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

[aka808]

The Fight Continues

It has been more than 120 days since 1447b was first filed. No answer or motion to date has been filed by the AUSA. Only correspondance i had with him was on 2 occassions...First when i wrote a letter to the Judge requesting that the government respond - as the 60 days were up on Oct 1st 2006 - the email stated Name check has been returned by the FBI on Sept 16 06 to the USCIS and within a week i will know.
A month passed and i called the AUSA, after blowing smoke up my.....the response was as soon as i know i will let you know.

Well, friends, where it stands as of now is that there is a PTC on Dec 1st and will see what happens.

Keep Fighting...

Timeline
N-400 Filed: 09/01/05
FP: 09/18/05
NOA Interview: 02/01/06 (pending name check)
1446 (b) Filed: 08/01/06
Oath: ??????????

 

[paz1960]

It has been more than 120 days since 1447b was first filed. No answer or motion to date has been filed by the AUSA. Only correspondance i had with him was on 2 occassions...First when i wrote a letter to the Judge requesting that the government respond - as the 60 days were up on Oct 1st 2006 - the email stated Name check has been returned by the FBI on Sept 16 06 to the USCIS and within a week i will know.
A month passed and i called the AUSA, after blowing smoke up my.....the response was as soon as i know i will let you know.

Well, friends, where it stands as of now is that there is a PTC on Dec 1st and will see what happens.

Keep Fighting...

Timeline
N-400 Filed: 09/01/05
FP: 09/18/05
NOA Interview: 02/01/06 (pending name check)
1446 (b) Filed: 08/01/06
Oath: ??????????

Hello aka808,
If AUSA filed nothing before the 60 days passed (looks that more than 100 days already passed), can you share with us the reason why you didn't file a motion for default judgement? What is PTC?

 

[aka808]

Hello aka808,
If AUSA filed nothing before the 60 days passed (looks that more than 100 days already passed), can you share with us the reason why you didn't file a motion for default judgement? What is PTC?

A motion for default judgement is very unlikley when the government is involved. I checked with the Pro-se office and a few lawyers as well. That is ofcourse if the case has been over a year or so and the pre-trial conferences have been held, where it is highly possible for an answer to be filed.

Nevertheless, since there is a PTC (Pre-Trial Conference) scheduled for the 1st and the letter i wrote to the judge was to show the lack of response.

 

[paz1960]

A motion for default judgement is very unlikley when the government is involved. I checked with the Pro-se office and a few lawyers as well. That is ofcourse if the case has been over a year or so and the pre-trial conferences have been held, where it is highly possible for an answer to be filed.

Nevertheless, since there is a PTC (Pre-Trial Conference) scheduled for the 1st and the letter i wrote to the judge was to show the lack of response.

You are probably right. Here is what the FRCP rule 55(e) says about default judgement against the United States:

(e) Judgment Against the United States.
No judgment by default shall be entered against the United States or an officer or agency thereof unless the claimant establishes a claim or right to relief by evidence satisfactory to the court.

This means that the judge still needs to look at your complaint and should be satisfied that you have a right to relief what you were asking. But I believe that AUSA didn't score 'red' points with the judge that he didn't file anything before the 60 days expired. It is still quite unusual that AUSA didn't bother to file anything. Which district did you file?

Keep us informed about the output of the PTC.

 

[786riz]

This is quite unprofessional; I am hearing first time that AUSA did not file any thing even 60 days is over. I still think that you must file a default judgment to bring this matter on record.

A motion for default judgement is very unlikley when the government is involved. I checked with the Pro-se office and a few lawyers as well. That is ofcourse if the case has been over a year or so and the pre-trial conferences have been held, where it is highly possible for an answer to be filed.

Nevertheless, since there is a PTC (Pre-Trial Conference) scheduled for the 1st and the letter i wrote to the judge was to show the lack of response.

 

[needsolution]

Does filing lawsuit trigger denial of naturalization application?

OK everyone, I want everyone's input on this.

When a lawsuit under 1447(b) or writ of mandamus is filed, and the judge orders USCIS with time limit to adjudicate the naturalization application:

I noticed many cases got approved however in the cases of
1-) Screaming eagle and Bashar82, the USCIS office denied their naturalization applications.

Does anyone know or believe that USCIS tries to find even little reasons to deny simply because they were sued?

Please everyone input your opinion on this.

Can Screaming Eagle and Bashar82 state the reasons here as to why they think they got denied?

 

[paz1960]

OK everyone, I want everyone's input on this.

When a lawsuit under 1447(b) or writ of mandamus is filed, and the judge orders USCIS with time limit to adjudicate the naturalization application:

I noticed many cases got approved however in the cases of
1-) Screaming eagle and Bashar82, the USCIS office denied their naturalization applications.

Does anyone know or believe that USCIS tries to find even little reasons to deny simply because they were sued?

Please everyone input your opinion on this.

Can Screaming Eagle and Bashar82 state the reasons here as to why they think they got denied?

One thing I noticed: if the judge orders USCIS to adjudicate the case till certain time limit, it can happen that the application is denied, either because the security check is still not done, or they find something else as a basis to deny. In my complaint (and in the opposition to AUSA's motion to dismiss or remand, if this is going to happen - I don't know yet) I asked in the event of remand, that 1. FBI should complete the name check in 30 days after the order, 2. USCIS should adjudicate the application in 15 days AFTER the FBI completed the name check. In this way, if the judge agrees, hopefully I can avoid a situation like namecheck is not done, judge ordered deadline is approaching, so USCIS practically doesn't have a choice, they have to deny my application. In the first instance the court would go after FBI if they don't complete the name check in the ordered time limit.

 

[786riz]

In my opinion, USCIS WILL deny the application after remanding back to them, if they found something in the name check or even very small mistakes / errors and that could be due to retaliation, but USCIS will not admit this. But if they are denying application because FBI did not complete the name check within the time then what about that memo that said USCIS will ask for expedite name check due to following reason and among them one is law suit. This is very complicated, now looks to me USCIS could do any thing to the immigrants due to the power they have and none will ask them.

OK everyone, I want everyone's input on this.

When a lawsuit under 1447(b) or writ of mandamus is filed, and the judge orders USCIS with time limit to adjudicate the naturalization application:

I noticed many cases got approved however in the cases of
1-) Screaming eagle and Bashar82, the USCIS office denied their naturalization applications.

Does anyone know or believe that USCIS tries to find even little reasons to deny simply because they were sued?

Please everyone input your opinion on this.

Can Screaming Eagle and Bashar82 state the reasons here as to why they think they got denied?

 

[ZUR]

I wish I could tell you WHY! But I DO NOT KNOW.

July 31, 2003 was when my I-485 was pending before the Immigration Judge.

September 14, 2004 was 2 days before I graduated Basic Training in the Army and I already had my hard copy I-551, the real deal GREEN CARD!

October 15, 2005 seems like THE ONE that is required for N-400 since my Priority date is October 3rd, 2005.

THESE LOSERS granted me AOS, the issued me a green card, they enlisted me in the military WHILE my name checks were pending. And now they decided to HALT?

LONGING FOR A COUNTRY'S CITIZENSHIP AND OBTAINING IT SHOULD BE A PROUD THING TO DO, ONE SHOULD BE HONORED. I JUST HATE IT! THEY KILLED EVERY OUNCE OF INNOCENT THOUGHT IN MY MIND AND EVERY SINGLE HONORABLE DESIRE TOWARDS AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP MY CHARACTER CAN EVER LONG FOR. SCREW THEM and THEIR CITIZENSHIP!

Actually, the reason I asked this question was that I am exactly in the same situation. My name check was initiated on January 13, 2003 while I have not sought any benefit from USCIS at that time. I have received my GC in 99 and applied for citizenship in June 2004. The name check was sent again for the second time as soon as I applied for the citizenship, but I absolutely have no idea why USCIS sent the initial request in Jan of 2003. May be some other people in the same situation can pitch in to give their opinion. I am just trying to find out why my name check is stuck for so long as I have absolutely no problem with the law.

 

[yvesliu]

Help is needed

Hi, after reading through this thread, I decide to file my case this week. I prepared the documents but I still have some questions. hopefully someone here could help me out.

1. I do not have an attorney, should I just leave blank for the cover sheet?
2. I put Alberto Gonzales (U.S. Attorney General), Robert S. Mueller (Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation), Emilio T. Gonzalez (USCIS Director), William McNamee (USCIS District Director) and
Michael Chertoff (Secretary of Department of Homeland Security) as the defendants. Is this list too long?
3. Should I add Nebraska Service Center as the defendant as well?
4. I do not know the addresses for Alberto Gonzales (U.S. Attorney General) and Emilio T. Gonzalez (USCIS Director), please help.
5. I read the following lines from this forum. "GOOD ADVICE: MAKE SURE YOU SERVE THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IN YOUR DISTRICT WITH THE COMPLAINT BECAUSE THE DEADLINE FOR THE DEFENDANTS TO ANSWER THE COMPLAINT, IS LINKED DIRECTLY TO THE DATE WHEN THE US ATTORNEY RECEIVES THE COMPLAINT". Should I add my District Attorney into my defendant list?
6. Do I need to list all the defendants in the cover sheet? I don't know if all these names and their positions could fit into that small space.
7. Does the order of defendants in the list matter?
8. When I file the complaint, I will attach my I-485 notice. Does that need to be original copy?
9. Do I need to fill out summons before I go to the court to file the complaint? I understand that if I am suing US government agency, then I need original and 4 copies of summon. Since I listed all the directors, do they need to be considered as Government agency?

Thanks.

 

[anotheronestuck]

You donot put DISTRICT US attorney as Defendent. After you get summons from the court, you send a copy of the complaint and summons to DISTRICT US attorney as he would be dealing with the suit on behalf of US government (defending all the defendents). The original summons go to the Defendants by certified mail.

 

[stucknamecheck]

is the intend to sue notice necessary for WOM?

Hi All,

I am glad I found this place two weeks ago. I am so happy that people here are helping each other. My name check has been pending for 1.5 years. I am preparing 485 WOM lawsuit now. I have a question. Is the intend to sue notice necessary for green card WOM ? My attorney who handled my 485 wants to send such notice. He said sometimes this kind of notice may work. I also read the previous post(e.g. post #6614) saying such notice is useful to show the court later that the plaintiff has exgausted all administrative solution. But it was also suggested that such notice could lead to CIS retaliation (e.g. post #6734,#6742). If the lawsuit is already filed, probably CIS cannot retaliate, but before filing the lawsuit, I am afraid CIS may do whatever they want. Please give me some advice. Thank you all.

 

[Screaming_Eagle]

I think I know why they denied my case

Hey guys,

Before USCIS made their decision, my name check was completed (Actually it was done in April), all other security check were also done.
Now, why did they deny it?

During the interview, they asked me a question related to my military service. Then they asked me for my military records. I answered their question and mailed them as much as I could find of my military records.

The answer to their question did not match exactly as it shows on my records.

They needed more time to find out, they could not get a hold of my complete records. They were pressured by the judge order and had to make a decision.

It was easier for them to deny it thinking I was lying under oath. This way they complied with the judge order and their own regulations. They took the easy way out of course. However, they are encouraging me to appeal it and get the documents they could not get.

Do not be scared, my case is unusual because it involves military service, which you would think would make it easier, but it made it worse.

I am working on my appeal right now. I am also going to obtain my full military record to show them I told the truth. This is a simple thing to overcome and I am not worried about it. I am just not happy having to deal with them again for God knows how long.

My advice to anyone of you, do not remand the case to USCIS. Ask the court to adjudicate your application if possible.

Hope this helps,

Screaming Eagle

OK everyone, I want everyone's input on this.

When a lawsuit under 1447(b) or writ of mandamus is filed, and the judge orders USCIS with time limit to adjudicate the naturalization application:

I noticed many cases got approved however in the cases of
1-) Screaming eagle and Bashar82, the USCIS office denied their naturalization applications.

Does anyone know or believe that USCIS tries to find even little reasons to deny simply because they were sued?

Please everyone input your opinion on this.

Can Screaming Eagle and Bashar82 state the reasons here as to why they think they got denied?

 

[rob waiter]

eagle,

I guess the CIS suspected you joined
many other foreign forces

I think you have been kind enough to have provided us with more than enough information
for this unfair denial.

Given this situation, would you think it might
be helpful to get a lawyer involved? would
you want to get some support letter from
your general's office? would you want
to disclose this case to some news agency?

in any case, soldiers who were/are fighting
for the freedom of this country do not
deserve this ordeal.

We hope to get your happy news soon.
rob

Hey guys,

Before USCIS made their decision, my name check was completed (Actually it was done in April), all other security check were also done.
Now, why did they deny it?

During the interview, they asked me a question related to my military service. Then they asked me for my military records. I answered their question and mailed them as much as I could find of my military records.

The answer to their question did not match exactly as it shows on my records.

They needed more time to find out, they could not get a hold of my complete records. They were pressured by the judge order and had to make a decision.

It was easier for them to deny it thinking I was lying under oath. This way they complied with the judge order and their own regulations. They took the easy way out of course. However, they are encouraging me to appeal it and get the documents they could not get.

Do not be scared, my case is unusual because it involves military service, which you would think would make it easier, but it made it worse.

I am working on my appeal right now. I am also going to obtain my full military record to show them I told the truth. This is a simple thing to overcome and I am not worried about it. I am just not happy having to deal with them again for God knows how long.

My advice to anyone of you, do not remand the case to USCIS. Ask the court to adjudicate your application if possible.

Hope this helps,

Screaming Eagle

 

[ganbaru]

After I filed my Writ of Mandamus 1.5 months,
The US attoney who charge my case inform me that he will be absence due to
his family emergency untill the end of this year.
That means no body takes my case?

Could I ask to change another US attoney and How ?


Thanks

 

[ranger5]

Delay in issue of summons from court

I have found this forum to be very informative. It has been over 20 days since i filed a petition under 1447(b). However, I still have not received copies of cover sheets with case number to be sent to all defendants.

I called the court, and the cleck said judge is reviewing the petition, and it may take up to 2 months to issue the cover sheets.

Is this reasonable? I was under the impression that the summons should not take too much time. Is there anything I can do.

Thanks

 

[Lexis]

Hello, Lexis, did you do FOPIA and contact congressman before you filed lawsuit. My 485 Name check was iniciated 1 and half year ago. Now I want to file lawsuit. I sent out my FOPIA and contacted my congressman for a month, still no replies. Can I just file law suit regardlessFOPIA results and congressman's letter? Thanks!

I did file FOIPA request and contacted my congressman prior to filing WOM, just in case. You want to demonstrate that you exhausted all other remedies before going to court.

 

[paz1960]

Hi, after reading through this thread, I decide to file my case this week. I prepared the documents but I still have some questions. hopefully someone here could help me out.

1. I do not have an attorney, should I just leave blank for the cover sheet?
2. I put Alberto Gonzales (U.S. Attorney General), Robert S. Mueller (Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation), Emilio T. Gonzalez (USCIS Director), William McNamee (USCIS District Director) and
Michael Chertoff (Secretary of Department of Homeland Security) as the defendants. Is this list too long?
3. Should I add Nebraska Service Center as the defendant as well?
4. I do not know the addresses for Alberto Gonzales (U.S. Attorney General) and Emilio T. Gonzalez (USCIS Director), please help.
5. I read the following lines from this forum. "GOOD ADVICE: MAKE SURE YOU SERVE THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IN YOUR DISTRICT WITH THE COMPLAINT BECAUSE THE DEADLINE FOR THE DEFENDANTS TO ANSWER THE COMPLAINT, IS LINKED DIRECTLY TO THE DATE WHEN THE US ATTORNEY RECEIVES THE COMPLAINT". Should I add my District Attorney into my defendant list?
6. Do I need to list all the defendants in the cover sheet? I don't know if all these names and their positions could fit into that small space.
7. Does the order of defendants in the list matter?
8. When I file the complaint, I will attach my I-485 notice. Does that need to be original copy?
9. Do I need to fill out summons before I go to the court to file the complaint? I understand that if I am suing US government agency, then I need original and 4 copies of summon. Since I listed all the directors, do they need to be considered as Government agency?

Thanks.

Hello yvesliu,
Every district court has its own local rules, these are sometimes different from each other, so please consult your local rules. Here is how I did it.
1. I also filed Pro Se and I put my name and address in the space provided for the Plaintiff's attorney, and I also put at the end "Pro Se".
2. I have the same list of defendants (the only difference is the USCIS District Director, I am in the Detroit district)
3. If your case is already with a district office, not necessary to put theService Center.
4. Emilio T. Gonzales
Director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
20 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 4025, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20528

Alberto R. Gonzales
United States Attorney General
US Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

These addresses were posted at least four times earlier on this forum. They actually worked for me, I got back the green USPS return receipts.
5. Your district's US Attorney is not defendant, (s)he (or more precisely one of his/her assistant = AUSA) will be the counsel of the defendants, like in any other lawsuit when the defendant is the US or a government agency or an officer of a government agency in his/her official capacity.
But you have to serve a copy of your complaint and a summons to the US Attorney's Office, Civil Process Clerk. The 60-day starts ticking when you served the USA's Office.
6. Yes, you need to list all the defendants on the Cover Sheet. I put only their name and agency, without their title, but I had another copy with me, where I put in that space "see attachement" and I had a separate piece of paper, listing the defendants, the agency and their function. If the court's clerk would not accept my initial Cover Sheet with the name and agency only, I would pull the other one. Wasn't necessary.
7. I don't think that the order matters, but because on the civil cover sheet you have to list the county's name where the defendants reside (at least the first one), I knew only the county's name of the USCIS District Office director, so I put her first in the list of defendants.
8. Attach only a copy.
9. In my court plaintiff has to prepare the summonses and copies of the complaint, the clerk will stamp them and will give two summonses per defendant, plus one more set of two summonses for the USA'sOffice.

 

[paz1960]

Hi All,

I am glad I found this place two weeks ago. I am so happy that people here are helping each other. My name check has been pending for 1.5 years. I am preparing 485 WOM lawsuit now. I have a question. Is the intend to sue notice necessary for green card WOM ? My attorney who handled my 485 wants to send such notice. He said sometimes this kind of notice may work. I also read the previous post(e.g. post #6614) saying such notice is useful to show the court later that the plaintiff has exgausted all administrative solution. But it was also suggested that such notice could lead to CIS retaliation (e.g. post #6734,#6742). If the lawsuit is already filed, probably CIS cannot retaliate, but before filing the lawsuit, I am afraid CIS may do whatever they want. Please give me some advice. Thank you all.

For WOM cases I believe that USCIS will not lose jurisdiction after the lawsuit is filed, so technically they can deny your petition even after you filed your complaint. Some members of this forum posted earlier that in approximately 30% of the cases, the letter to USCIS to inform them about your intent to sue, worked. And it is probably another piece of document, which can be used to prove that you did everything possible to solve your case before acually you went to sue them. I am in the other 70% of cases when this letter didn't work. Unfortunately, there is no unique correct answer, so you have to make a decision and depending on your risk tolerance level and a lot of other factors, you will need to make up your mind.

 

[paz1960]

I have found this forum to be very informative. It has been over 20 days since i filed a petition under 1447(b). However, I still have not received copies of cover sheets with case number to be sent to all defendants.

I called the court, and the cleck said judge is reviewing the petition, and it may take up to 2 months to issue the cover sheets.

Is this reasonable? I was under the impression that the summons should not take too much time. Is there anything I can do.

Thanks

There are courts where the judge reviews first your complaint (if you file Pro Se) to decide, if meets the legal formal requirements before they issue the summonses. This means that if your complaint doesn't meet the local rules' standard, the judge will not let even to begin the whole lawsuit. Unfortunately, I don't think that you can do anything to force the judge to hurry. The 2 months seems unreasonably long, but still, I don't know what can you do to speed up this. The judge can do pretty much what he wants (of course, within the rule of law).