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

[yourfirstname]

a quick question, is it absolutely necessary to do certified mail + return receipt to serve summons? can I do priority mail with return receipt?

 

[lazycis]

a quick question, is it absolutely necessary to do certified mail + return receipt to serve summons? can I do priority mail with return receipt?

It has to be certified mail according to FRCP.


P.S. Sorry guys, I am on vacation now and cannnot participate as usual. No cell phone service here Will be back in a week or so.

 

[jefkorn]

I served AUSA , Complaint + exhibits and summons only addressed to AUSA. I didn't give him summons for named Defendants but I did serve them separately. Clerk here was fine with stamping multiple Summons but wasn't too eager to stamp multiple copies of Complaint except the court copy. I wrote the action number by hand on extra copies that I had made and sent it to Defendants along with individual summons of course.

Well, my court allows both methods. I tried to ask with my Clerk for sending a separate summon to AUSA but he refused to reply. I looked into the civil suit procedure but couldn't find the answer. I think that we should send the copy of complaint plus the copy of summons (all defandants) to AUSA w/o having a separate summon for him. This is a grey area and need more explanation...

 

[jefkorn]

You already broke the first rule of vacation..no Internet, no Email Enjoy your time off and see you back here soon.

It has to be certified mail according to FRCP.
P.S. Sorry guys, I am on vacation now and cannnot participate as usual. No cell phone service here Will be back in a week or so.

 

[jefkorn]

If your court accepts the online delivery confirmations, you may not need to request the paper delivery confirmation which takes longer than the online receipts when serving the usual Defendants (DHS, USCIS, AG etc). In my case, I did request the paper delivery although I filed return/proof of service with the court attaching the printout of online delivery confirmation. The paper delivery receipt for me came back at least a week after the online confirmation and each one of those came back on a different data.

a quick question, is it absolutely necessary to do certified mail + return receipt to serve summons? can I do priority mail with return receipt?

 

[waitwait96]

You should ask the AUSA that since you got an interview you are ready to file a mutual extension to grant defendants additional time to adjudicate. If she agrees, just file a motion to suspend proceedings temporarily with the court since USCIS has initaiated some action on the adjuducation. Of course put a time lime like 6 weeks so that if you dont get oath leter in 6 weeks you can file a another motion for resume proceedings.

lotechguy,
Thank you for a fast respond , this is a good idea i would call her and ask her for the mutual extension , but the wierd thing that happend yesterday i got another letter in the mail from CIS VT office for an interview but on 08/26/08 ,and it doesn not say it's replacment for the first letter that i got 4 days ago from my local CIS office about the interview on 08/12/08 ???
any idea what is that all about it ???

 

[malgi]

Hi,

What is the requirement for filing WOM? How long after filing N400 one can file for WOM?

Thanks,

 

[jefkorn]

If you already had an interview and still waiting for final decision, then 120 days after the interview, file something called 1447(b) otherwise you will have to file WOM but will have to show that you exhausted available remedies before going to court. Search the forum for N400 or 1447(b) to get an idea about what's involved.
See here for sample lawsuit document for delayed Naz.

Hi,

What is the requirement for filing WOM? How long after filing N400 one can file for WOM?

Thanks,

 

[wommei]

lazycis

Hey, Lazycis,

We surely missed you around here! and I thought you were kidnapped by USCIS . wish you have a nice vacation!

It has to be certified mail according to FRCP.


P.S. Sorry guys, I am on vacation now and cannnot participate as usual. No cell phone service here Will be back in a week or so.

 

[lotechguy]

lotechguy,
Thank you for a fast respond , this is a good idea i would call her and ask her for the mutual extension , but the wierd thing that happend yesterday i got another letter in the mail from CIS VT office for an interview but on 08/26/08 ,and it doesn not say it's replacment for the first letter that i got 4 days ago from my local CIS office about the interview on 08/12/08 ???
any idea what is that all about it ???

Sounds like a mixup which is not very uncommon. I'd say go to the 8/12 interview anyway. Howver call the AUSA and ask if she knows anything about what the correct date is and when you should go to the interview. Also take an info pass and see ehat they say. Generally the lawsuit is different from interview scheduling so it must be a mixup. also look up motion to suspend proceedings (also called stay) lookup your court website to find out how to initiate this motion, you may be able to do this yourself even if the AUSA does not respond ie AUSA does not want an extension. Remember that AUSAs are going according to a pre-dteremined scrript and they dont really care about what happens in the end, they just need to do their job so they may not be very interested in your overtures. BUT once USCIS has started action, its a path in itself that leads to the oath and often the AUSAs will not know what USCIS is doing and vice versa. So you need to understand that communication between AUSA and USCIS is not always tight. Given your situation I would say you will get an oath in early Sept.

 

[meteor8]

meteor8,

it must be dependent on the clerk or the court site in ND CAL. Clerk was ok either way for me.

yeah, it's possible. I did it in Oakland.

 

[meteor8]

a quick question, is it absolutely necessary to do certified mail + return receipt to serve summons? can I do priority mail with return receipt?

I used certified mail. I printed out the online delivery confirmations and attached them with the proof of service.

BTW, after you served the defendants and AUSA, you can just use first class mail for all subsequent filings.

 

[jefkorn]

Or better yet, file a motion for leave of court to use ECF (efile) and save a buck or two and of course file PDF from the comfort of your home.

Do you have to send a copy of subsequent pleadings to named Defendants in addition to AUSA? I thought e-filing will take care of notification to the counsel on record (AUSA) and Defendants don't need to be served on each new pleading.

BTW, after you served the defendants and AUSA, you can just use first class mail for all subsequent filings.

 

[OK-Boy]

Copyright, Trademarks and Patent Cases

All,

Can I take couple of pages from a civil suit and paste it in my suit (1447b) assuming that I’m not violating the copyrights, trademarks or Patent laws. Please explain…

 

[wommei]

Hey,there,

I recall that lazycis told me that there is no concerns there. Don't worry about the copyrights etc.

All,

Can I take couple of pages from a civil suit and paste it in my suit (1447b) assuming that I’m not violating the copyrights, trademarks or Patent laws. Please explain…

 

[meteor8]

Or better yet, file a motion for leave of court to use ECF (efile) and save a buck or two and of course file PDF from the comfort of your home.

Do you have to send a copy of subsequent pleadings to named Defendants in addition to AUSA? I thought e-filing will take care of notification to the counsel on record (AUSA) and Defendants don't need to be served on each new pleading.

If you do e-filing, you don't need to send a copy to all the defendants, nor to AUSA. The counsel on record(AUSA) will be notified automatically. But before your efiling is approved and ECF account is obtained, you still need to send a copy of your subsequent pleadings. And in those cases, first class mail should be good.

Even with efiling, you probably still need to send a copy for Chambers(check you local rules on this). first class mail is good on this too.

 

[jefkorn]

Thanks for the info. I have already registered on court's web site using Attorney Registration link. Instead of providing Firm Name, just say "Pro Se". Now waiting for email confirmation from the court. After that I should be all set to efile.

If you do e-filing, you don't need to send a copy to all the defendants, nor to AUSA. The counsel on record(AUSA) will be notified automatically. But before your efiling is approved and ECF account is obtained, you still need to send a copy of your subsequent pleadings. And in those cases, first class mail should be good.

Even with efiling, you probably still need to send a copy for Chambers(check you local rules on this). first class mail is good on this too.

 

[kimtd]

No interview b/c of DUI?

Hi all.
I would like to start out by saying that this forum is great. I think most of us at many times felt like we were alone against this massive gov't organization called CIS, like Dave vs. Goliath. Publicus and Rahul are such awesome leaders who've shared so much and i want to thank them for their guidance.

Here's my case...
2000 - Applied for N-400
Early 2001 - Got a DUI (i was 22 and a little out of control back then)
Late 2001 - Went in for interview and got denied b/c I was in court probation.
2006 - After serving 3 yrs of court probation, I decided to re-apply N-400.

I've submitted every possible documentation regarding the DUI. I went for the fingerprinting. BUT no interview yet. In fact, my fingerprint "expired" before my citizenship process has completed so they asked me to take another one (as if my finger print has changed over a 1-yr time frame).

My initial thought was that FBI had a hard time tracking all my previous locations because in college + few years after college, I was moving probably 1x every 6 months or so on average. That and a couple of parking/speeding tickets.

Now it's almost Aug. 2008 and I've yet to hear from anyone about my case. I've sent 3 status update requests, went to my congressman to ask for a congressional letter of request for update from FBI (name check clearance), etc etc. I've tried InfoPass and went in to see a USCIS counselor. He basically told me that it's stuck @ the FBI name check clearance. I can try writing to president of US and FBI to see if they would expedite. I thought he was kidding and chuckled. Then he turns to me, looks at me like I owe him rent money, and says "SIR, I DO NOT joke about serious matter like this. Now please, if you're done, please move away from my table."

*what a c0cksucker* (Random thought: why are CIS employees so damn disgruntled? It's like we're doing them a disfavor by giving them a reason for their job.)

So last nite, I was thinking about writing anyone and everyone who's listed as an executive in the FBI office as well as Bush and Cheney... until I discovered this forum.

From what I understand, here's what I need to do
1) prep my lawsuitpackage as Publicus described
2) Send a Demand Letter to show them that you're serious
3) If #2 fails, then actually go ahead with the lawsuit.

Here's some questions I have (Publicus and Rahul, I would love to get your feedbacks).

1) What do I need to do to clear my name so that I can get an interview? Will doing this lawsuit help me?
2) Even if #1 goes thru, would I submit this lawsuit AGAIN in case it gets "stuck"?
3) Who are these people and which letters do I need to send to whom?

DHS/ USCIS
Office of the Chief Counsel
20 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Suite 4025, Fourth Floor
Washington, D.C. 20529

VS.

Phyllis Howard
Director, Washington District
USCIS
2675 Prosperity Avenue
Fairfax, Virginia 22031

4) THere is this wiki page that basically has the same set of instructions plus detailed links to other resources. IN there, it says that if I did NOT get an interview because of the name clearance issue, that I need to use this template... which, if you open, is a mandasmus... which according to Publicus is not as good. Is this wiki page written by people in this forum? Who's correct?

5) This maybe a stretch but does anyone have all the contact info relevant for doing the lawsuit in N. California? I am in San Jose area.

6) It seems that getting a lawyer for this matter seems kinda pointless from all the posts. Does anyone know a N. California lawyer who's aggressive and has done this before that he/she can recommend?



Thanks everyone. God bless you all.
You guys are awesome.

 

[yourfirstname]

How do I file proof of service with court? Is there anything other than following documents i need to file?

1. Original Summon (one for each defendant)
2. 2nd page of AO44 (one for each defendant)
3. Certified mail receipt and return receipt (one for each defendant)

 

[jefkorn]

You can take all of those and simply hand over to the clerk. I have seen a docket report for a Pro Se plaintiff where all you see under Proof of Service document all the items 1 to 3 and that was accepted by the court. I drafted document titled "Certificate of Service" and attached all of the receipts+ Summons+Return/Certificate of Service(second page of AO44)). See attached sample for reference.
In my court, I'm only required to file the "proof of service" with the court and not AUSA. Check your local rules if they require you to serve a copy to AUSA as well. Proof of Service is essentially a way for court to make sure that Complaint was served to Defendants within 120 days of filing the with the court.

How do I file proof of service with court? Is there anything other than following documents i need to file?

1. Original Summon (one for each defendant)
2. 2nd page of AO44 (one for each defendant)
3. Certified mail receipt and return receipt (one for each defendant)