Lopez-Vega

MEMORANDUM ***

Angelica Maria Lopez-Vega, native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. The order in question dismissed her appeal from the decision of the Immigration Judge denying her application for adjustment of status and cancellation of removal. The BIA’s order states that Lopez-Vega’s first notice of appeal was timely submitted, but “was rejected due to filing defects.” By the time Lopez-Vega filed a corrected notice of appeal, the deadline had passed, and the BIA therefore dismissed the appeal as untimely-

The BIA’s order does not explain how Lopez-Vega’s first notice of appeal was defective, and nothing else in the administrative record is sufficiently illuminating. After Lopez-Vega’s first attempt to appeal, she received a notice from the BIA stating that her appeal was being rejected because “the certificate of service is incomplete. The full address of the Office of the District Counsel must be shown. Also, only one fee is required for this appeal which includes any riders.” The record does suggest that the first notice of appeal contained an incomplete address for District Counsel, but the government’s brief…