I do not think there is a limit on the main complaint or exhibits. There is no such limit in FRCP.
I think 120 day period after the interview expires on August 30. So you can technically file a complaint on September 1st (Aug 31 falls on Sunday).
Anyone with a lawsuit against USCIS or thinking about a lawsuit (Merged)
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I do not think there is a limit on the main complaint or exhibits. There is no such limit in FRCP.
I think 120 day period after the interview expires on August 30. So you can technically file a complaint on September 1st (Aug 31 falls on Sunday).
Civil Suit
Lazycis and Others,
How can I get the name of the Director of my Field Office in order to address him/her in the suit. I’m avoiding info pass due to long driving of 4 hours (back and forth) for this reason. Can 1-800-375-5283 be of any help; I doubt though? Please advice. Thanks,
Lazycis and Others,
How can I get the name of the Director of my Field Office in order to address him/her in the suit. I’m avoiding info pass due to long driving of 4 hours (back and forth) for this reason. Can 1-800-375-5283 be of any help; I doubt though? Please advice. Thanks,
Would a complaint of 40 pages (30 complain pages plus 10 exhibits pages) would make the judge annoyed or upset?
Ok-Boy
I would think it is better to write a 40 pages long complaint rather than a 10 pages one. It means that your injury is serious and you take this lawsuit seriously. I filed a 10 page complaint at the beginning and the court probably think i was not being serious. He didn't even schedule a hearing within 5 months. Later on i filed a first amended complaint and put more stuff there. And after that the judge is more willing to help me.
I would think it is better to write a 40 pages long complaint rather than a 10 pages one. It means that your injury is serious and you take this lawsuit seriously. I filed a 10 page complaint at the beginning and the court probably think i was not being serious. He didn't even schedule a hearing within 5 months. Later on i filed a first amended complaint and put more stuff there. And after that the judge is more willing to help me.
Christopher R. Donato, AUSA, represented Defendants in both Tang and Vorontsova. On the Plaintiff side Vard R. Johnson was retained as counsel after the plaintiffs initially filed pro se. The facts in both cases are similar to each other and mine with the major difference being the length of delay, in Vorontsova (21 months) and Tang(4 years), mine(22 months). The other major difference is change in CIS name check policy and the presiding Judge.
I'm taking her assignment (and not Christopher R. Donato) to the case as positive sign, let see if she gets in touch with me before the 60 day deadline.
I have attached the Tang and Vorontsova files for your reading pleasure. I didn't see a link in PACER to download the appeal Vorontsova's appeal related docs. Does anyone have them?
I'm taking her assignment (and not Christopher R. Donato) to the case as positive sign, let see if she gets in touch with me before the 60 day deadline.
I have attached the Tang and Vorontsova files for your reading pleasure. I didn't see a link in PACER to download the appeal Vorontsova's appeal related docs. Does anyone have them?
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Some interesting development about my case today:
I filed motion to vacate my MSJ hearing and asked the judge to determine the MSJ without an oral argument today. The motion was filed at 2:20PM.
At 2:42PM, the AUSA replied my email I sent 2 weeks ago to ask her opinion regarding filing a motion to determine the MSJ without a hearing. In her reply, she said she had no problem with that, also she hoped that the matter would resolve before too long.
At about 4:20PM, the assistant of the AUSA called me and left me a message. She told me that my NC has been completed. And the USCIS field office should sent me the IL in a couple of weeks. She also asked me how I like to proceed or if I am satisfied with the progress.
This is indeed a good news. I am sure my NC was completed because of my WOM suit. Now I need to get back to AUSA on how to proceed with my case. Should I ask the court to leave the case open until after I am done with the Interview and receive the OL? Or is that something I should negotiate with AUSA? Say I will sign a stipulation to dismiss my case only if USCIS agrees to adjudicate my case within 30 days(is that possible since I don't have the interview yet?). I would like to use 10/15 as the drop dead date to take oath since that's the last day to register to vote in November.
Special thanks to Lazycis! Your kind help and support made my WOM process a lot smoother than I thought. I learned a lot from this board.
I filed motion to vacate my MSJ hearing and asked the judge to determine the MSJ without an oral argument today. The motion was filed at 2:20PM.
At 2:42PM, the AUSA replied my email I sent 2 weeks ago to ask her opinion regarding filing a motion to determine the MSJ without a hearing. In her reply, she said she had no problem with that, also she hoped that the matter would resolve before too long.
At about 4:20PM, the assistant of the AUSA called me and left me a message. She told me that my NC has been completed. And the USCIS field office should sent me the IL in a couple of weeks. She also asked me how I like to proceed or if I am satisfied with the progress.
This is indeed a good news. I am sure my NC was completed because of my WOM suit. Now I need to get back to AUSA on how to proceed with my case. Should I ask the court to leave the case open until after I am done with the Interview and receive the OL? Or is that something I should negotiate with AUSA? Say I will sign a stipulation to dismiss my case only if USCIS agrees to adjudicate my case within 30 days(is that possible since I don't have the interview yet?). I would like to use 10/15 as the drop dead date to take oath since that's the last day to register to vote in November.
Special thanks to Lazycis! Your kind help and support made my WOM process a lot smoother than I thought. I learned a lot from this board.
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meteor8
Meteor8,
Congratulations! That is very good news, considering that you filed the WOM suit barely 3 months ago. I hope you will get your Oath Letter soon.
Meteor8,
Congratulations! That is very good news, considering that you filed the WOM suit barely 3 months ago. I hope you will get your Oath Letter soon.
meteor,
That's indeed encouraging news! Hopefully you'll get your IL soon.
The further steps depend on your prayer in the complaint. If you only asked for interview to be scheduled, you have little choice but to dismiss the complaint after the interview (or file a stipulation to dismiss if USCIS agrees to conduct interview within 30 days). If you asked to compel adjudication, you can file a stipulation to dismiss if USCIS agrees to conduct an interview within 30 days and to adjudicate the case within 30-45 days after the interview. AUSAs prefer to stipulate the dismissal rather than continue fighting so that's the best scenario for all sides.
That's indeed encouraging news! Hopefully you'll get your IL soon.
The further steps depend on your prayer in the complaint. If you only asked for interview to be scheduled, you have little choice but to dismiss the complaint after the interview (or file a stipulation to dismiss if USCIS agrees to conduct interview within 30 days). If you asked to compel adjudication, you can file a stipulation to dismiss if USCIS agrees to conduct an interview within 30 days and to adjudicate the case within 30-45 days after the interview. AUSAs prefer to stipulate the dismissal rather than continue fighting so that's the best scenario for all sides.
Filing the Proof of Service with Court
MA Pro Se handbook (not the best guide around, could be improved a lot) requires the Plaintiff to retain the original Summons copy and serve a copy to the Defendants.
The Pro Se clerk was confused about whether to serve the original Summons or a copy and confirmed by calling someone on the phone that it should be a copy to Defendants. I served a copy to US Attorney's office. Later I looked at the handbook and called the clerk again, pointed him to page 7 that requires a copy not the original of summons to be served.
"You must complete a summons for each defendant and present each summons to the Clerk who will sign and place the court seal on each summons. A copy of the summons must be served upon each defendant with a copy of the complaint. The original summons should be kept by the person making service.
You can make service of process by having a "disinterested" person who is over the age of eighteen deliver copies of the SUMMONS and COMPLAINT to each of the defendants. When using this method of making service of process, have the server fill out the back of the original SUMMONS, and send it to the court. See Rule 4, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
"
He assured me that it's ok with US Attorney's office but I should send copies of the summons page to named Defendants. Probably not a show stopper but some times the court clerk can inadvertently give you false info.
Q1. When filing Proof of Service with Court do I need to include a copy of the Summons with Proof of Service(it's the back of Summons page) filled up and of course copies of online delivery confirmation and certified mail receipt ?
Q2. Do I keep the original Summons with court's stamp embossed on it?
MA Pro Se handbook (not the best guide around, could be improved a lot) requires the Plaintiff to retain the original Summons copy and serve a copy to the Defendants.
The Pro Se clerk was confused about whether to serve the original Summons or a copy and confirmed by calling someone on the phone that it should be a copy to Defendants. I served a copy to US Attorney's office. Later I looked at the handbook and called the clerk again, pointed him to page 7 that requires a copy not the original of summons to be served.
"You must complete a summons for each defendant and present each summons to the Clerk who will sign and place the court seal on each summons. A copy of the summons must be served upon each defendant with a copy of the complaint. The original summons should be kept by the person making service.
You can make service of process by having a "disinterested" person who is over the age of eighteen deliver copies of the SUMMONS and COMPLAINT to each of the defendants. When using this method of making service of process, have the server fill out the back of the original SUMMONS, and send it to the court. See Rule 4, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
"
He assured me that it's ok with US Attorney's office but I should send copies of the summons page to named Defendants. Probably not a show stopper but some times the court clerk can inadvertently give you false info.
Q1. When filing Proof of Service with Court do I need to include a copy of the Summons with Proof of Service(it's the back of Summons page) filled up and of course copies of online delivery confirmation and certified mail receipt ?
Q2. Do I keep the original Summons with court's stamp embossed on it?
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The fact that AUSA is assigned and I hand delivered summons to US Attorney's office, the 60 day clock has already started, right?
Can I file Proof of Service without proof of delivery attached? May be I should with clerk as well?
Can I file Proof of Service without proof of delivery attached? May be I should with clerk as well?
Lazycis, thanks for the quick response.
I prayed in my complaint to compel defendants to complete adjudication of my N-400 application within a reasonable time. I will give AUSA a call shortly.
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how to proceed with my case?
Hey, Lazycis and others,
Today the AUSA emailed me and told me she has a good news for me. I called her and she informed me that the priority date for EB2 chinese will be June 2006 for August 2008. THat means PD will be current for me in August. She said she would still file a Reply with the court today and go to status hearing on July 24th. But she will take some arguments out now since the visa number is not an issue anymore. I will have to do the finger print on July 18th.
I am just thinking if I should file Temporary Restraining Order or not. Because last time the AUSA almost yelled at me on the phone when I said that I would file TRO. But what if the Visa number runs out quickly and become unavailable again in mid August or earlier? I don't want to increase the workload for the judge and the AUSA. But I am afraid that we will lost the visa number again if it runs out quickly. So any advice on that? Thanks a lot!
Hey, Lazycis and others,
Today the AUSA emailed me and told me she has a good news for me. I called her and she informed me that the priority date for EB2 chinese will be June 2006 for August 2008. THat means PD will be current for me in August. She said she would still file a Reply with the court today and go to status hearing on July 24th. But she will take some arguments out now since the visa number is not an issue anymore. I will have to do the finger print on July 18th.
I am just thinking if I should file Temporary Restraining Order or not. Because last time the AUSA almost yelled at me on the phone when I said that I would file TRO. But what if the Visa number runs out quickly and become unavailable again in mid August or earlier? I don't want to increase the workload for the judge and the AUSA. But I am afraid that we will lost the visa number again if it runs out quickly. So any advice on that? Thanks a lot!
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As per July 2008 VB, the PD for EB2 Chinese is April 01, 2004. It will jump to June 2006 in just one month?? Is it just me or you find it hard to believe as well? Since the Aug. 2008 VB is not out yet, AUSA must have communicated with DOS to find the PD in advance. Does he/she have proof or advance copy of VB?
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Can we get the help with Court Clerks in the processing/delivery matters OR they would not help us at all even if they notice that we are making mistake in the procedure of civil suit; I know they not gonna answer anything regarding the Complaint. Please explain....
I was in touch with Pro Se clerk at my court and he was very helpful but they could be mis-informed on some aspects of the procedural issues. Like the one I mentioned in my post about copy vs. original of Summons. They wouldn't try to mislead you knowingly but it is in your interest to look at the local rules and few case examples for your court to get an idea of various documents formats etc. You shouldn't ask them any legal questions and they will not give you any advice in legal matters. I think clerks are not attorneys so their knowledge would be limited to procedures and general matters dealing with the court.
What is your district?