Iran: Asylum Approval Rates and Decisions in US Immigration Courts

480 asylum merits decisions; 40.6% 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.

Grants and denials by period

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.

Decision trend
Group	Grants	Denials	Merits decisions	Asylum merits grant rate
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	0	3	3	0.0%
1981	0	0	0	Too few decisions to report a rate (minimum 2).
1982	5	3	8	62.5%
1983	27	8	35	77.1%
1984	9	27	36	25.0%
1985	78	98	176	44.3%
1986	140	167	307	45.6%
1987	230	203	433	53.1%
1988	294	150	444	66.2%
1989	136	135	271	50.2%
1990	187	142	329	56.8%
1991	159	109	268	59.3%
1992	74	78	152	48.7%
1993	49	71	120	40.8%
1994	52	69	121	43.0%
1995	77	96	173	44.5%
1996	117	123	240	48.8%
1997	176	153	329	53.5%
1998	188	168	356	52.8%
1999	233	162	395	59.0%
2000	167	186	353	47.3%
2001	231	173	404	57.2%
2002	211	194	405	52.1%
2003	224	180	404	55.4%
2004	183	152	335	54.6%
2005	129	129	258	50.0%
2006	146	81	227	64.3%
2007	84	67	151	55.6%
2008	78	52	130	60.0%
2009	88	44	132	66.7%
2010	98	48	146	67.1%
2011	119	53	172	69.2%
2012	93	42	135	68.9%
2013	83	42	125	66.4%
2014	61	38	99	61.6%
2015	49	24	73	67.1%
2016	62	26	88	70.4%
2017	61	29	90	67.8%
2018	78	31	109	71.6%
2019	122	35	157	77.7%
2020	51	13	64	79.7%
2021	56	11	67	83.6%
2022	154	22	176	87.5%
2023	193	37	230	83.9%
2024	221	83	304	72.7%
2025	161	370	531	30.3%
2026	147	153	300	49.0%

Representation breakdown
Group	Grants	Denials	Merits decisions	Asylum merits grant rate
Represented	183	228	411	44.5%
Not represented	12	57	69	17.4%

Custody breakdown
Group	Grants	Denials	Merits decisions	Asylum merits grant rate
Detained	81	167	248	32.7%
Never detained	105	101	206	51.0%
Released	9	17	26	34.6%

Courts with recorded decisions

Guides

Methods and limitations

What is the asylum grant rate for Iran?

480 asylum merits decisions; 40.6% 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 do asylum grant rates vary by country?

Our nationality directory compares EOIR asylum merits decisions by the nationality recorded in court data. Use the same period and sample floor for comparisons. Nationality does not determine an individual outcome.

Which courts have the most recorded decisions for Iran?

Santa Ana Immigration Court; Pearsall Immigration Court; Van Nuys Immigration Court. These are leading courts by merits-decision count in the page’s period, not recommendations about venue or individual outcomes.

Why is a grant rate or ranking missing?

We display a rate only with at least 2 merits decisions and rank judges or court comparisons only with at least 30. Small samples can vary widely. A missing rate is not a zero grant rate.