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

sksharma76 said:
Once again great job guys Wenlock your post on searching pacer is what i was looking for good job.One more question at what point of time is it right to contact you AUSA and introduce yourself and ask about the case .I remember the first post by Publicus says 2 weeks before deadline but i assume nowdays you should contact them much earlier.My summons were served on AUSA on Feb1 and everybody else on FEB 5 i am still waiting on the green cards to come back to file certificate of service.Should i contact the AUSA now or wait a week or so before doing it
thanks


In my district's US attorney office only one Attorney deals with USCIS issues. I check pacer and found one more case in my district and Attorney name who represented defendents. Most of the time they do not file any thing with court till last day so you will never know till 60 days who is your US attorney via pacer. You can call US attorney office Ask them to give me civil court section. They might transfer you to other side. Tell them you need to check assigned attorney on this case number. Give them your case number they will tell you some got assigned or not if yes get there name and tell them to transfer to there phone.

Most of the time US attorney do not pick up phone directly you leave them message and they will call you. First time when you call them and leave message I suggest do not leave your case number in messsage just tell them you have pending suit and you wanted to get some information about it. Some times US attorney do not respond to you. Message like this keep them anxious about what case number you are calling about and they will try to call you as soon as possible.

Once you talk to them just introduce properly and ask them if they got chance to take a look at your case and explain your situation. Give them hint that you are willing to settle and voluntarily withdraw case if they expediate your name check and this will save them and you time and money.

Get there email and try to stay in touch via email. This is best way to stay in touch and you are not disturbing them directly as this might annoy them.
 
786riz said:
Hi Dear Bushmaster,
That is really a good news, finally you name check is cleared and case is about to be finalize. I have been seeing you in this forum for long time and read all of your posts. It was a very long voyage but your consistent struggle and patient prevailed this to be happened and that what only a solider can do.
I salute you for no giving up, constant fighting and made this to be happened.
Good bless you and your family.
Thank you.


Thanks all...

DEAR Friends, paz, Screaming, 786riz, wenlock, etc...

I have a question about the FBI NAME CHECKS. Both senators' offices I have been working with TOLD that the name check submitted back in July 2003, has been completed and forwarded to CIS. MY QUESTION is, WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER NAME CHECKS CIS STARTED in 2004 and 2005? Do I have to wait on those too?

Or does it mean when ONE (the earliest) name check is completed, the others are also defaulted as done because it is for the same person?
 
Bushmaster said:
Thanks all...

DEAR Friends, paz, Screaming, 786riz, wenlock, etc...

I have a question about the FBI NAME CHECKS. Both senators' offices I have been working with TOLD that the name check submitted back in July 2003, has been completed and forwarded to CIS. MY QUESTION is, WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER NAME CHECKS CIS STARTED in 2004 and 2005? Do I have to wait on those too?

Or does it mean when ONE (the earliest) name check is completed, the others are also defaulted as done because it is for the same person?


Once your name check is complete it is valid for 120 days. If agency resubmit any further requests within 120 days they get flagged and returned back without response from FBI. USCIS now from Jan 3rd are keeping all the results of background check in there system too.
 
thank you paz and wenlock!
I thought 540 and 890 make different, it is good to know they are not that important now.

I guess the complaint is the most important part in the lawsuit?

thank you!
 
Good Luck!

Hi kefira,
Good luck to your hearing. You can win, we all stand with you !
God bless you.

kefira said:
It looks that I screwed up completely and get lost in all the paperwork, teleconferences... I came home and had a message from the court that tomorrow is my hearing... So, I will do my best to be as less emotional as I can and try to convince a judge what is reasonable and what is not.

Just wish me good luck and I will update you tomorrow how did it go. I am not sure how should I prepare for this, but I am planning to list what I could not do during these 2 years waiting for GC:

1. travel limitations
2. job limitations
3. lost time due to 4 FP app and 3 infopass app
4. money spent on 2 travel and 2 EAD cards
5. cannot count time toward US citizenship

Any other ideas are welcome. Last question. Is it ok to go in jeans with shirt over? I do not have any other clothes to wear (Paz knows why) and tomorrow not much time to buy something new.

Thanks to everybody
 
paz1960 said:
Although I am not in Texas, I followed couple of cases there. I found at least one case represented by a lawyer, filed in the Southern District of Texas, in Houston, which was a stalled N-400 application and it was a Petition for Hearing on Naturalization based on 1447(b). This case is Torok v. Chertoff, 4:06-mc-00345, filed on 6/26/2006. Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss, and Plaintiff opposed this motion (I liked this Opposition, and I used some parts in my draft). Ultimately Plaintiff was naturalized before the judge actually had to rule on the motion or conduct a hearing.

However, there is a judge in that district (Hon. Kenneth M. Hoyt) who remanded sua sponte several cases (some of them represented by lawyers), without any meaningful instruction to USCIS, immediately after the filing.

You can read about this on the American Immigration Law Foundation web site at: http://www.ailf.org/lac/lac_lit_natdelay.shtml and http://www.ailf.org/lac/natz_delay0806.shtml

I saw cases filed in the Eastern District of Michigan where in the same complaint both 1447(b) and the mandamus was invoked.

Paz,

Thank you very much for the information! I'll probably use the Torok case as the basis if I decided to go pro se. I know local lawyers who do take this kind of cases, but the fee is in the range of $2500-$3500. I think I can swallow the steep fee, but I'm just not so sure how much of a difference a lawyer can make if the same arguments are ready for copy-and-paste in PACER anyway. What do you think? Anyone has a opinion/experience on this subject? Thanks!

Freebird2
 
2nd interview

hello everyone
here is my story. this morning i had an infopass to check on the status of my case and the immigration officer told me that i am schedueld for something he couldnt see what was it on the computer and he told me that he will call me when he gets any information because the person handling my case is in another building. so by 3 pm i got a call from my lawyer that i have a second interview. next week and it is 2 week after my second interview.
here is my question. do i have to take the civic test again or they are just going to ask me again the same questions on my first interview that are standard.
i dont know if my name check is clrear
and by the way my first interview was on 26 juin 06

any advice ?
 
Bushmaster said:
Thanks all...

DEAR Friends, paz, Screaming, 786riz, wenlock, etc...

I have a question about the FBI NAME CHECKS. Both senators' offices I have been working with TOLD that the name check submitted back in July 2003, has been completed and forwarded to CIS. MY QUESTION is, WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER NAME CHECKS CIS STARTED in 2004 and 2005? Do I have to wait on those too?

Or does it mean when ONE (the earliest) name check is completed, the others are also defaulted as done because it is for the same person?
Dear Bushmaster,
It wouldn't make much sense to wait for the other two name checks to be completed and because finally everybody is aware of your case and the imminent deployment, my prediction is that they will adjudicate your application and will not wait for the 2nd and 3rd NC. But I don't work for USCIS or FBI...
 
Freebird2 said:
Paz,

Thank you very much for the information! I'll probably use the Torok case as the basis if I decided to go pro se. I know local lawyers who do take this kind of cases, but the fee is in the range of $2500-$3500. I think I can swallow the steep fee, but I'm just not so sure how much of a difference a lawyer can make if the same arguments are ready for copy-and-paste in PACER anyway. What do you think? Anyone has a opinion/experience on this subject? Thanks!

Freebird2
I don't think that there is any generally valid rule of thumb here. This all depends on you, how much time are you willing to dedicate to this lawsuit and how comfortable/uncomfortable are you with learning a tons of things, which hopefully you will never need to use again. If I calculate the number of hours I spent with my lawsuit and multiply that with my hourly wage, probably I am in big time loss (neglecting now the simple fact that my employer is not paying me overtime).

Till your case is "only" copy-and-paste from other cases, it's fine. If the whole process is not completed early, and you have to fight, it becomes somewhat more complicated and the more you progress with your lawsuit, the less collective experience has this forum to help you.

But if you are determined and willing to take this lawsuit really seriously, probably nobody would take such a good care of your case as yourself.
 
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paz1960 said:
I don't think that there is any generally valid rule of thumb here. This all depends on you, how much time are you willing to dedicate to this lawsuit and how comfortable/uncomfortable are you with learning a tons of things, which hopefully you will never need to use again. If I calculate the number of hours I spent with my lawsuit and multiply that with my hourly wage, probably I am in big time loss (neglecting now the simple fact that my employer is not paying me overtime).

Till your case is "only" copy-and-paste from other cases, it's fine. If the whole process is not completed early, and you have to fight, it becomes somewhat more complicated and the more you progress with your lawsuit, the less collective experience has this forum to help you.

But if you are determined and willing to take this lawsuit really seriously, probably nobody would take such a good care of your case as yourself.

Paz,

Thanks again for the advice, you seems to be the most knowledgable and warm-hearted member here. Do you mind if I ask a somewhat newbie question: follow the link you sent me (http://www.ailf.org/lac/lac_lit_natdelay.shtml), I realize it's hard for me to pinpoint the case "Gupta v. Chertoff" in PACER as there are hundreds of cases involved a "Gupta". I'm guessing the piece of information "Miscellaneous No. H-06-0351" associated with the case represents some sort of index in AILF web site. Is there some database I can search in AILF? Thanks!

Freebird2
 
Freebird2 said:
I know this topic has been talked about over and over in this thread. But I do have something new on this, and any comments is sincerely looked forward to as I need to decide which route to go.
I live in Houston, Texas. My N-400 citizenship case has been pending for about 24 months. I found many cases filed to the district courts in Texas in PACER. What surprised me was that every N-400 case represented by a lawyer was filed for "Writ of Mandamus", yet many Pro Se cases were filed for "1447(b) Petition for Hearing". I consulted a Houston lawyer, he insisted Writ of Mandamus was the way to go for citizenship cases. The I consulted a couple of California lawyers, they pointed out "Writ of Mandamus" approach might easily ruin my case. I'm now totally lost. Is there anyone here from Texas? Can anyone offer me his/her point of view? Help needed! Thanks.

What ultimately matters to the judges in these lawsuits regardless of which type of lawsuit you file is the "reasonableness" of the defendants' length of delay. In other words, what matters ultimately to the judge is:

1. Why are the defendants taking so long?
2. Is it reasonable to take them that long to perform their duty?

Regardless of what kind of lawsuit you file, you should be concentrating on showing to the judge in every possible way, that the reason why defendants are taking such long periods of time to perform their jobs, is NOT reasonable, and defendants inaction is affecting you negatively and you had no choice but to file lawsuit to obtain the relief you desire.
 
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needsolution said:
What ultimately matters to the judges in these lawsuits regardless of which type of lawsuit you file is the "reasonableness" of the defendants' length of delay. In other words, what matters ultimately to the judge is:

1. Why are the defendants taking so long?
2. Is it reasonable to take them that long to perform their duty?

Regardless of what kind of lawsuit you file, you should be concentrating on showing to the judge in every possible way, that the reason why defendants are taking such long periods of time to perform their jobs, is NOT reasonable, and defendants inaction is affecting you negatively and you had no choice but to file lawsuit to obtain the relief you desire.


needsoluation,

Fully agree. If I go Pro Se, I'll include all of my inquiry letters over time as exhibits. Thanks.

Freebirds.
 
paz1960 said:
Dear Bushmaster,
It wouldn't make much sense to wait for the other two name checks to be completed and because finally everybody is aware of your case and the imminent deployment, my prediction is that they will adjudicate your application and will not wait for the 2nd and 3rd NC. But I don't work for USCIS or FBI...

It doesn't make much sense to me either, however I did not know about this 120 day rule. Starting Dec 18, my NC is good until April 17 then. I, to be honest, have my doubts if they will finish by then. I already inquired with an attorney and he is experienced with litigation cases, but I am holding that back because CIS already informed the senator's office that they received the FBI results and file is with the CIS officer. I am now stuck in between, to sue or not to sue. Deployment is in March April time frame, latest, May, but we are not telling it to them not to let them relax on the application. Furthermore, another issue is I can not be naturalized in Atlanta, it has to be in Savannah District court due to a name change. District court has only certain days that they do naturalizations.
 
Freebird2 said:
Paz,

Thanks again for the advice, you seems to be the most knowledgable and warm-hearted member here. Do you mind if I ask a somewhat newbie question: follow the link you sent me (http://www.ailf.org/lac/lac_lit_natdelay.shtml), I realize it's hard for me to pinpoint the case "Gupta v. Chertoff" in PACER as there are hundreds of cases involved a "Gupta". I'm guessing the piece of information "Miscellaneous No. H-06-0351" associated with the case represents some sort of index in AILF web site. Is there some database I can search in AILF? Thanks!

Freebird2
I am not familiar with the AILF web site organization, but it is easy to find the case you mentioned. You go on PACER to the South Texas district web site and in the Query, you put in the case number 06-0351. You will get 17 cases, but only one is Gupta v. Chertoff et al. It is the 10th in the list.
 
paz1960 said:
I am not familiar with the AILF web site organization, but it is easy to find the case you mentioned. You go on PACER to the South Texas district web site and in the Query, you put in the case number 06-0351. You will get 17 cases, but only one is Gupta v. Chertoff et al. It is the 10th in the list.


Thanks Paz! I got it.

Freebird2
 
Hi Paz and other Gurus!

So five days after the AUSA filed their ANSWER stating the generic reasons (disniss due lack of subject matter jurisdiction) the magistrate judge has issed the initial schaduling order for discovery. Following is the exact order:

INITIAL SCHEDULING ORDER
This cause is assigned to me for scheduling, case management, discovery and other non-dispositive motions. A Rule 16 scheduling conference will be held in my chambers, Suite 670, Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse, 333 Lomas Blvd., Albuquerque, New Mexico, on MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2007 at
3:000 pm.1 At the Rule 16 scheduling conference, counsel will be prepared to discuss all claims and defenses, initial disclosures, discovery requests and scheduling, any issues relating to disclosure or discovery of electronically-stored information, the timing of expert disclosures and reports under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2), and the use of scientific evidence and whether it is anticipated that a Daubert2 hearing is needed. We will also discuss settlement prospects, alternative dispute resolution possibilities, and consideration of consent pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). Parties represented by counsel need not attend. If service on all parties is not complete,
plaintiff(s) appearing through counsel or pro se plaintiff(s) are responsible for notifying all parties of the content of this order.
The parties, appearing through counsel or pro se, will "meet and confer" no later than twenty-one (21) days prior to the initial scheduling conference to discuss the nature and basis of their claims and defenses,
the possibility of a prompt resolution or settlement, and to formulate a provisional discovery plan. Fed. R. Civil. P. 26(f). The time allowed for discovery is generally 120 to 180 days. The parties will cooperate in
preparing a Joint Status Report and Provisional Discovery Plan (JSR) which follows the sample JSR obtainable from the Clerk of the Court.3 The blanks for proposed dates should be filled in by the parties.4 Plaintiff, or Defendant in removed cases, is responsible for electronically filing the JSR by MARCH 2, 2007.
Initial disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) must be made within fourteen (14) days of the meet-andconfer session.
Parties may not modify case management deadlines on their own. Good cause must be shown and the Court’s express and written approval obtained for any modification of the dates to the case management deadlines that are established by the Court at the scheduling conference. Counsel are required to comply with the Local Civil Rules of the United States District Court for the
District of New Mexico, as well as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Civility and professionalism will be required of counsel, and counsel must comply with “A Creed of Professionalism of the New Mexico Bench and
Bar” (which can be found in the State Bar of New Mexico Bench and Bar Directory).
IT IS SO ORDERED.

My understanding.
1-Scheduling conference on Monday 3/12/2007 to discuss settlement prospects and discovery of electronically stored infomation (I am sure USCIS would LOVE that!!)
2-Both parties "meet and confer" no later than 21 days prior to the above date. At that meeting they will fill out the Joint Status Report (JSR) and Provisional discovery plan which has to be filed by March2, 2007.

My questions
1-What is Daubert hearing? There is a footnote to "Daubert V Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals 509 U.S 579 (1993)".
2- How and where will the first conference for JSR will take place? Will the judge will be involved or between me and AUSA.

As always I appreciate your response.

sfdurrani

I-485 RD 10/2004
Stuck in Name Check 10/09/2004
WOM filed 11/22/2006
AUSA served 11/29/2006
AUSA ANSWER on 1/30/2007
Scheduling order by Judge 2/7/2007
 
sfdurrani said:
Hi Paz and other Gurus!

So five days after the AUSA filed their ANSWER stating the generic reasons (disniss due lack of subject matter jurisdiction) the magistrate judge has issed the initial schaduling order for discovery. Following is the exact order:

INITIAL SCHEDULING ORDER
This cause is assigned to me for scheduling, case management, discovery and other non-dispositive motions. A Rule 16 scheduling conference will be held in my chambers, Suite 670, Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse, 333 Lomas Blvd., Albuquerque, New Mexico, on MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2007 at
3:000 pm.1 At the Rule 16 scheduling conference, counsel will be prepared to discuss all claims and defenses, initial disclosures, discovery requests and scheduling, any issues relating to disclosure or discovery of electronically-stored information, the timing of expert disclosures and reports under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2), and the use of scientific evidence and whether it is anticipated that a Daubert2 hearing is needed. We will also discuss settlement prospects, alternative dispute resolution possibilities, and consideration of consent pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). Parties represented by counsel need not attend. If service on all parties is not complete,
plaintiff(s) appearing through counsel or pro se plaintiff(s) are responsible for notifying all parties of the content of this order.
The parties, appearing through counsel or pro se, will "meet and confer" no later than twenty-one (21) days prior to the initial scheduling conference to discuss the nature and basis of their claims and defenses,
the possibility of a prompt resolution or settlement, and to formulate a provisional discovery plan. Fed. R. Civil. P. 26(f). The time allowed for discovery is generally 120 to 180 days. The parties will cooperate in
preparing a Joint Status Report and Provisional Discovery Plan (JSR) which follows the sample JSR obtainable from the Clerk of the Court.3 The blanks for proposed dates should be filled in by the parties.4 Plaintiff, or Defendant in removed cases, is responsible for electronically filing the JSR by MARCH 2, 2007.
Initial disclosures under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) must be made within fourteen (14) days of the meet-andconfer session.
Parties may not modify case management deadlines on their own. Good cause must be shown and the Court’s express and written approval obtained for any modification of the dates to the case management deadlines that are established by the Court at the scheduling conference. Counsel are required to comply with the Local Civil Rules of the United States District Court for the
District of New Mexico, as well as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Civility and professionalism will be required of counsel, and counsel must comply with “A Creed of Professionalism of the New Mexico Bench and
Bar” (which can be found in the State Bar of New Mexico Bench and Bar Directory).
IT IS SO ORDERED.

My understanding.
1-Scheduling conference on Monday 3/12/2007 to discuss settlement prospects and discovery of electronically stored infomation (I am sure USCIS would LOVE that!!)
2-Both parties "meet and confer" no later than 21 days prior to the above date. At that meeting they will fill out the Joint Status Report (JSR) and Provisional discovery plan which has to be filed by March2, 2007.

My questions
1-What is Daubert hearing? There is a footnote to "Daubert V Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals 509 U.S 579 (1993)".
2- How and where will the first conference for JSR will take place? Will the judge will be involved or between me and AUSA.

As always I appreciate your response.

sfdurrani

I-485 RD 10/2004
Stuck in Name Check 10/09/2004
WOM filed 11/22/2006
AUSA served 11/29/2006
AUSA ANSWER on 1/30/2007
Scheduling order by Judge 2/7/2007
1. What is a Daubert hearing? It is, in effect, a mini-trial within a trial, conducted before the judge only, not the jury, over the validity and admissibility of expert opinion testimony. See at: http://forensic-evidence.com/site/ID/ID_FBI.html I believe that this is irrelevant in such cases. The cited Supreme Court case you can find at: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=509&invol=579
2. I think that the first conference for JSR will take place only between you and AUSA. You will need to coordinate this with AUSA, it is possible that you don't even have to meet with him/her in person, just on the phone + e-mails. S/he probably can draft the JSR and you can review it, propose additions if you consider necessary and ultimately agree and AUSA can file electronically with the court, (but only after s/he has your consent, be careful with this). But this conference for JSR could be a good reason why you can ask AUSA to meet him/her in person and build some good working realtionship with him/her.

From the text of the order I understood that it is your responsability to serve this order to AUSA. Most likely s/he got it electronically, but make sure and check. If s/he didn't get this order, you need to serve him/her and file with the court proof of service.
 
Dear Paz!

I appreciate your response. You made a good point which I did not pay attention to before. I shall write an e-mail to the AUSA and make sure that she has received it. One of the earlier WOM case filed in the state went into discovery stage which was very vigorously resisted by USCIS as the judge had asked USCIS to produce all the USCIS documents on the plaintiff.

Thanks

sfdurrani
 
I am glad I found this Thread.

My I-140 is pending Security Check - it is coming close to five months. I will give it another 4-5months.

Then I would probably pursue the lawsuit option to get it moving...

Any comments :)
 
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