Judge Bakke Varzandeh, Joyce

28.1%

Approval Rate

327

Granted

1,825

Denied

2,152

Total Decided

Judge Bakke Varzandeh, Joyce serves at the West Los Angeles, CA Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 28.1%, this judge is below average compared to the national average. Data sourced from EOIR (Executive Office for Immigration Review).

Community Discussion

DATA AsylumTracker Data 2026-05-22

Judge Bakke Varzandeh (West Los Angeles, CA) data snapshot: Overall rate fell from 33% to 6% in 3 years

A few numbers worth knowing if you have a hearing in front of Judge Bakke Varzandeh, Joyce (IJ code JBV, West Los Angeles, CA):

Overall track record

37 years on the bench (since 1990), 7,511 cases total, lifetime grant rate 28.3%

Last 3 years (2023–2026): 2,386 cases, grant rate 11.0% — roughly in line with the West Los Angeles court average (13.1%)

Nationality breakdown (2023–2026 cumulative)

Nationality / Cases / Grant rate
Mexico                 628   15.1%
Guatemala              361    3.0%
El Salvador            323    9.3%
Honduras               192    2.1%
Colombia               180    0.6%
Nicaragua              173    3.8%
China                  125   42.4%
Venezuela               70    9.1%
Russia                  48   48.7%
Peru                    44   10.5%
Ecuador                 30    0.0%

Year-by-year

2023:  337 cases, 33.5% grant rate
2024:  404 cases, 19.9% grant rate
2025: 1092 cases, 4.3% grant rate
2026:  553 cases, 6.3% grant rate

If you've appeared before Judge Bakke Varzandeh, I'd love to hear:

1. What's your nationality, and when was your most recent hearing?

2. How did your attorney prepare for this judge specifically?

Source: EOIR (U.S. Executive Office for Immigration Review) public statistics, May 2026 release, compiled by AsylumTracker. A judge's historical pattern does not predict the outcome of any individual case; this is shared to help set realistic expectations. Real-experience accounts from the community are welcome.

Have experience with this judge? Open AsylumTracker to reply or read more responses from the community.

How to Interpret These Judge Statistics

Bakke Varzandeh, Joyce is listed with the West Los Angeles, CA Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 28.1% based on granted and denied asylum decisions represented in the current dataset.

Among the largest nationality groups shown for this judge, the table highlights Mexico (567 decided, 23.3% grant rate), Guatemala (386 decided, 4.4% grant rate), and El Salvador (290 decided, 13.8% grant rate). Compare these rows with the judge's overall rate because nationality mix can materially change how the headline number should be read.

Grant rate is calculated as granted / (granted + denied). Other procedural outcomes, including terminated, withdrawn, administratively closed, or removed cases, are tracked separately where available and are not treated as asylum grants.

This page is based on public EOIR data last updated 2026-05-08. It is for research and information only, not legal advice.

Read the grant-rate methodology or learn how to read immigration judge statistics.

Approval Rate by Nationality

Nationality	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
Mexico	23.3%	132	435	567
Guatemala	4.4%	17	369	386
El Salvador	13.8%	40	250	290
Honduras	5.6%	10	167	177
Colombia	0.6%	1	174	175
Nicaragua	3.8%	6	152	158
China	47.9%	58	63	121
Venezuela	15.5%	11	60	71
Peru	15.0%	6	34	40
Russia	42.1%	16	22	38
Ecuador	0.0%	0	29	29
Belize	15.8%	3	16	19
India	46.7%	7	8	15
Philippines	66.7%	6	3	9
Brazil	0.0%	0	8	8
South Korea	25.0%	2	6	8
Romania	0.0%	0	7	7
Turkey	0.0%	0	6	6
Iran	0.0%	0	6	6
Egypt	100.0%	5	0	5
Nigeria	0.0%	0	5	5
Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan)	75.0%	3	1	4
Armenia	33.3%	1	2	3
Germany	100.0%	3	0	3
Cuba	0.0%	0	2	2

Yearly Trends

Year	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
2026	2.3%	9	379	388
2025	4.3%	38	846	884
2024	19.9%	59	237	296
2023	33.5%	78	155	233
2022	62.8%	54	32	86
2021	61.0%	50	32	82
2020	27.5%	81	214	295