Mandamus Lawsuits Remain Effective in Immigration Cases
Posted Apr 11, 2008
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Recent developments in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) policies may soon limit writ of mandamus lawsuits. While some may think that mandamus cases are no longer as helpful, they continue to be an effective tool to resolve delayed immigration cases. The mandamus continues to provide a mechanism to obtain review of a long-delayed case, often leading to a speedy resolution. The following perspectives on this matter are for the benefit of our MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers.
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USCIS and FBI Plan to Complete Name Checks by June 2009
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The USCIS and FBI released a joint press release (PDF 27.8KB) on April 2, 2008 stating their plan to complete pending FBI name check cases by June 2009. The FBI claims already to have resolved all name check cases that were pending for more than four years. The two agencies intend to meet the June 2009 milestone by increasing their staff and resources and by improving their business processes.
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Case Load with FBI for Naturalization Cases is Large
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The USCIS has requested that the FBI complete more than 29,800 pending name check cases for foreign nationals who have applied for naturalization and completed the naturalization interview process. As reported in our January 11, 2008 MurthyBulletin article, Murthy Law Firm Successful in Mandamus Lawsuits, mandamus actions may benefit those with delayed N-400 and I-485 cases. If a foreign national's N-400 is delayed more than 120 days from completion of an N-400 interview, s/he may seek a hearing on the case by filing a federal lawsuit in a U.S. District Court.
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Aytes's February 2008 Memorandum and Mandamus Lawsuits
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As indicated in our March 7, 2008 article, New Developments in Mandamus Lawsuits, the USCIS issued a  February 4, 2008 memorandum by Michael Aytes, in response to the rising tide of successful writ of mandamus actions. This memorandum permits USCIS to approve an I-485 application that otherwise is approvable, but has been delayed for 180 days or more by the FBI name check process.
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This memorandum has caused U.S. senatorial and congressional offices to decline requests for assistance in expediting such delayed cases. With no way to send requests to the USCIS from other parts of the U.S. government, the only EXTERNAL way to expedite the processing of I-485 cases by the USCIS is to file a writ of mandamus lawsuit. While regular readers may recall a USCIS press release to the contrary, cited in our March 2, 2007 article, Policy on Expediting FBI Name Checks: Very Limited, the Murthy Law Firm continued in February and March 2008 to successfully resolve delayed I-485 cases using mandamus lawsuits. Several of these I-485 applications were approved quickly, after the filing of mandamus actions based upon the February 2008 Michael Aytes's memorandum, as USCIS approval was possible without the completion of name checks.
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Conclusion
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Despite the policy announced in the February 2007 press release, USCIS continues to approve some delayed I-485 applications after writ of mandamus lawsuits are filed. The Murthy Law Firm will continue to use these and other legal strategies to help our clients resolve difficult and long-delayed cases to obtain results when the government is not processing cases within its own established timelines.