Hearing or written record? What the DOHA record shows
Is a DOHA hearing or a decision on the written record better?
Basis: 26,055 decided hearing-level ISCR cases with a known path, 1996 to October 2026. Descriptive history of decided cases, not a prediction.
The figures
Decided after a hearing
43% granted
7,525 granted, 10,042 denied, 17,567 decided
Decided on the written record
17% granted
1,462 granted, 7,026 denied, 8,488 decided
SOR to decision, hearing path
268 days
median of 15,870 cases stating both dates
SOR to decision, written record
252 days
median of 7,814 cases stating both dates
Hearing-level, standard industrial (ISCR) decisions whose text states the path taken. The year-by-year and guideline-by-guideline views are on the timelines page and the statistics page.
What each path involves
The hearing. The applicant appears before an Administrative Judge, in person or by video, testifies under oath, presents documents and witnesses, and is questioned by Department Counsel. A transcript is made and the judge issues a written decision afterwards. The notice of hearing and what follows it are described at the hearing notice.
The written record. Department Counsel assembles the File of Relevant Material (FORM), the government’s evidence, and sends it to the applicant, who has 30 days to respond with documents and a written statement. No one testifies; the judge decides on the papers. The FORM is described at the FORM.
Why the gap is not a recipe
The written-record group is not the hearing group with the hearing removed. It includes applicants who did not respond to the FORM at all, applicants without counsel, and applicants who could not or did not want to appear. The hearing group includes most represented applicants (see the lawyer question). The record shows how each group’s cases ended; it does not show what the same case would have done on the other path.
What a hearing adds that the papers cannot is the applicant’s own testimony, which the judge weighs for credibility, and the chance to answer the government’s evidence in the room. Whether that matters in a given case is a judgment the record cannot make.
How the choice is made
The applicant elects a hearing or a decision on the written record in the written answer to the Statement of Reasons, due within 20 days of receipt. If no answer is filed, the rules allow the case to be decided without a hearing. The stages and deadlines are set out at how a DOHA case works, and the calendar dates for a given letter at the deadline calculator.
How the process worksA contested case follows a published sequence. Open this for the short version, or put a question to Ask Mode on the home page. Accounts are free and include up to 25 questions per day.
A contested case follows a published path: a Statement of Reasons, the government's written list of its concerns (an SOR), a written answer, a hearing or a decision on the written record, the judge's decision, and in some cases an appeal.
Read the stages of a DOHA case · Ask a question about the process
Where to go from here
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Send us your question, or the Statement of Reasons you received. No charge, and a CASE analyst reads it. Usually five to ten business days.
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Rank every decision by how closely it matches a matter, see how the assigned judge has ruled, and keep it together with cited exports.
For attorneys and firms →Descriptive statistics from decided public DOHA cases. An association in the record is not a cause, not advice, and not a prediction for any pending case.