Getting Off the SDN List: A Practical Guide to OFAC’s Administrative Reconsideration Process 

Landing on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) is one of the most consequential things that can happen to a company or individual doing business in or with the United States. Assets are frozen, U.S. persons are barred from dealing with you, and banking relationships evaporate almost overnight.  

The good news is that SDN designations are not necessarily permanent. OFAC maintains a formal process – administrative reconsideration – for petitioning to have a person, entity, or piece of property removed from an OFAC-administered sanctions list. This article walks through how that process works, what to expect at each stage, and where clients most often stumble. 

Step One: Confirm You’re Using the Right Process 

Before filing anything, it’s worth pausing to confirm which removal process actually applies to your situation, because OFAC’s administrative reconsideration process is not a one-size-fits-all remedy. 

• You are the designated party. If you, your organization, or your property appear on an OFAC-administered list because OFAC itself made the designation, the administrative reconsideration process under 31 C.F.R. § 501.807 is the correct path, and it runs through OFAC’s Reconsideration Portal. 
• The designation was made by the State Department. Some names appear on OFAC-administered lists because the Department of State designated them (for example, under certain terrorism-related authorities). Removal in those cases goes through the State Department’s own delisting review process, not OFAC’s portal. 
• You’ve simply been caught up in a false-positive match. If you haven’t actually been designated but share a name (or a similar name) with someone who has – a common issue for individuals and companies with common names – that is not a delisting petition at all. That situation is resolved by contacting OFAC’s Compliance Hotline directly, not by filing a reconsideration petition. 

Filing the wrong type of request wastes time you don’t have, so this threshold determination matters. 

Step Two: Submit a Petition Through OFAC’s Reconsideration Portal 

Assuming administrative reconsideration is the right avenue, the petition – often called a “delisting petition” – is submitted through OFAC’s Reconsideration Portal. The portal is designed to collect the specific information OFAC needs to reevaluate the basis for the original designation, so a thin or generic submission tends to slow things down rather than speed them up. 

Once a petition is submitted: 

1. Initial review. OFAC checks the submission for completeness. If required information is missing, OFAC will reach back out to request it. 
2. Case ID assignment. Once the submission appears complete, OFAC assigns a Petition ID (also referred to as a Case ID) by email. As a general matter, OFAC aims to complete this initial review within seven to ten business days of submission — though that timeframe covers only the completeness check, not the substantive reinvestigation that follows. 

Step Three: The Reinvestigation — and Why Timing Varies Widely 

OFAC’s reinvestigation of a delisting petition is fact-specific, and processing time can be lengthy and unpredictable. Several factors drive how long a given petition takes, including: 

• How thorough and well-supported the initial submission was; 
• Whether OFAC needs additional information or clarification; 
• The petitioner’s candor and responsiveness; and 
• The extent of consultation OFAC needs to conduct with other federal agencies before reaching a determination. 

If OFAC needs more information, it will send one or more written questionnaires. How quickly and thoroughly a petitioner responds to these questionnaires has a direct effect on how quickly the case moves — vague or delayed answers routinely add months to a petition’s timeline. Petitioners (or their counsel) can request a status update by including “Status Update” in the subject line of an email referencing the Petition ID, though OFAC has been clear that, given its volume of correspondence, it cannot respond to every such request. 

Step Four: The Determination 

Once OFAC has what it needs, it will notify the petitioner or their authorized representative of its determination by email. There are two outcomes: 

• Granted. The person or property is removed from the relevant sanctions list, and OFAC publishes a notification of the delisting in the Federal Register. 
• Denied. The petitioner may reapply, but a second bite at the apple requires new arguments or new evidence – simply resubmitting the same case is unlikely to produce a different result. 

Reapplying After a Denial 

A denial is not necessarily the end of the road, but OFAC has been specific about what it takes to get a different outcome the second time around. Reapplication follows the same administrative reconsideration process as the original petition (see OFAC FAQ 897), submitted through the same Reconsideration Portal. The critical caveat is that a renewed petition must bring something new to the table — new arguments or new evidence that OFAC has not already considered. If a petitioner reapplies without presenting anything new, OFAC may simply deny the renewed petition by reference to its prior determination, without a fresh substantive review. Further detail on what a submission needs to include is available on OFAC’s How to Request Removal from an OFAC Sanctions List page. 

A Word of Caution: Candor Is Not Optional 

OFAC has been explicit that it may deny petitions containing inconsistent, misleading, or false information. More significantly, knowingly and willfully making materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements to OFAC — or concealing a material fact in a submission — can carry criminal penalties, separate and apart from a denied petition.  

How Diaz Trade Law Can Help 

Administrative reconsideration petitions sit at the intersection of complex regulatory history, factual reconstruction, and agency relationship management — and the stakes of getting it wrong (or getting it right slowly) are high. Diaz Trade Law’s sanctions team regularly counsels companies and individuals through OFAC compliance issues, including designation risk and the delisting petition process. If you or your organization have questions about a current or potential SDN designation, we’re glad to discuss your options. [email protected] | 305-456-3830 

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This post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance specific to your situation, please contact Diaz Trade Law directly.