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

[netrin]

Hi gmlvsk,

Thanks. Can we communicate with each other and talk about that? You know, I got only one week to prepare for the whole stuff and haven't started it yet. I was planning to hire an attorney and later decided to do it on my own. I sent you a private message as well.

Thanks so much!

My ausa also gave Safadi case.
If you look closer all security checks there complete and based on results USCIS continues processing. For you probably security checks still pending.

 

[kefira]

Hi Team,
Attached is a case in Michigan in which Judge strike down motion for cost of attorney.

And here an example that Judge awarded attorney fees 1 week ago, although case was dismissed. BTW, please read pdf file. Very interesting Judge arguments.

> (a) $19,000 Awarded In Attorneys Fees In Mandamus Victory
>
> In Aboushaban v. Mueller, No. C 06-1280 BZ (USDC. Feb. 23, 2007),
> the court awarded $19,086.92 in EAJA fees and costs for a writ of
> mandamus directing the USCIS and FBI to adjudicate Plaintiff's
> pending I-486 application (courtesy of Kip Steinberg, Esq.)
> Editor's note: For the previous Immigration Daily Featured
> Article on this story, see here.
>
> http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,1114-steinberg.shtm
> http://www.ilw.com/immigdaily/cases/2007,0301-Aboushaban.pdf

 

[wenlock]

Interesting Case

Some one posted this case earlier and I am attaching original order but interesting thing is Goveronment disputed Magistrate Judge opinion and District Judge upheld the opinion now Goveronment is going to appeals court. They subsitute the assigned US attorney with other attorney after order.

Lets see how this one goes. I am sure if it gets to appeals court it will leave good lasting effects on other mandamus cases.

 

[Mingjing]

Join namechecktracker@yahoogroups.com and call senators/congressman

I joined namechecktracker@yahoogroups.com 2 months ago. They have a mixture of citizen cases and marriage and employment based I485 cases stuck in FBI name check. They are hiring some lobby firm to lobby for mainly citizen/marriage name check issues, but employment based I485 cases can also benefit as this group tries to push for a better name check process.

Go join the group and check out what they do. They said it is critical in coming few months who new bills shape up. One thing they ask to do is to call your senators/congressman about your name check issue. The suggested script of the call can be found at

http://americanfami liesunited. org/callin

I think we should all read, and decide if you want to join the calling in.

I really hope I am posting my question in the right topic...

I have spent quite some time reading and looking through this site, and although the information is awesome, it must admit I started feeling quite overwhelmed. So I decided to post…

In a nutshell, this is my situation… I sponsored by wife from Viet Nam and she arrived in May of 2003. We then had our interview and waited for the dreaded FBI Name Check, in order to gain her legal residency.

After several trips and lost time at the USBCIS in San Jose, CA I decided to write government officials about the name check situation in 2006. The representatives for my state return letters stating my wife’s FBI name check cleared on Sept, 2004! After returning to USBCIS, I was told, somehow, there was a duplicate document created and the duplicate is what’s held up waiting for and FBI name check to clear.

Now I am wondering… How did this duplicate get into the mix? I know we (my wife & I) didn’t create a duplicate. We’ve been patiently waiting… as asked. Since clearance was granted in 2004, is there anything we can do to get our case cleared? USBCIS tells us “keep waiting.”

Now I am becoming interested in joining with others. Maybe creating a movement to draw greater attention to the situation so many of us are facing. Is the FBI really untouchable? Is there a case going on that I can join?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Mingjing]

"AOS is a discretionary act, i.e., applicant has no right to the status"?

Well, I have a different take, which I think is important to clarify with gurus who know. The basis of WOM for AOS applicant is NOT about whether AOS applicant has the right to green card ("the status" in your word below). AOS WOM suit only compells the government to take an action, and that action could lead to either approval or denial. In another word, AOS WOM suit's basis is AOS applicant has the right to a timely decision, not an approval. Am I making sense?

...Here is the main point, which may be hard to argue in AOS cases:
as I understand, AOS is a discretionary act, i.e., applicant has no right to the status, and it is a benefit, not a right, but naturalization appl-nt has a right to apply and a right to receive it (if he complied with all rules)...

 

[Mingjing]

I read the article about this a week or two ago. Paz already responded to your question and I agree 100% with his assessment: All USCIS plans to do is have a consolidated place to capture status of all kinds of checks for your case. It does not say anything about USCIS takes over anything from likes of FBI. The FBI name check will still be done by FBI, the way I read that article. And so FBI name check delay will not benefit from this at all, even USCIS succeed doing what it intends to do.

it's from a reliable source but if you call USCIS and ask, the customer service is probably clueless.

I view this as neither positive nor negative. It's like opening another check-out counter, who gets to be there first? the stalled cases or the newly arrived applications? Who knows.

 

[wenlock]

Well, I have a different take, which I think is important to clarify with gurus who know. The basis of WOM for AOS applicant is NOT about whether AOS applicant has the right to green card ("the status" in your word below). AOS WOM suit only compells the government to take an action, and that action could lead to either approval or denial. In another word, AOS WOM suit's basis is AOS applicant has the right to a timely decision, not an approval. Am I making sense?

...Here is the main point, which may be hard to argue in AOS cases:
as I understand, AOS is a discretionary act, i.e., applicant has no right to the status, and it is a benefit, not a right, but naturalization appl-nt has a right to apply and a right to receive it (if he complied with all rules)...

I concure you ask for adjudication of application not approval or disapproval. Adjudication is the act that leads to adjustment or no adjustment of status. It is defendents duty to adjudicate with in reasonable time. What is reasonable time that is where you have to convince Judge that delay you are experiencing is unresonable.

 

[paz1960]

immigration reform bill

I found an interesting article posted last Friday on the Time Magazine's web site about the chances of the Immigration Reform bill. Here is the link:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595246,00.html

 

[akram88]

Thanks Akram.

Can you please confirm the address below for USCIS Director:

Emilio T. Gonzalez, Director, USCIS
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
20 Massachusetts Ave, NW,
Washington, DC 20528

Is this the address on your summons to USCIS Director?

Thanks.

This is what I used:

Emilio T. Gonzalez, Director of USCIS
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Washington, DC 90258

somehow I never noticed that his street address is missing until I was at the post office sending summons to defendants. I looked at the section where all addresses of defendants are listed in my complaint and didn't find it either so I ended up using the above address.
apparently the usps delivered it or at least that's what is says on their website.

 

[Olin]

Should I agree to dismiss the case?

Paz and other warriors,

Let me report the status of my I-485 WOM case and I also need your advice. About a month ago, if you guys remember, the judge ordered that the motion to dismiss submitted by AUSA was denied and the judge gave the AUSA 30 days to explain why my name check has been pending for more than three years. Today, I got a phone call from the AUSA telling me that I-485 application has been approved (thanks God!) and the name check was cleared last week. She then asked me to meet with her tomorrow to file a joint motion to dismiss.

When I said that I need to wait till I receive the approval notice from the CIS and then sign the motion, she said it will take 3 to 4 weeks for me to receive the notice and the green card, but she has to respond to the judge early next week. However, she promised that she was not fooling me, and she would show me tomorrow a copy of the internal fax from CIS to her indicating that my case is done.

Here are my questions: 1. do you think that I should sign the motion to dismiss with her? 2. If not, how should I present my arguements? If yes, what will be some of the contingency terms that I should insist her to put on the motion before I sign, so that I can protect myself if the notice of approval does not come? 3. Does a green card usually come with the notice of approval or not?

Thank you again for the help.

Olin
_________________
WOM filed on Oct. 23, 2006
Motion to Dismiss filed by AUSA Dec. 23, 2006
Motion to Dimiss denied by the Judge Feb. 15, 2007

 

[yiyi05]

hi, dear paz, please read this order,

the parties are granted leave to move to reinstate the case on the court's active docket within 10 days from the date of the resolution of the currently pending immigration proceeding.

===================

does it mean the plantiff win the case? or lose the case? thanks a lot

 

[gmlvsk]

enjoy

http://dockets.justia.com/

 

[sfdurrani]

Green Cards!

So after initial e-mails from CIS about approval of my I-485 on 3/1/2007, I received green cards for me and my wife today (3/6/07) in mail. Surprisingly there was no e-mail about card ordered. It has been a great journey and a rather quicker than what I had initially anticipated. I received another "green card" also. This was the return receipt from FBI of my summons mailed to them and received on 11/30/06 (more than 4 months later). I am probably one of the few on this forum who has received this FBI return receipt.

But I think journey is not finished yet! USCIS got my wife's birthdate wrong on the green card. Looks like USCIS does not wnat to loose customers! We are planning to file form I-90 for correction of data on the card. But the problem is that TSC is processing I-90 applications with receipt date of July 2006. My wife plans to travel mid april overseas. I am thinking of going to local USCIS office and get a I-551 stamp on passport as I would need to send the original card back to USCIS with form I-90. Does anyone else has similar experience or different suggestion. I appreciate that.

 

[nifty97]

thank you

Thank you i want to let you know i am going to read and join the pacer
Thanks again

 

[Waitneb]

Olin,

NO; don't do it. Here is my story which tells you why.

I filed WOM through a lawyer and my I485 got approved back in October of
2005 (after a 4-year wait) upon a hastily scheduled interview. The officer,
who was nice, told me that we would get the cards rather fast and also gave
us stamps upon my insistence. However, over 16 months later, we still have
not received the cards or welcome notice! My moron lawyer agreed to
dismiss the case the day following the approval and when I asked him to
help regarding the cards, he asked for another $1000!!

I have been trying to get CIS to produce and send our cards since then
but to no avail. Indeed, some offices of CIS still show my case as "pending"
while others acknowledge approval. (I have been out of the country and
back, so the approval is real). Now, I am looking at yet another lawsuit to
just get them to issue us the cards after all else has failed so far to get
them to act!

You can tell the AUSA that you trust her words, but not those of CIS
because you have heard of cases like mine. Tell her you are willing to
consent to her applying for a time extension to the judge, or alternatively,
to jointly ask the judge to hold the case in abeyance for 30 days while
CIS issues and sends you the card. This should be good enough for her.
Nowadays CIS usually sends the cards within a few days of the approval
But one should always be wary of those sloppy officers who do not do
their job correctly and get people in bureaucratic mess like in my case.

By the way, congratulations on your approval.

 

[paz1960]

Paz and other warriors,

Let me report the status of my I-485 WOM case and I also need your advice. About a month ago, if you guys remember, the judge ordered that the motion to dismiss submitted by AUSA was denied and the judge gave the AUSA 30 days to explain why my name check has been pending for more than three years. Today, I got a phone call from the AUSA telling me that I-485 application has been approved (thanks God!) and the name check was cleared last week. She then asked me to meet with her tomorrow to file a joint motion to dismiss.

When I said that I need to wait till I receive the approval notice from the CIS and then sign the motion, she said it will take 3 to 4 weeks for me to receive the notice and the green card, but she has to respond to the judge early next week. However, she promised that she was not fooling me, and she would show me tomorrow a copy of the internal fax from CIS to her indicating that my case is done.

Here are my questions: 1. do you think that I should sign the motion to dismiss with her? 2. If not, how should I present my arguements? If yes, what will be some of the contingency terms that I should insist her to put on the motion before I sign, so that I can protect myself if the notice of approval does not come? 3. Does a green card usually come with the notice of approval or not?

Thank you again for the help.

Olin
_________________
WOM filed on Oct. 23, 2006
Motion to Dismiss filed by AUSA Dec. 23, 2006
Motion to Dimiss denied by the Judge Feb. 15, 2007

I have to respectfully disagree with Waitneb. I believe 100% his/her story and it would be nice to not dismiss a WOM lawsuit till you get your plastic cards, but in my opinion, this is not possible. The WOM lawsuit couldn't ask the court to compel USCIS to approve your AOS petition and issue you a green card. All what you could ask is to ADJUDICATE your petition. And seems that they just did it. So you got the relief you were looking for; now you can't push it further.

However, you should: 1. get a copy of the internal fax from USCIS, showing that your case is approved. 2. Include in the joint stipulation to dismiss a clause that "this case can be reinstated in the Court if Plaintiff didn't receive the official notification about the adjudication of his/her I-485 petition in 30 days after the date of the order". 3. alternatively, you can try to negotiate with AUSA, as Waitneb suggested, to extend 30 days in common agreement.

And, congratulation for your success!

 

[paz1960]

So after initial e-mails from CIS about approval of my I-485 on 3/1/2007, I received green cards for me and my wife today (3/6/07) in mail. Surprisingly there was no e-mail about card ordered. It has been a great journey and a rather quicker than what I had initially anticipated. I received another "green card" also. This was the return receipt from FBI of my summons mailed to them and received on 11/30/06 (more than 4 months later). I am probably one of the few on this forum who has received this FBI return receipt.

But I think journey is not finished yet! USCIS got my wife's birthdate wrong on the green card. Looks like USCIS does not wnat to loose customers! We are planning to file form I-90 for correction of data on the card. But the problem is that TSC is processing I-90 applications with receipt date of July 2006. My wife plans to travel mid april overseas. I am thinking of going to local USCIS office and get a I-551 stamp on passport as I would need to send the original card back to USCIS with form I-90. Does anyone else has similar experience or different suggestion. I appreciate that.

You received the plastic cards quite fast! Good news!

You should frame the other "green card" from FBI (the return receipt) as some really valuable, unique artifact . I still didn't receive mine.

 

[paz1960]

the parties are granted leave to move to reinstate the case on the court's active docket within 10 days from the date of the resolution of the currently pending immigration proceeding.

===================

does it mean the plantiff win the case? or lose the case? thanks a lot

Unfortunately, without knowing more details, I can't tell.

 

[Waitneb]

I have to respectfully disagree with Waitneb. I believe 100% his/her story and it would be nice to not dismiss a WOM lawsuit till you get your plastic cards, but in my opinion, this is not possible. The WOM lawsuit couldn't ask the court to compel USCIS to approve your AOS petition and issue you a green card. All what you could ask is to ADJUDICATE your petition. And seems that they just did it. So you got the relief you were looking for; now you can't push it further.

However, you should: 1. get a copy of the internal fax from USCIS, showing that your case is approved. 2. Include in the joint stipulation to dismiss a clause that "this case can be reinstated in the Court if Plaintiff didn't receive the official notification about the adjudication of his/her I-485 petition in 30 days after the date of the order". 3. alternatively, you can try to negotiate with AUSA, as Waitneb suggested, to extend 30 days in common agreement.

And, congratulation for your success!

Paz is right that you can not ask the judge to order them to issue approval.
However, my point is that you do not have to consent to a joint stipulation
for dismissal. This is a leverage that puts pressure on CIS to send your card
fast (which they usually do anyway). The judge can, of course, order your
case dismissed at anytime upon AUSA's motion. But even then you can
always oppose the motion saying that you have not received "proof of
permanent residence" which means the plastic card.

Of course, this is all assuming that you only asked in you original complaint
for an order compelling adjudication. If you asked for anything else, say,
a declaratory relief that their delay was unlawful, or any other relief, then
your case is not quite moot yet and the judge would not automatically
dismiss. Also, you might be a prevailing party at this point because you had
the judge enter an order in your favor dismissing the MTD. You can recover
your costs (but no attorney fees if you filed Pro Se). The so-called
"Catalyst Theory" does not apply in your case.

Of course, this is all theoretical and you are likely to get the cards with no
problem soon and probably have the case dismissed in a joint stipulation.
Just make sure you take enough precautions to protect yourself in case of
any future problems.

Good luck,

 

[DUDE12190]

Hi Paz and other regulars of this board,

As I await an answer or motion to dismiss about my 1447b lawsuit, I am running possible scenarios in my mind. Since my interview was scheduled, de-scheduled, then re-scheduled all by USCIS, do you think the defendants will say that the re-scheduling is a mistake, therefore my re-scheduled interview should not have happened and I should wait for the "real" interview after the name check is completed?

It had already happened that you took you interview. I do not think that they can say that re-scheduling is a mistake. Even if it is a mistake, why did they make such a mistake. That is there problem. Don't worry about it. Just concentrate on how are u goona defend yourself. Good luck!! regards, dude