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

Hi wommei:

Thanks for your reply. I appreciated your help.

I think you are right. I have to wait for the court to sign and seal the summons before I do anything else. I'll check with the clerk again tomorrow to see if I can get a copy of the signed and sealed summon. It may take some time to serve the defendants, but it shouldn't take this much time to simply sign and sealed the summons. I gave the court two copies of the filled summons when I filed the lawsuit.

Maybe the court has too many cases to deal with, or I might just run into someone who don't know what they are doing. I have to hope for the best.



wommei said:
sweetapple,

I checked the federal rules about how to serve summons. You probably can find those rules on the website of the court. I think the seal and signiture are required for summons. So it is better to wait for the summons (the ones with seal or signatures) in the mail.
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lazycis,

For case 3:08-cv-00332-SI Jiang v. Chertoff(N.D. Cal, 2008), PACER shows a MSJ was filed on 5/28. But when I tried to view it, it says I don't have permission. Is it normal? Do you know if I will be able to see it if I go to the court? Would like more MSJ samples in preparation of my MSJ.

Thanks
 
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sweetapple said:
Hi wommei:

Thanks for your reply. I appreciated your help.

I think you are right. I have to wait for the court to sign and seal the summons before I do anything else. I'll check with the clerk again tomorrow to see if I can get a copy of the signed and sealed summon. It may take some time to serve the defendants, but it shouldn't take this much time to simply sign and sealed the summons. I gave the court two copies of the filled summons when I filed the lawsuit.

Maybe the court has too many cases to deal with, or I might just run into someone who don't know what they are doing. I have to hope for the best.
Click to expand...

I agree with you both. Wait for summons in the mail. I believe it is required by rules to send summons within 10 days. Maybe the clerk went on vacation :)
 
Hey, meteor8,

Once I tried to download a MSJ at N. D. Cal and I wasn't able to do so. So I contacted the plaintiff (was streching my luck anyway) and the plaintiff told me that he didn't seal his documents. So my guess is that the court did something to protect plaintiff's privacy or something. But you can download other documents like court order though.
Maybe you could check the following website and to see if you can find some helpful MSJ.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/FBI_name_check

meteor8 said:
lacycis,

For case 3:08-cv-00332-SI Jiang v. Chertoff(N.D. Cal, 2008), PACER shows a MSJ was filed on 5/28. But when I tried to view it, it says I don't have permission. Is it normal? Do you know if I will be able to see it if I go to the court? Would like more MSJ samples in preparation of my MSJ.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
wommei said:
Hey, mish,

Here is the information I found on the internet. The 60-day deadline runs starting from the date when US attorney got your summon and complaint. For example, if the US attorney's office got them on April 5th, then their deadline is June 5th. But you can contact them before the deadline is up and find out what is their plan. You can find who is the assistant US attorney in charge of your case either by calling the US attorney's office or by log in Pacer and check that information, like lazycis suggested.

Thomas P. O’Brien, USA*
1200 U.S. Courthouse
312 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Web Site | Press Release PHone: (213)894-2434 Fax: (213)894-0141
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I called US attorney general office and they could not find my case, using case #, name or S.S, then she asked if I mailed it to the Los Angeles office, I replay no I sent it to the main office in Washington, she said you need to send it to civil process Clark in Los Angeles. My question “even I have served and received prove of service from the USAGO can they say we did not receive it or it was send to the wrong office” also she said if you want to be process you need to serve the civil process Clark in Los Angeles? Please help!!
 
wommei said:
Hey, meteor8,

Once I tried to download a MSJ at N. D. Cal and I wasn't able to do so. So I contacted the plaintiff (was streching my luck anyway) and the plaintiff told me that he didn't seal his documents. So my guess is that the court did something to protect plaintiff's privacy or something. But you can download other documents like court order though.
Maybe you could check the following website and to see if you can find some helpful MSJ.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/FBI_name_check
Click to expand...
Hi, wommei

Thanks for the quick response.

It's not likely the plaintiff sealed the document. Maybe because it's a new document which was just submitted last week. My case is N-400 and wiki only has MSJ samples for 485 cases. I do have one MSJ sample from mortezapour case but would like to have more if possible. :)
 
mish

You do need to serve a copy of summon and complaint to local US attorney's office by certified mail with return of receipt. So there is no way they could deny the fact that you served them properly. But I don't know how to make things right at this point. Maybe lazycis can give you some advice on that.

mish said:
I called US attorney general office and they could not find my case, using case #, name or S.S, then she asked if I mailed it to the Los Angeles office, I replay no I sent it to the main office in Washington, she said you need to send it to civil process Clark in Los Angeles. My question “even I have served and received prove of service from the USAGO can they say we did not receive it or it was send to the wrong office” also she said if you want to be process you need to serve the civil process Clark in Los Angeles? Please help!!
Click to expand...
 
mish said:
I called US attorney general office and they could not find my case, using case #, name or S.S, then she asked if I mailed it to the Los Angeles office, I replay no I sent it to the main office in Washington, she said you need to send it to civil process Clark in Los Angeles. My question “even I have served and received prove of service from the USAGO can they say we did not receive it or it was send to the wrong office” also she said if you want to be process you need to serve the civil process Clark in Los Angeles? Please help!!
Click to expand...

You do need to send your complaint by certified mail+return receipt to civil process clerk in LA in addition to sending a copy to Washington,DC. Both are the required steps, the service is not complete without them.
 
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mish said:
I called US attorney general office and they could not find my case, using case #, name or S.S, then she asked if I mailed it to the Los Angeles office, I replay no I sent it to the main office in Washington, she said you need to send it to civil process Clark in Los Angeles. My question “even I have served and received prove of service from the USAGO can they say we did not receive it or it was send to the wrong office” also she said if you want to be process you need to serve the civil process Clark in Los Angeles? Please help!!
Click to expand...

You might want to check your district court's pro se handbook. You always need to serve the AUSA for your district even though they are not one of the defendants. The summon should be sent to the civil process clerk.
 
meteor8 said:
Hi, wommei

Thanks for the quick response.

It's not likely the plaintiff sealed the document. Maybe because it's a new document which was just submitted last week. My case is N-400 and wiki only has MSJ samples for 485 cases. I do have one MSJ sample from mortezapour case but would like to have more if possible. :)
Click to expand...

There was a rule passed in the 9th circuit reestricting access to immigration-related cases in PACER due to the "privacy concerns". I do not think you'll be able to get MSJ even if you go to court. However, I noticed that sometimes I can access cases in NDCal without a problem. Maybe I'm just lucky :)
 
lazycis said:
You do need to send your complaint by certified mail+return receipt to civil process clerk in LA in addition to sending a copy to Washington,DC. Both are the required steps, the service is not complete without them.
Click to expand...

Ok, now after I serve the LA civil process clerk office and have proof of service, do I need to submitted the new document to the US court clerk office to be added to the original proof of service or shall I just wait for a month and then contact the local US attorney general office.
 
lazycis

Hey, lazycis,

The Pacer system probably recognize you as a professional attorney and identify us as amateurs. That is why you could get the MSJs and we couldn't.:)

lazycis said:
There was a rule passed in the 9th circuit reestricting access to immigration-related cases in PACER due to the "privacy concerns". I do not think you'll be able to get MSJ even if you go to court. However, I noticed that sometimes I can access cases in NDCal without a problem. Maybe I'm just lucky :)
Click to expand...
 
this is probably a silly question: in a lot document filed with courts, I see 'Id' is used frequently when referencing something(previously submitted doc etc). What does 'Id' mean here?
 
mish said:
Ok, now after I serve the LA civil process clerk office and have proof of service, do I need to submitted the new document to the US court clerk office to be added to the original proof of service or shall I just wait for a month and then contact the local US attorney general office.
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You need to submit the return receipt after you get it from AUSA. You can just attach it to a sheet of paper with your case title on it.
 
Hi, lazycis

Here is a draft of my MSJ. Could you take a look and let me know if anything needs to be modified?

Thanks a lot!
 
meteor8 said:
Hi, lazycis

Here is a draft of my MSJ. Could you take a look and let me know if anything needs to be modified?

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

Replace
"While the duty is often mandatory or ministerial, the duty may also be in the exercise of discretion. Although an officer may have discretion to adjudicate an application, it has a non-discretionary duty to process the application. Failure to perform such duties can be contrary to law for mandamus to lie. Davis v. Shultz, 453, F.2d 497, 502 (3rd Cir. 1971), Naporano Metal and Iron Company v. Secretary of Labor, 529 F.2d 537 (3d Cir. 1976). Jurisdiction exists to challenge a U.S. official's authority to "take or fail to taken an action as opposed to a decision taken within discretion." Patel v. Reno, 134 F.3d 929 (9th Cir. 1997)."

with
"Naturalization is not discretionary. The agency’s regulations provide that “ubsequent to the filing of an application for naturalization, the Service shall conduct an investigation of the applicant.” 8 C.F.R. § 335.1. Following an examination of the applicant, see id. § 335.2, “[t]he Service officer shall grant the application if the applicant has complied with all requirements for naturalization.” Id. § 335.3(a). Once a decision is made, “[t]he applicant shall be notified that the application has been granted or denied . . . .” Id. (emphasis added). When a statute or regulation uses the word “shall,” a mandatory duty is imposed upon the subject of the command. See e.g. United States v. Monsanto, 491 U.S. 600, 607 (1989). Although there may be no particular statutory deadline presently applicable to the processing of Plaintiff’s application, the agency has no discretion over whether to render a decision on the application. The agency’s regulations unequivocally and specifically command the agency to adjudicate naturalization applications: “Defendants have an implied duty to adjudicate naturalization applications … within a ‘reasonable time.’" Lazli v. US Citizenship and Immigration Services 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10713 (D. Or. Feb 12, 2007). “[N]umerous courts have held that the USCIS is the primary agency responsible for processing naturalization applications and that its duty to process a naturalization application is mandatory”. Moretazpour v. Chertoff, 2007 WL 4287363 (N.D.Cal. Dec 05, 2007) See also Shaat v. Klapakis, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 703338, at *8-9 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 21, 2007). Failure to perform mandatory duties can be contrary to law for mandamus to lie. Davis v. Shultz, 453, F.2d 497, 502 (3rd Cir. 1971), Naporano Metal and Iron Company v. Secretary of Labor, 529 F.2d 537 (3d Cir. 1976). Jurisdiction exists to challenge a U.S. official's authority to "take or fail to taken an action as opposed to a decision taken within discretion." Patel v. Reno, 134 F.3d 929 (9th Cir. 1997)."

I would also cite Jiang case in support. The more cases from your district/circuit, the better
 
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WOW , so much info , today I filed a lawsuit in the easter michigan district court against USCIS detroit . I should have read this string before filing the paper with my attorney . ( in short , my 485 was denied becoz of 5 criminal charges in my record , 2 were convictions of domestic violence and 3 were nollo pros .) so lets see if the judge is going to extend my EAD .
 
lazycis, please help!

lazycis said:
It may be a good idea, but you can attach that info to your motion for hearing and ask court to naturalize you. You can submit affidavit to state that you complied with requirements for naturalization. You may submit also affidavit signed by another US citizen (friend, pastor, etc) stating that they know you and that you have a good moral character. Affidavit should be signed in the presence of notary (any bank branch should have one). Below is a sample form for affidavit

Commonwealth of Massachusetts )
)SS:
County of )

Before me, the undersigned notary public, this day, personally, appeared Joe Doe to me known, who being duly sworn according to law, deposes the following:

(Affiant’s Statement)

___________________________
(Signature of Affiant)

Subscribed and sworn to before me this__________day of_______________, 20___. ___________________________ Notary Public
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What is "SS:" here? What shall I put after "SS:" ?

Thanks!!
 
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