EOIR’s hiring process for adjudicators, including Immigration Judges, is outlined below. 

PRELIMINARY STAGE 

To begin the process, EOIR will post a general vacancy announcement seeking applications for IJ, AIJ, or ALJ positions, noting the locations in which positions are available and directing applicants to identify up to three locations they would be willing to serve. 

STEP ONE: REVIEW OF INITIAL APPLICATION MATERIALS

Upon receipt of initial application materials, a panel of senior EOIR employees will evaluate each application and separate it into either a recommended or not recommended group. 

STEP TWO: FIRST-ROUND INTERVIEWS

EOIR will contact all recommended applicants to schedule an interview. The applicants will be required to provide a list of references, to include both current and former supervisors for the past 10 years. Those applicants who have previously interviewed for an adjudicator position with EOIR within the preceding 12 months will not be interviewed again but will be considered based on their prior interviews.

First-round interview panels will consist of two or three senior EOIR employees. Interview panel members will be different from those who reviewed the same applicants’ initial application materials. The panels will conduct the interviews and separate the applicants into recommended or not recommended groups. The panels’ assessments are not dispositive, and the Director will review the application materials and make a final determination on whether to offer a second-round interview to any applicant. 

STEP THREE: SECOND-ROUND INTERVIEWS

The Director, in consultation with the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, will assign three-member panels to interview all applicants referred by the Director for a second-round interview. The panels will consist of senior-level attorneys drawn from EOIR or other components within the Department of Justice, but will not include individuals who participated in evaluating applicants at Step One or conducting interviews at Step Two. The panels will conduct the interviews and separate the applicants into recommended and not recommended groups. The panels’ classifications are not dispositive, and the final decision regarding the appointment of any applicant remains with the Attorney General. 

STEP FOUR: SELECTED APPLICANTS

Selected applicants will be given an initial conditional offer. The initial offer is conditional upon the applicant’s successful completion of a preliminary or full background check, as well as final selection and appointment by the Attorney General. Applicants will only be considered for the specific locations they identified in Step Two and will only be given a conditional initial offer for one location which is non-negotiable. However, an applicant who has declined a conditional initial offer for one location may be considered for a second location as part of consideration under the same vacancy announcement if another applicant has already declined a conditional initial offer for that second location.

STEP FIVE: APPOINTMENT

The applicant will go through a preliminary background check and then a full background investigation. The Attorney General retains complete discretion over the selection and appointment of any applicant. For most applicants, while the full background check is pending, the Attorney General may choose to give a temporary, 24-month appointment to the applicant, regardless of whether the applicant is a current federal employee or from outside the federal government. If the Attorney General appoints the applicant to a temporary 24-month term and if the applicant successfully completes a full background investigation prior to the expiration of that term, the applicant will be considered for possible conversion to a permanent appointment at the conclusion of that term. The Attorney General retains complete discretion over all conversions and permanent appointments.