMERY ST., SUITE 800 Map coordinates are approximate city locations; verify the location and hearing details with EOIR and your notice.
Which judges have recorded decisions at San Francisco?
Seminerio, Frank A.; Kirchner, Steven M.; Begovich, Samantha. See the linked judge profiles for decision counts and reporting periods. Placeholder dockets are excluded; historical recorded courts are not proof of a current assignment.
How can I check my immigration court case?
Use EOIR Automated Case Information for court case details and rely on official notices. Use USCIS Case Status Online for USCIS receipt numbers. These aggregate statistics do not look up individual cases.
What happens in a master calendar hearing?
A master calendar hearing handles procedural matters, pleadings and scheduling. It is different from the individual merits hearing. Consult EOIR’s Immigration Court Practice Manual and your hearing notice for official instructions.