In addition to the high volume of cases currently being handled, there are several common reasons why your immigration application may be delayed, including:
- Administrative Delays in Processing. Immigration applications pass through numerous channels on their way to being approved, slowing down the time that administrative processing takes. It’s possible for your application to get stuck at many different points in the bureaucratic process before a decision is made. When immigration agencies are questioned regarding these delays, the response is likely to be that your application is “pending”, “under review” or “under investigation”.
- Delays in Background Checks and Security Clearances. USCIS conducts background checks and security clearances on all applicants for immigration services. These checks involve reviews by multiple federal agencies and lengthy delays are possible even if you have a clean background and no criminal record. Anecdotal evidence suggests post-9/11 security policies have increased the scrutiny of these checks, increasing the likelihood of delays based on profiling of applicants names and countries of origin. IN particular, those coming form Morocco, Algeria, Russia, China, Pakistan, and the Middle East
If your immigration application or immigration petition has been pending for over a year, you may benefit from filing a mandamus action, which forces USCIS to make a decision.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Filing a mandamus lawsuit can be an effective tool to force the government to make a decision on your case. Filing this type of lawsuit does not guarantee that the government will approve your application, but it does guarantee that you will no longer be in limbo. When nothing else seems to work and your efforts and requests for information on the status of your pending application fail to get a response, a mandamus lawsuit is often the best way to get the answers you need to resolve your case and move on with your life.
This lawsuit must be filed in U.S. District Court. If successful, a federal judge will order USCIS to issue a decision on your case. Filing a mandamus action is serious. Sometimes, just the filing of this action in U.S. District Court results in USCIS issuing a decision to avoid further litigation.
If you have a case that has been pending for an unreasonable amount of time and you have exhausted all of your other remedies, contact The Scott Law Firm today to see how we can help you!