10 Things You Need to Know About Mandamus
- There are many reasons for unreasonable delays in your immigration case. In addition to the sheer volume of applications, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which plays a large part in making decisions pertaining to these cases, occasionally causes delays for reasons such as file transfers to incorrect destinations, misplacing files, or even shifting cases into files marked for further investigation or review because of administrative error on their part or a lack of understanding on the part of a low-level clerk.
- A Writ of Mandamus is a petition filed with a District Court requesting that an order be issued compelling an officer of the United States to perform their duty, as required by 28 U.S. law Code § 1361, such as adjudication of a long pending petition.
- Writs of mandamus apply in various areas of the law, including immigration law.
- You are not asking USCIS to approve your application; you are asking them to make a decision.
- Almost every type of immigration case can use writ of mandamus to expedite their processing at USCIS if such cases are experiencing abnormal delay. Cases abnormally delayed in U.S. consulate or embassy can be benefited by writ of mandamus as well.
- A writ of mandamus is filed in a U.S. Federal District Court.
- There is no law or strict rule on how long a person must wait before filing a lawsuit. However, if your application is pending for more than 12–24 months or is time sensitive, it may be time to consider such action.
- In some cases, the government does not wish to litigate your case, and will offer to make a final decision on your pending case in exchange for a voluntary dismissal of your Writ of Mandamus petition.
- You should attempt all recommended methods to resolve the problem before filing the Writ of Mandamus.
- It is important to work with an immigration attorney who has experience handling mandamus cases.
If you have an immigration case that has been pending for over a year and you’re tired of waiting, the Scott Law Firm can help! We can file a “mandamus” action in court to compel USCIS to act where there has been an unreasonable delay that causes harm to the applicant.