I-485 approved after a Writ Of Mandamus (WOM)

E

exTrainer

Registered Users (C)
My I-485 was filed in Jan. 2004, EB2 category. Early this year, after waiting for over 2 years and learning that I was stuck in the FBI namecheck, I did the usual things like writing to the senator, congresswoman of the area, the DHS ombudsman, FBI's NNCP division, a FOIPA request etc. This had no effect aside from confirming my "pending ... wait in line" status.

In July this year, after reading about the Writ of Manadamus (WOM) on this forum as well as the namechecktracker yahoo group, I decided to retain a lawyer to file a WOM against the FBI. If you visit the namechecktracker yahoo group you will find that some attornerys there suggest that in employment based cases it is better to do file the WOM against the FBI, rather than USCIS because USCIS might get mad and issue an RFE.

So the lawyer sent the formal complaint to the FBI in July 2006 and gave them one month to respond. They did not. So in mid-August he filed a WOM. The court gave FBI 2 months to respond. The 2 month limit was to be over end of Oct. But only yesterday we got the good news that I-485 was approved. So things moved pretty fast once the WOM was filed.

The long wait and the ordeal is finally over.

My details:

I-485 filed in Jan. 2004, Category: EB2, Country: India
Priority date: Oct. 2001
I-140 approved in late 2004.
3 EAD cards and 3 Advance Paroles in the interim
I-485 approved on Oct. 11, 2006 after WOM against the FBI/Dept of Justice
 
Congratulations on your success!
Did you only sue FBI? No other agencies, like Dep. of Homeland Security, Dept. of Justice, etc
Could you let me know which laywer you retained?

Thanks.







exTrainer said:
My I-485 was filed in Jan. 2004, EB2 category. Early this year, after waiting for over 2 years and learning that I was stuck in the FBI namecheck, I did the usual things like writing to the senator, congresswoman of the area, the DHS ombudsman, FBI's NNCP division, a FOIPA request etc. This had no effect aside from confirming my "pending ... wait in line" status.

In July this year, after reading about the Writ of Manadamus (WOM) on this forum as well as the namechecktracker yahoo group, I decided to retain a lawyer to file a WOM against the FBI. If you visit the namechecktracker yahoo group you will find that some attornerys there suggest that in employment based cases it is better to do file the WOM against the FBI, rather than USCIS because USCIS might get mad and issue an RFE.

So the lawyer sent the formal complaint to the FBI in July 2006 and gave them one month to respond. They did not. So in mid-August he filed a WOM. The court gave FBI 2 months to respond. The 2 month limit was to be over end of Oct. But only yesterday we got the good news that I-485 was approved. So things moved pretty fast once the WOM was filed.

The long wait and the ordeal is finally over.

My details:

I-485 filed in Jan. 2004, Category: EB2, Country: India
Priority date: Oct. 2001
I-140 approved in late 2004.
3 EAD cards and 3 Advance Paroles in the interim
I-485 approved on Oct. 11, 2006 after WOM against the FBI/Dept of Justice
Click to expand...
 
Yes, the WOM was filed against FBI which comes under the Dept. of Justice (DOJ). So essentially the lawsuit was against the attorney general Alberto Gonzales who heads the DOJ. But it never reaches that high up. Once the DOJ receives the notice, they assign a assistant US DOJ attorney from a local office to handle it and your lawyer essentially negotiates with him/her.

USCIS comes under Dept. of Homeland security and we did not sue USCIS, since the application was held up due to delays at the FBI, and not the USCIS.

The attorney I used is listed on the yahoo newsgroup namechecktracker under the group Database. He is located in southern california, but there are several other lawyers listed there who might be more suitable for you dependning on which area you are in.

xyr888 said:
Congratulations on your success!
Did you only sue FBI? No other agencies, like Dep. of Homeland Security, Dept. of Justice, etc
Could you let me know which laywer you retained?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
exTrainer,

Thanks. I went to the Yahoo namechecktracker, but cannot find the lawyer list you mentioned. Could you direct me there? Thanks again.



exTrainer said:
Yes, the WOM was filed against FBI which comes under the Dept. of Justice (DOJ). So essentially the lawsuit was against the attorney general Alberto Gonzales who heads the DOJ. But it never reaches that high up. Once the DOJ receives the notice, they assign a assistant US DOJ attorney from a local office to handle it and your lawyer essentially negotiates with him/her.

USCIS comes under Dept. of Homeland security and we did not sue USCIS, since the application was held up due to delays at the FBI, and not the USCIS.

The attorney I used is listed on the yahoo newsgroup namechecktracker under the group Database. He is located in southern california, but there are several other lawyers listed there who might be more suitable for you dependning on which area you are in.
Click to expand...
 
Google for Daniel Huang in Alhambra, CA and you will get his website.

xyr888 said:
exTrainer,

Thanks. I went to the Yahoo namechecktracker, but cannot find the lawyer list you mentioned. Could you direct me there? Thanks again.
Click to expand...
 
exTrainer said:
Google for Daniel Huang in Alhambra, CA and you will get his website.
Click to expand...


Congratulations exTrainer...!!! enjoy the freedom....

I noticed that your priority date is Oct2001 ???? was your priority current at the time of filing of your WOM ??? Please clarify.... :confused:
 
No my priority date wasn't current on the day we filed WOM. But I do not see how that should matter. Our lawsuit was against the FBI to clear the namecheck and namechecks don't have any priority dates associated with them. My communication with the FBI, via the senator, had clearly revealed that they had my namecheck request and it was still pending and it was their job to clear it in reasonable time.

But I can see that priority being current would be a big issue if the lawsuit was against the USCIS because then they could use that as a reason for the delay.

gctarget06 said:
Congratulations exTrainer...!!! enjoy the freedom....

I noticed that your priority date is Oct2001 ???? was your priority current at the time of filing of your WOM ??? Please clarify.... :confused:
Click to expand...
 
exTrainer said:
No my priority date wasn't current on the day we filed WOM. But I do not see how that should matter. Our lawsuit was against the FBI to clear the namecheck and namechecks don't have any priority dates associated with them. My communication with the FBI, via the senator, had clearly revealed that they had my namecheck request and it was still pending and it was their job to clear it in reasonable time.

But I can see that priority being current would be a big issue if the lawsuit was against the USCIS because then they could use that as a reason for the delay.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification exTrainr..Although what I didn't understand is that how come did they approve your I-485 when your priority is not current yet... ???? :confused: your argument against FBI only made sense though....
 
WOM, letter to senator??

Congratulations!!

I have a different situation here. My husband and 2 of our kids and me got our GC in December 2005, our oldest son (15 now)is still in the FBI name check....
I would like to get an example letter to write to our Senator and maybe some help in filing an WOM by myself, without a lawyer. We live in the San Francisco Bay area. Maybe there is one of you out there who can email me some help ?? Thanks so much, I don't even know where to start.

adutchemt@hotmail.com

Thanks!!!!!!
 
greencardmom said:
Congratulations!!

I have a different situation here. My husband and 2 of our kids and me got our GC in December 2005, our oldest son (15 now)is still in the FBI name check....
I would like to get an example letter to write to our Senator and maybe some help in filing an WOM by myself, without a lawyer. We live in the San Francisco Bay area. Maybe there is one of you out there who can email me some help ?? Thanks so much, I don't even know where to start.

adutchemt@hotmail.com

Thanks!!!!!!
Click to expand...

If you want to do it by yourself...then here is the link...http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?p=1533877#post1533877

read first 50-60 pages and you'll be on your way to kick their dirty a$$es... :D also writing to senator/congressman is a total waste of time and energy...but you can use it as exhibit in your lawsuit though...good luck.
 
gctarget06 said:
Thanks for the clarification exTrainr..Although what I didn't understand is that how come did they approve your I-485 when your priority is not current yet... ???? :confused: your argument against FBI only made sense though....
Click to expand...

We filed the WOM mid-August 2006 when my priority date was *not* current. In fact the EB2 category for India, to which my application belonged, was "Unavailable". The expected turn around time from the FBI was 60 days i.e. roughly by the end of Oct. 2006. In Mid-Sept. 2006, the visa bulletin for the following month Oct 2006 came out and my priority date was to become in current in Oct. I had anticipated this because before EB2 becoming unavailable for India, my priority date was current, but the unavailability later was probably due to end of the fiscal year. So I estimated that in Oct. with the begining of the new fiscal year, new EB2 quota would be available for India and my date would once again become current. That's exactly what happened. Thus my I-485 was approved in Oct. when my priority date WAS current, which is a must for any I-485 approval. The only surprise there was in Oct. I was hoping only for the namecheck to clear and then USCIS would take its sweet little time of 3 months or more to actually approve the I-485 application. But the WOM pushed some buttons deep inside the govt. machinery and not only they cleared my namecheck, but also I-485.
 
Absolutely brilliant...congratulation once again...!!!! I am also in a dilemma right now i.e. should I go ahead and file only against FBI as my PD (June 2001 EB3, India) is not current yet. Or wait for few more months until visa numbers are available and then file it so that there may be chances of approval.... :confused:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Also exTrainer,
If you could share your complaint albeit by hiding/removing your name and other personal info. from the complaint for your privacy, that'd be kudos to you...!!! The reason I am interested in it becuase you dragged only FBI in your WOM, unlike others who dragged the USCIS as well. And I am also contemplating to go your way as my PD is not current yet..... Thanks.
 
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