What can I do if my Immigration Case is taking forever to process?
COVID-19 has impacted many parts of our lives, and unfortunately this also includes the work of USCIS. Previously processing times were somewhat reasonable, but lately some cases are taking a year or more to process when the original processing time was much shorter. Even worse, some cases seem to have fallen completely off the agency’s radar and USCIS is not taking any action on them at all. What can you do to try and move your case along?
Call the USCIS contact center and place an inquiry about the status of your case
The USCIS contact number is 1 (800) 375 5283.
If your case is outside of the normally posted processing times (meaning that it has been pending for longer than the posted processing time for your type of case), you can call this number, speak with an officer, and place an inquiry about what is holding up the processing of your case.
- Submit an Ombudsman Request
If the USCIS inquiry does not work, you can place an Ombudsman Request. The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) assists individuals and employers in resolving difficulties they are experiencing with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Ombudsman Requests usually receive a response within a few weeks or months of being submitted.
https://www.dhs.gov/topic/cis-ombudsman/forms/7001#no-back
- Contact a Congressional Representative
If submitting an Ombudsman Request does not work, you can contact your local congressional representative for your district and request their assistance with your immigration case.
The first step for congressional assistance is finding the name and contact information of the congressional representative from this website – www.house.gov. At the top right section of the screen there should be a prompt that says “Enter your zip code.” Once your zip code is entered, your representative's name and contact information should appear.
Their contact information is usually an email address and a phone number, although email is generally preferred. Once the congressional representative has been contacted and the situation is explained, the congressman would inform you of any form or document that needs to be submitted. If an expedite request is being filed through the congressional office, the documents proving the reasons for expedited processing will be required by the congressional office.
One of the general forms that is required for all inquiries with the congressional representative is the privacy waiver. A congressional office cannot contact the USCIS regarding an immigrant application without the permission of the applicant. This waiver would give them the permission to access the application and information that the USCIS has. Consequently, a privacy waiver needs to be filled out which will require: information about the case, the USCIS case number, general identification information, a summary of the issue, efforts taken to solve the issue, and any other key documents. This waiver would allow the congressman to provide updates about the application at hand.
From that point on, the congressman should be able to guide the applicant in the right direction for any updates or additional documents that are required. The USCIS typically resolves cases within 30 days of the request sent by the congressional office whether that be through email or written correspondence.
- A last resort: File a Writ of Mandamus Action
In immigration, a mandamus is generally a civil lawsuit against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Federal Court.
This lawsuit asks the court to compel the immigration agency to make a decision on the immigrant plaintiff’s application or petition.
In addition to USCIS, the injunction also allows you to file a lawsuit against other US agencies, such as:
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);
- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and
- US consulates or embassies.
The injunction can be used in cases where there has been an unreasonable delay or an illegal withholding of action.
This type of action should be considered as a last resort, after other means have been fully explored.
I order to decide if one of these options is right for you, please contact our office and consult one of our highly experienced immigration professionals today!
This blog is not intended to be legal advice and nothing here should be construed as establishing an attorney client relationship. Please schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney before acting on any information read here.
