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Statistics

Outcome patterns across decided public DOHA cases. The filters below narrow the view by concern, time period, representation, and judge. Descriptive statistics, not predictions. Data through September 2026.

Years
to
Concern
Representation

Reference dates for comparisons: the current adjudicative guidelines took effect in June 2017, and updated marijuana guidance was issued in December 2021.

Key findings

Cases in view

12

decided public DOHA cases

Hearing decisions

12

decided after a hearing or on the written record

Appeal decisions

0

Appeal Board decisions, counted separately

Granted overall

42%

5 granted of 12 decided

Granted with counsel

67%

2 granted of 3 decided

Granted self-represented

33%

3 granted of 9 decided

Range across judges

4 to 67%

grant rate across the 22 busiest judges, 2004 to 2004

Most common concern

Guideline E

Personal Conduct · 25% granted of 8 decided

Decisions span 2004 to 2004

View these cases

Using this page: the filters above narrow every section, selecting a chart row opens the cases underneath it, and each section downloads as a CSV file.

Grant rates over time

How often clearances were granted, by year.

42% granted overall (5 of 12).

DecisionsGrant rate0510150%25%50%75%100%20042004: 12 decisions · select to filter to 2004

Swipe the chart for earlier years. Select any year to filter the page to it.

How to read this chart

Grey bars count the decisions published in each year, read against the left axis. The blue line is the grant rate for that year, read against the right axis, and it is drawn only for years with 20 or more decided cases. The shaded band over 1999 and 2000 marks two years when very few decisions were published: DOHA published few decisions online before 2002, and almost none survive for those two years. The dashed lines mark the June 2017 adjudicative guidelines and the December 2021 marijuana guidance taking effect. They do not claim that either change caused what the chart shows.

Outcomes by concern

How each type of concern was resolved.

Granted against denied for each concern, counted per concern: a case raising more than one concern appears under each of them, so these rows add up to more than the number of cases in this view. Case-level totals are in the section above. Open a row for the specific issues inside it.
  • E · Personal Conduct

    25% granted  · 2 granted · 6 denied

    Too few cases to break this concern into specific issues.

  • F · Financial Considerations

    50% granted  · 2 granted · 2 denied

    Too few cases to break this concern into specific issues.

  • B · Foreign Influence

    50% granted  · 2 granted · 2 denied

    Too few cases to break this concern into specific issues.

  • J · Criminal Conduct

    0% granted  · 0 granted · 4 denied

    Too few cases to break this concern into specific issues.

  • C · Foreign Preference

    33% granted  · 1 granted · 2 denied

    Too few cases to break this concern into specific issues.

  • G · Alcohol Consumption

    50% granted  · 1 granted · 1 denied

    Too few cases to break this concern into specific issues.

  • H · Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse

    0% granted  · 0 granted · 1 denied

    Too few cases to break this concern into specific issues.

† marks fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable. A case can raise several concerns, so the rows overlap.

Mitigations judges credited most

How often each mitigation was expressly accepted by the judge, not merely claimed, across the cases in this view. This is a count of how often something was credited, so the bars are neutral: they carry no outcome.

No credited mitigations in this view.

Outcomes by representation

Whether represented and self-represented applicants were granted at different rates.

Represented by a lawyer

67% granted  · 2 granted · 1 denied

Self-represented

33% granted  · 3 granted · 6 denied

Difference

2.0 times

the grant rate with a lawyer

An association, not proof of cause: the groups being compared differ in many ways. Select a row to filter the page.

Outcomes by judge

How the cases each judge decided were resolved.

Window: 2004 to 2004. Adjust the time range above to change it.

† marks judges with fewer than 20 decided cases in this window. Judges hear different mixes of cases, so these rates describe the decided record, not the judges.

Appeal outcomes

How appealed decisions were treated by the Appeal Board.

The Appeal Board reviews the specific errors a party claims. It can affirm a decision, leaving it in place; reverse it, replacing the outcome; or remand it, sending it back to the judge. It does not rehear the case. Based on 36 appeal decisions with a verified outcome. Year and concern filters apply here; judge and representation filters do not.

  • affirmed · 32 of 36 (89%)
  • reversed · 2 of 36 (6%)
  • remanded · 2 of 36 (6%)

Most appeals do not change the outcome: the Board overturned about 6% of the decisions brought to it.

Appeals by party, with outcomes

Applicants appeal denials; the Government appeals grants it disagrees with. Whether an outcome helped the applicant therefore depends on who appealed.

  • The applicant

    Appeals
    35
    Affirmed
    31 (89%)
    Reversed
    2 (6%)
    Remanded
    2 (6%)
  • The Government (Department Counsel)

    Appeals
    1
    Affirmed
    1 (100%)
    Reversed
    0 (0%)
    Remanded
    0 (0%)

Grounds for reversal or remand

The grounds the Board gave. A case can have more than one.

No rational connection from the facts to the conclusion3
Ignored material evidence1
Missing findings1

Errors alleged on appeal

The errors the parties raised, across every appeal in this selection.

Arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law32
The judge mis-weighed or ignored evidence18
No specific harmful error alleged16
Erroneous finding of fact7
Mitigation wrongly applied3
Judge bias or partiality1
Whole-person analysis1

Error found, but harmless

13%

of affirmances · 4 of 32

The Board agreed the judge erred but left the outcome in place, because the error did not change the result.

Most-cited authorities

  • ISCR Case No. 00-0050 (July 2327
  • ISCR Case No. 97-0435 (July 1421
  • ISCR Case No. 00-0423 (June 819
  • ISCR Case No. 00-0250 (July 1113
  • ISCR Case No. 99-0454 (October 1712
  • ISCR Case No. 99-9020 (June 45
  • ISCR Case No. 02-08032 (May 143
  • Department of Navy v. Egan3
Appeal Board judges by number of appeals

Appeals are decided by three-member panels, so an outcome belongs to the panel and not to any single judge. There is no per-judge rate for that reason.

Emilio Jaksetic · 29 appeals

A structured reading of the decided public Appeal Board record. The outcome the Board stated matched our independent read in 100% of cases.

Browse appeal decisions

Questions about these statistics

The statistics assistant is part of Professional.

The statistics on this page are free, with or without a subscription.

It answers questions about the figures on this page, inside the filters you have set, with the denominator behind every number.

Professional plan details

Publications and measured series

Ongoing analyses computed from the decided record, each on its own page, with its method and the counts behind every rate.

Granted ÷ decided; † marks groups under 20 cases. Full methodology

Reading the statistics

  • Granted = access granted or continued; Denied = denied or revoked.
  • Grant rate = granted ÷ (granted + denied).
  • † marks figures based on fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable.
  • Hovering any rate shows its statistical range (a 95% confidence interval).
  • Figures are descriptive counts over decided, public DOHA ISCR decisions, never predictions or assessments of any pending case.

Decided public cases: descriptive, never a prediction.