Anyone with a lawsuit against USCIS or thinking about a lawsuit (Merged)
- Thread starter Publicus
- Start date
lotechguy
thanks for the link to AILA page. Here's some more interesting points
"The Fourth Circuit reversed, holding that, once a § 336(b) action is filed, USCIS loses jurisdiction over a naturalization application and the district court obtains exclusive jurisdiction. Because USCIS lacked jurisdiction in these two cases once the § 336(b) actions were filed, the Fourth Circuit held that USCIS did not have the authority to deny the naturalization applications."
Natz applications are safe. For once they filed lawsuit they can be sure that USCIS cannot deny their application, only the courts can. For Jurisdiction goes to the court.
Not so lucky for AoS. We still face the danger of being denied....
thanks for the link to AILA page. Here's some more interesting points
"The Fourth Circuit reversed, holding that, once a § 336(b) action is filed, USCIS loses jurisdiction over a naturalization application and the district court obtains exclusive jurisdiction. Because USCIS lacked jurisdiction in these two cases once the § 336(b) actions were filed, the Fourth Circuit held that USCIS did not have the authority to deny the naturalization applications."
Natz applications are safe. For once they filed lawsuit they can be sure that USCIS cannot deny their application, only the courts can. For Jurisdiction goes to the court.
Not so lucky for AoS. We still face the danger of being denied....
Lazycis,
Good to learn that you heard from WH. Now you just have to wait for the NNCP reply directly to you which should be anytime soon and will hopefully have good news. Thanks for your continued contributions to this thread. You are right up there with publicus, paz,wenlock,shvlii, snorlax and the other forum greats (sorry if i missed anyone, there are lot of heros here!). At my ceremony when they were talking about american heros, I could not but think of this thread leaders. Your GC is round the corner and its time for it to come.
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Yeah, I forgot to mention that I've got a reply from the President yesterday. Mr. Bush sends his best wishesand says that my inquiry was sent to the DOJ. Green card was not enclosed, though...
Excellent. Mr.Cannon this week replied to my letter to Mrs.LB. He said he received my request for name check in March 2004, 15 days after I filed my application with USCIS and that he is actively processing it. Rest assured, he will have it done before the next eon.....
Great find, AGC4ME. I'll definitely use it in my brief.
Isn't that strange that Mr. Cannon did not answer to my letter addressed directly to him while Mr. Bush did? BTW, when does the next eon start?
Isn't that strange that Mr. Cannon did not answer to my letter addressed directly to him while Mr. Bush did? BTW, when does the next eon start?
Keep this as a secret and don't let Mr.Cannon know, according to Hindu Mythology we are in the last eon... Ain't no more Eons to left :-0)
Shvili and lotechguy,
Congratulations to both of you for your hard fought sweet victory! Seems Nat-n cases are in so much better shape than AOS. I'm still waiting judge to rule on MTD and it's been more than 4 months since my OPP to MTD filed through my lawyer. I think my case (AOS) is one of the oldest here, and AUSA said he has requested NC expedition several months ago and my lawyer advises to still wait. I don't know what I can do to speed it up, very distressed.
Congratulations to both of you for your hard fought sweet victory! Seems Nat-n cases are in so much better shape than AOS. I'm still waiting judge to rule on MTD and it's been more than 4 months since my OPP to MTD filed through my lawyer. I think my case (AOS) is one of the oldest here, and AUSA said he has requested NC expedition several months ago and my lawyer advises to still wait. I don't know what I can do to speed it up, very distressed.
After a wait of almost 4 years, my husband was naturalized yesterday. Like I said before, only after it happened I can believe it is over. My intuitive superstition in this case was correct, as it turned out: Friday Aug. 10 my husband got a call from a local CIS officer who asked him to come on Monday morning to sign some "routine forms related to your name change request". The agent forwarded him a fax which said, that in order to"overcome some difficulties related to your previous examination we need to continue the examination" to Mon., Aug 13. The fax actually said that he would have another examination, not just signing up some forms. But the agent assured him it was only signing some forms because he requested name change in his examination 3.5 yrs. ago.
Turned out he DID GET ANOTHER EXAMINATION-only 30 min. long, but he was asked all the questions on his Oath form and grilled not only on his ticket since his last interview but ALL of his tickets that he had 10 yrs. ago (-he had 2). This is against their own rules (-it was supposedly covered in his prior interview) and it was not what the agent told him on the phone. My husband didn't want me to go with him and I wish I was there to address this. The IO said that his name change CANNOT be granted at this time because they "no longer do it". This is a lie as my friend was offered to change her name just 1 wk ago. The agent also said that he can't apply for US passport right after oath because of they "don't do it, either". Finally she told him to come to oath as scheduled. Again, I wish I was there-I'd raise some little hell for all this. And this was AFTER his oath was scheduled (in exactly one and a half week!) and AFTER we signed stipulation to dismiss based on CIS PROMISE to adjudicate within 30 days
SO supposedly if he didn't answer to her satisfaction on Monday- would they cancel his oath??? But this would have violated their promise to court! Then we'd have to go back to court over this. So the bad consequence of the 9th Cir. practice of dismissing from court jurisdiction in order for CIS to act is precisely this, if court still held jurisdiction, CIS would be more responsible to court and probably not pull a last-minute trick like this. I was so mad I decided to complain to ombudsman and our Rep about this. Instead of apology for almost 4-years delay (which they still failed to explain) CIS violated yet more of their regulations by denying his name change!
But on the positive side: once we filed it took them exactly 2.5 months to come up with stipulation to dismiss (as CIS was ready to adjudicate). His FP notice came in 1.5 months after filing. This means his nc was probably cleared by then.
Conclusion: filing a law suit is the only way to avoid waiting for CIS decision forever. Of course in some very lucky cases people get CIS to move just by involving reps, L. Bush. But in most cases so far filing a law suit is the only way to get them move. Also, in spite of more difficulties (which are mostly related to AOS complaints) the success rate in naturalization delays (which I define as ultimate approval) is close to 100%. It is not 100% only because in some cases applicants mess up their complaints or have problems in their history so they get denied. I don't want to repeat what was said on this forum over 1000 times so you know what follows from this conclusion.
I appreciate help from many many members here, and the only reason we got this far is because we found this forum, read and got many helpful advises from members. Just wish I found it sooner. The only thing that could improve this forum is a better organization (so people won't have to read through over 10K of posts to get info). Again, if anyone gets more time to deal with it, we should get all the pertinent facts in one spot for easy access. If/when I have time, I might address it myself.
I have to get fully involved in another task now (home schooling my daughter) so I won't be able to contribute much from now on. However, I'll try to help whenever/if I can and if anyone wants to ask me a q-n directly please feel free to pm me, I'll reply. There is a number of very knowledgeable people here so this forum is in good hands
Thank you very much for doing this for me, SLIS. I think that should be right, as I haven't found any favorable case either.
But I have found some cases that dismissed-settled with the VA district courts. I am wondering that if I can cite these cases and say:with the help from the district courts, FBI and the USCIS expedited processing their cases, and their applications were approved within 60 days from filing of his complaint.
Thank you for your advice in advance.
Xiaocao
I wonder if 4th Circuit Court will follow the examples of other more progressive circuit courts and address the juridiction and claim issues favorably when it comes to appeals. A case in point is the pending appeal by xiaocao. One would hope so.
Thank you very much for doing this for me, SLIS. I think that should be right, as I haven't found any favorable case either.
But I have found some cases that dismissed-settled with the VA district courts. I am wondering that if I can cite these cases and say:with the help from the district courts, FBI and the USCIS expedited processing their cases, and their applications were approved within 60 days from filing of his complaint.
Thank you for your advice in advance.
Xiaocao
You're very welcome! We all try to help each other out as best we can.
My understanding is that judges tend to be annoyed by either party citing unpublished cases. In the order denying defendants' MTD, the judge in my case specifically pointed out the fact that defendants referenced many unpublished cases/opinions. That's why I was frustrated at not being able to find any recent favorable ruling on summary judgment at the time I was filing my MSJ even though there were many rulings denying MTD and even more cases were jointly dismissed. So, my gut feeling is to stay away from that and focus instead on citing published rulings. The more recent cases you can cite the better. You would definitely want to attach as exhibits a few strong cases/rulings inclusing the most recent one posted by AGC4ME which is from E.D.CA. And I would suggest saving the rulings from LEXIS/NEXIS as pdf file rather than using the court order directly as I think that conforms to the required standards/procedure.
Lazycis, AGC4ME, and other members, what are your thoughts on citing unpublished cases?
Congrtulations!!
hi all!
Congratulations to shvili, lotechguy, and Roy2001!!! and best of luck to all who are still fighting!! Yes, I think it is ridiculous what they asked shvili's husband. They just want to bother us, nothing else. As you know, some people who filed lawsuits had to pass the second interview. It is like a punishment. But I guess now they have stopped doing it since they are already busy with the cases they have to process. Any new AOS victory on the forum except lotechguy? !! Please keep up the good work!! Regards, dude
hi all!
Congratulations to shvili, lotechguy, and Roy2001!!! and best of luck to all who are still fighting!! Yes, I think it is ridiculous what they asked shvili's husband. They just want to bother us, nothing else. As you know, some people who filed lawsuits had to pass the second interview. It is like a punishment. But I guess now they have stopped doing it since they are already busy with the cases they have to process. Any new AOS victory on the forum except lotechguy? !! Please keep up the good work!! Regards, dude
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Congratulations!!!!
Congratulations, Shvili! Homeschooling your daughter is SOOOO much better than spending precious time dealing with USCIS! Enjoy your time with her. They grow up too fast!
Thanks a lot for posting the files. I'll let my friend know that he can PM you. Will you still be around for a bit longer? Hopefully so!
Congratulations, Shvili!
Homeschooling your daughter is SOOOO much better than spending precious time dealing with USCIS! Enjoy your time with her. They grow up too fast!Thanks a lot for posting the files. I'll let my friend know that he can PM you. Will you still be around for a bit longer? Hopefully so!
Citing unpublished cases is district dependent. In Oregon I think we are allowed to cite unpublished cases. So check with your local district handbook. If there's no handbook then you can probably call the judge's courtroom deputy and ask him. But don't trouble the deputy too much. You are supposed to know the rules.
I tend to agree, a party can move for MSJ at any time. The only problem here is that a moving party have to show that there is no genuine issues of fact. If defendants did not dispute any relevant facts in MTD, I'd filed MSJ.
lazycis On MSJ
In some of the MSJ's I see that they have a date and time on which an hearing can be had on it. In these instances do the filers confer with the court before they file the MSJ ? I don't see in their scheduling conferences where these dates are set. Aboushaban had a date and time for hearing. Wondering how this date is set.
In some of the MSJ's I see that they have a date and time on which an hearing can be had on it. In these instances do the filers confer with the court before they file the MSJ ? I don't see in their scheduling conferences where these dates are set. Aboushaban had a date and time for hearing. Wondering how this date is set.