Judge Golovnin, Lena

28.3%

Approval Rate

679

Granted

1,752

Denied

2,431

Total Decided

Judge Golovnin, Lena serves at the New York City, NY Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 28.3%, 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 Golovnin (New York City, NY) data snapshot: China vs Venezuela grant rates differ 31×, overall rate fell from 46% to 6% in 3 years

A few numbers worth knowing if you have a hearing in front of Judge Golovnin, Lena (IJ code LGN, New York City, NY):

Overall track record

33 years on the bench (since 1994), 4,056 cases total, lifetime grant rate 27.4%

Last 3 years (2023–2026): 2,368 cases, grant rate 20.7% — roughly in line with the New York City court average (21.7%)

Nationality breakdown (2023–2026 cumulative)

Nationality / Cases / Grant rate
Ecuador                575    5.1%
Colombia               188    2.4%
China                  186   64.8%
Venezuela              158    2.1%
Guatemala              121   14.7%
India                  119   40.2%
Honduras               100   27.8%
Mexico                  93   43.0%
El Salvador             79   30.2%
Bangladesh              73   36.1%
Peru                    63    4.0%

China applicants see a 64.8% grant rate versus 2.1% for Venezuela applicants — a 31.3× gap on this judge's docket.

Year-by-year

2023:  439 cases, 46.3% grant rate
2024:  413 cases, 36.7% grant rate
2025:  922 cases, 11.3% grant rate
2026:  594 cases, 6.3% grant rate

If you've appeared before Judge Golovnin, 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

Golovnin, Lena is listed with the New York City, NY Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 28.3% based on granted and denied asylum decisions represented in the current dataset.

Among the largest nationality groups shown for this judge, the table highlights Ecuador (501 decided, 7.0% grant rate), China (258 decided, 69.8% grant rate), and Guatemala (193 decided, 17.1% 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
Ecuador	7.0%	35	466	501
China	69.8%	180	78	258
Guatemala	17.1%	33	160	193
Colombia	4.2%	7	160	167
Honduras	23.4%	36	118	154
Venezuela	9.7%	14	131	145
India	46.2%	66	77	143
El Salvador	40.7%	50	73	123
Mexico	44.4%	44	55	99
Bangladesh	59.5%	50	34	84
Russia	42.4%	25	34	59
Dominican Republic	7.0%	4	53	57
Uzbekistan	21.4%	12	44	56
Peru	9.4%	5	48	53
Georgia	26.7%	8	22	30
Haiti	7.1%	2	26	28
Jamaica	37.0%	10	17	27
Nepal	72.0%	18	7	25
Chad	0.0%	0	17	17
Albania	73.3%	11	4	15
Dominica	0.0%	0	15	15
Romania	0.0%	0	14	14
Nigeria	92.9%	13	1	14
Mauritania	0.0%	0	14	14
Nicaragua	0.0%	0	13	13
Paraguay	0.0%	0	13	13
Turkey	16.7%	2	10	12
Sri Lanka	22.2%	2	7	9
Pakistan	44.4%	4	5	9
Brazil	37.5%	3	5	8
United Kingdom	0.0%	0	8	8
Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan)	100.0%	6	0	6
Ukraine	100.0%	6	0	6
Egypt	83.3%	5	1	6
Afghanistan	0.0%	0	5	5
Indonesia	100.0%	4	0	4
Burkina Faso	100.0%	4	0	4
Azerbaijan	100.0%	4	0	4
Algeria	100.0%	4	0	4
Soviet Union	50.0%	2	2	4
Kosovo	100.0%	4	0	4
Israel	33.3%	1	2	3
Belarus	100.0%	3	0	3
Germany	0.0%	0	3	3
Guinea	33.3%	1	2	3
Senegal	0.0%	0	3	3
Chile	0.0%	0	3	3
Guyana	33.3%	1	2	3

Yearly Trends

Year	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
2026	5.5%	18	307	325
2025	11.3%	97	759	856
2024	36.7%	106	183	289
2023	46.3%	186	216	402
2022	59.9%	196	131	327
2021	71.4%	35	14	49
2020	34.5%	116	220	336

Community Discussion

Judge Golovnin (New York City, NY) data snapshot: China vs Venezuela grant rates differ 31×, overall rate fell from 46% to 6% in 3 years

How to Interpret These Judge Statistics

Approval Rate by Nationality

Yearly Trends

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