Anyone with a lawsuit against USCIS or thinking about a lawsuit (Merged)

[lazycis]

to marali

You cannot use 1447b. You can use general mandamus statute 28 USC 1361 and Administrative procedure act, 5 USC 555(b) and 5 USC 706. 5 usc 555(b) states that a federal agency should perform its duty within reasonable time. 5 usc 706(1) says: "The reviewing court shall compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed;". So you need to prove that the USCIS unreasonably delayed adjudication of your N400. Now, while the passage of time does not guarantee that the court will recognize the delay as unreasonable, the general rule is to wait 2 years before filing a mandamus suit. It does not mean you cannot do it now, but the chances to prevail are low.

 

[marali]

Thank you so much.

Does writing to a senator or first lady help?

 

[lazycis]

Write to First Lady or to the President himself. It seems to be working. Writing to a senator helps you to collect evidence for the lawsuit.

 

[wommei]

Thank you so much.

Does writing to a senator or first lady help?

It used to work writing to first lady (before Feb 2007). But now it doesn't work. I wrote to her this May and got a reply from FBI, saying that there is nothing they can do to speed up the NC process.

I wrote to two senators this May. One of the letter turns out to be nothing. And one of the senators inquired the status of my case from USCIS and confirmed that my name check is pending. Usually they won't inquire from FBI though. Probably not so helpful.

 

[greenpea]

a question

.

 

[marali]

Okay. Thanks.

I will send them a letter hoping that would help.

 

[marali]

I just read Wommei's feedback. So from what I gather, the best thing for me is to wait until my 2 years is up and then use general mandamus statute 28 USC 1361 and Administrative procedure act, 5 USC 555(b) and 5 USC 706.

Do you guys know if filing the mandamus is effective? What is the chance for success?

 

[wommei]

greenpea

does "fbi name check has been completed and results have been sent back to USCIS" mean "fbi name check has been cleared"? not necessarily, right?

and...i just found out that nowadays my name has become googlable since i filed the wom, thanks to justia.com.......frankly speaking for myself, i don't like it....i don't want my name to be googlable because of this suit. there are many bad effects, such as, potential employers do google candidates by their names, their email addresses, what ever...........

any solution for this to get my name off googlable list due to justia.com?

thanks..

I think that means that your name check with FBI is completed. You are one step closer to the GC. Where did you get this information? INfoPass?
Could you brief us with your timeframe of WOM, like when did you file WOM and etc? Good luck!!

 

[nooshinkdd]

You cannot use 1447b. You can use general mandamus statute 28 USC 1361 and Administrative procedure act, 5 USC 555(b) and 5 USC 706. 5 usc 555(b) states that a federal agency should perform its duty within reasonable time. 5 usc 706(1) says: "The reviewing court shall compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed;". So you need to prove that the USCIS unreasonably delayed adjudication of your N400. Now, while the passage of time does not guarantee that the court will recognize the delay as unreasonable, the general rule is to wait 2 years before filing a mandamus suit. It does not mean you cannot do it now, but the chances to prevail are low.

i applied for my citizenship in sep. 2005 and my FP. was after 2 month they scheduled interview for April 2006 but they descheduled it. I went several times to immigration office the only answer it was you should wait i send letter to senator it didnt work too. I sent a letter to immigration 20 days ago and I gave them 60 days if they dont answer I want to sue them. what is your idea about my case? what is my chance to ge my citizenship soon? i am in New York city.

 

[lazycis]

i applied for my citizenship in sep. 2005 and my FP. was after 2 month they scheduled interview for April 2006 but they descheduled it. I went several times to immigration office the only answer it was you should wait i send letter to senator it didnt work too. I sent a letter to immigration 20 days ago and I gave them 60 days if they dont answer I want to sue them. what is your idea about my case? what is my chance to ge my citizenship soon? i am in New York city.

You have a strong case. Another member, mt100 is in the same situation and he was kind enough to share his complaint with the rest of us.
Here it is:
http://www.immigrationportal.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=16979&d=1189379648
You can start preparing the complain, gathering exhibits, etc.
Check the first page of this forum regarding the process. Be strong and of good courage!

 

[lazycis]

I just read Wommei's feedback. So from what I gather, the best thing for me is to wait until my 2 years is up and then use general mandamus statute 28 USC 1361 and Administrative procedure act, 5 USC 555(b) and 5 USC 706.

Do you guys know if filing the mandamus is effective? What is the chance for success?

By waiting you do increase your chances, but even if you file it now, you have a chance to win. It seems that filing suit is very effective in naturalization cases. In fact, I do not recall any member who lost N-400 suit (1447b or mandamus).

 

[lazycis]

I would like to discuss about this since I am facing a hard decision right now. I have an offer from Washington State and have to make a decision soon. I filed WOM this week (EB2-NIW, NSC, 140 and 485 submitted September, 2005, and 140 was approved on October 2005). If I can get my green card within 3-4 months, I think I should turn down the offer, so that I can stay with my husband in Chicago. But if I cannot get GC, I should take this job because I will be out of job by December 2008. And I am the primary appliant of 485 and I cannot be out of job for long, as I understand. So if I bet that I can get GC within a few months, then I should stay. Otherwise I should move to WA. I know there is no safe bet in one's life and we have to take a risk at some point. But it's better to calculate the risk before taking it. Any insightful advice is welcome!!!

I think taking an offer (if you like the offer, of course) is a better idea. It's better to change job before you get a GC, rather than immediately after. Please keep in mind that our cases never go to the trial stage, they are resolved via paper (motions). 3-4 months is a possibility, but you never know. One member is waiting 6 months for a judge's ruling! So your lawsuit should not be a factor in your decision regarding the job offer. Hope this helps.

 

[wommei]

lazycis

I think taking an offer (if you like the offer, of course) is a better idea. It's better to change job before you get a GC, rather than immediately after. Please keep in mind that our cases never go to the trial stage, they are resolved via paper (motions). 3-4 months is a possibility, but you never know. One member is waiting 6 months for a judge's ruling! So your lawsuit should not be a factor in your decision regarding the job offer. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your advice, lazycis. I will think about it. In some old posts on this forum, I found someone saying" for 95% of WOM cases, FBI will expedite the name checks and USCIS will adjudicate 485 cases within a few months". But I don't know if that is true anymore because FBI announced early this year that they will not expedite the Name checks just because of lawsuits.

 

[Slow_CIS]

lazycis

Should I include my spouse name in the signature line as well as the first line of the notice of appeal where I say "notice is hereby given that [My name] and [Spouse Name]????..."
Obviously, her name is included in the top header where the plaintiffs, defendants and the district court case number is included.
In other words can I file the appeal, on behalf of the other plaintiff? If so, in an unlikely event that I have to before the court of appeal judge, I do not have to go with my family.

 

[lazycis]

Should I include my spouse name in the signature line as well as the first line of the notice of appeal where I say "notice is hereby given that [My name] and [Spouse Name]????..."
Obviously, her name is included in the top header where the plaintiffs, defendants and the district court case number is included.
In other words can I file the appeal, on behalf of the other plaintiff? If so, in an unlikely event that I have to before the court of appeal judge, I do not have to go with my family.

Any plaintiff can file an appeal so if you do not want to include your wife, that's OK. Tittle of the case in the district court does not matter, the court of appeals will assign a different title.

 

[greenpea]

mmmm

.

 

[OK-Boy]

By waiting you do increase your chances, but even if you file it now, you have a chance to win. It seems that filing suit is very effective in naturalization cases. In fact, I do not recall any member who lost N-400 suit (1447b or mandamus).

LazyCIS,

Could you please provide/refer to me to any good response to MTD example in N-400 (Mandamus) case without IV. Becasue once we file Mandamus then the first thing would to reply to MTD of AUSA so I should have that also ready. Thanks in advance.

 

[marali]

Thank you LazyCIS. I am writing a letter to my Senator. I will wait and after 3 months will write a letter to First Lady and by then my 2 year is up. Then I will use litigation. I appreciate your advice.

Marali

 

[wommei]

greenpea

actually it is more complicate than that...AUSA filed an opposition and mentoined that in the opposition..check out my previous post then. thanks...

Call 1-800-375-5283
Press 1－>2->2->6->1
Enter your receipt number
press 1 (now listen to the case update info....)
press 3
press 4
(If you hear a male voice prompting you to hold the call, that means the
call will be answered by an IO. But if it says no IO is available, it will
redirect you to NSC and you can hangup and try again)

This is a way to talk to Immigration officer at TSC or NSC. If they are in good mood, usually they will tell you if your name check is clear or not. If your name check is clear, then you know that the AUSA was telling you the truth.

If they say that your name check is still pending, there are 2 possibilities:
1) AUSA was not telling you the truth.
2) It takes some time to transfer the NC clear info from FBI to USCIS. It could be around 3 weeks, according to someone else.

Maybe you could extend the deadline for writting motions to the court and to see if you can get GC before that?

 

[wommei]

marali

Thank you LazyCIS. I am writing a letter to my Senator. I will wait and after 3 months will write a letter to First Lady and by then my 2 year is up. Then I will use litigation. I appreciate your advice.

Marali

I suggest you to write to first lady now. It takes 3-4 months to get reply from FBI after you write to first lady. By the time you want to sue, it is better to have some evidence ( like a letter from FBI saying that your name check is still pending, but there is nothing they can do/or want to do about it)