[Blog]

During the donald trump administration, the administrative agencies that run the immigration system ground to a halt, almost as if following their leader, they decided that slow-walking or virtually stopping immigration benefit processing was their new modus operandi. Today we still see horrifically long wait times for visa interviews to be scheduled abroad, for visas to be issued after interview, for work cards to be issued, and for many basic applications to simply be adjudicated. 

Another key facet of the trump administration was for these same administrative agencies to refuse to communicate with attorneys, clients, and the public. As a result, we really have no way to learn why a particular case is delayed, or any meaningful mechanism to address concerns about a case. 

To that end, the Department of Homeland Security which runs the immigration benefit agency, USCIS, and the Department of State which run the embassies are administrative agencies and subject to the Administrative Procedures Act. Part of that Act requires agencies to act within a reasonable time on a properly filed case. 

We have recently begun suing the government over and over on long-delayed cases. Technically, we are seeking from the Court a Writ of Mandamus, to order the agency to act - but this does not mean that the Court orders them to approve or deny the case, merely that some action must be taken. Some examples include an asylum application that was pending SIX YEARS after interview; two H-1B worker visas for the same company that were held up at US Embassies in Pakistan for months while the employer waited for their workers to arrive; a naturalization applicant who had been scheduled for their oath ceremony - then had it cancelled - and couldn’t get anyone to explain why; and a naturalization applicant whose whole family filed at the same time she did and were all naturalized while she waited and waited for an interview that was never scheduled. 

ALL of these cases were resolved within 60 days (some of them within 2-3 days) of our filing lawsuits against the government to compel agency action. Keep in mind - in none of them did the Court find against the government. In none of them did the government even answer our complaint. Instead, by filing the lawsuit we were able to get agency resources applied to resolve their issue. In all of these cases, we had tried contacting the agencies over the course of months (or years) as well as often contacting Congressional representatives and other avenues to seek redress before going to court. 

This is not how the administrative agencies are meant to act - it should not be a requirement for you to get a decision in your case to first sue them. However, when the few options available to you do not work - Mandamus may be your last resort.