Anyone with experience suing USCIS for case decision delay?

[XM148 8]

Hi everyone,

 

Hopefully I am posting this in the correct forum. I am looking for advice as my wife and I are preparing to sue USCIS to force a decision. Here is a brief background:

 

My wife is from China. About seven years ago she applied for an EB-5 visa. This was a very significant expense, and all though her investment project has been completed, none of the visas in her EB-5 group have been granted. The money is still tied up and she received a letter that said the EB-5 investment manager will be keeping it another 10 years due to the delay with the visas. About 5 years ago, she applied for, and was granted a student visa. She came to the US and studied in two Universities, one in Ohio and another in California. We met while she was in school in California and she had been in the US for about 3 years at that time. Eventually we got married, she moved to Alaska, and we immediately filed all of the paperwork to change her status and get her a green card due to marriage. This was 23 months ago.  After we were married she was granted an employment authorization card and was able to get a drivers license in Alaska. This state is very strict on who they issue drivers licenses to. The card was valid for one year. She applied to renew it and was sent a 180 day extension letter. That was 8 months ago, since she received the letter. Her drives license is now expired and she can't drive anymore, because she never received a new card. Somewhere the the midst of this we had a daughter, who is now 8 months old. We also live in a remote area, 25 miles from town. Having an infant child and a wife without a valid drivers license is a great hardship. 

 

Three months ago we finally had our first immigration interview. We were interviewed separately and it lasted about 45 minutes for each of us. We brought in all types of documents, including marriage certificate, joint bank accounts, insurance polices, birth records of our daughter, property deeds, photos, joint tax returns, etc. The case manager said he would have no problem approving our case, except the case was now so "old" that her immunization certificate was now expired and she needed a new one from a doctor. Two weeks and $1100 later, we sent the documents in.     

 

Two months go by and we receive another letter, requesting a second interview. OK, I guess. So we go in for this and are interviewed separately again. Her interview took 3 hours. It was absolutely agonizing sitting in the lobby because this was completely unexpected. When I was finally called in, my portion took 1.5 hours. The case manager had a completely different attitude this time and he had 8-10 pages of hand written notes from my wife's interview. We both have relatively significant assets (compared to the average person) and the immigration officer was insinuating my wife invested funds into my business (self employed) in exchange for marriage. Absolutely false because I've never used a dime of her money and none of it has ever been invested into my business, one that I started 3 years before we even met. The officer then tried to accuse me of owing back taxes (absolutely false), and was unable to show any evidence of this claim when I asked for proof.  He then goes on a tangent about her "extreme attempts to become a US Citizen" because of her EB-5, student visa, and now marriage. He told me this is a red flag and looks very bad for her. I was pretty taken back and just told him look, she already had another pathway to immigration via EB-5, our marriage is real, we have a child, and you have a 12" thick binder sitting on your desk of her case file that contains all of our supporting documents. What more do you want us to prove? He looked me right in the eye and said "OK, you're right. I promise you I will approve your case today" (his exact words) and went on to say she can expect her green card to arrive in the mail in 2-3 weeks.

 

On the drive home my wife told me that he her asked many detailed questions about my business. I am a licensed federal firearms dealer. He asked her how many guns I own, their storage locations, questions about the legality of my business, how many "illegal" guns I owned, etc. Never said a word about it to me. Needless to say all of my firearms are legal in accordance with state and federal law. My business is legal and we supply many of the local police departments. 

 

A few days later, we receive a letter from him dated one day after the interview, requesting/demanding copies of her college transcripts and tuition payment receipts. The frustration level was beyond belief. He looked me in the eye and promised to approve the case. I know that means nothing but oh man, so irritating. 

 

This isn't really relevant but just leaves a terrible taste on how USCIS "works". While I was waiting in the lobby during the 3 hour misery, a young woman came up to the fast pass window. She had a letter for her immigration interview that was about 30 days out. She was begging the guy at the counter for it to be moved up ASAP because she needed her legal status as fast as possible. When the guy asked her why, she told him she needed food stamps and the ability to apply for other government benefits and housing. They were more than happy to accommodate her and moved her interview to the following week. Meanwhile we are paying 150k+ a year in federal taxes and getting the run around for nearly two years while they fast track a societal leech. 

 

We have ordered certified copies of her transcripts and recovered all of her tuition receipts. The transcripts are in the mail. Once we receive them we are planning to mail them overnight and wait two weeks. If her case has not been approved or additional documentation is again requested, we are going to hire an attorney and sue USCIS to force their decision. Looking for advice from those who have had to do this before, and whether or not you were able to recover legal fees.

 

Sorry for the long post, just needed to vent.

 

 

 

[Roel 7,191]

Well... good luck with that. In my opinion there is zero to non chance that you'll be able to sue them and/or gain anything. 

[belinda63 2,993]

Sounds like there is something about her that is delaying the process. You say she applied for an EB-5 visa seven years ago and it still has not been approved. What is the hold up with that?

Anyway, yes you can sue them to obtain a decision but the outcome may not be an approval. Since they cannot approve someone until they are certain they are eligible for immigration benefits if you sue them and there are issues, such as an incompleted background check, missing documents, etc. then the result will be a denial.

 

[XM148 8]

We have no idea what the hold up with her EB-5 is. Everyone in the group, about 20 other people, are in the same boat as her. No one has gotten their visa. But all paid the 500k and the project has officially been completed, but they wont return the money because none of the visas have been issued.

[Lemonslice 4,657]

5 hours ago, XM148 said:

 

This isn't really relevant but just leaves a terrible taste on how USCIS "works". While I was waiting in the lobby during the 3 hour misery, a young woman came up to the fast pass window. She had a letter for her immigration interview that was about 30 days out. She was begging the guy at the counter for it to be moved up ASAP because she needed her legal status as fast as possible. When the guy asked her why, she told him she needed food stamps and the ability to apply for other government benefits and housing. They were more than happy to accommodate her and moved her interview to the following week. Meanwhile we are paying 150k+ a year in federal taxes and getting the run around for nearly two years while they fast track a societal leech. 

Focus on your case and situation only. 

If, and how, others are getting their documents is not relevant to your situation. 

 

Where your see a societal leech, others might see someone in need, and figure that you have enough income to hire a nanny and a chauffeur... 

 

Best of luck to your family.

[eckoin 211]

At this point in time, I wouldn't. Submit the documents they asked for, however irrelevant they may seem, and give them a month. 

 

In the meantime, talk to a lawyer about litigation. I actually think you do have a valid case. There have been people who sued, and yes, it doesn't necessarily result in approval, but with your issues, a court order might just do the trick. 

 

I can kind of understand the USCIS concern, but nothing that they shouldn't have been able to figure out during an extensive interview they conducted. I'm guessing the two things together--a previous large investment for EB5, and the fact that you have a successful but tightly regulated business--is making them uneasy. It's not your fault, but perhaps a lawyer here is one of the relatively few times I'd highly recommend one. 

[millefleur 5,039]

**Moved from AOS from K1 and K3 Family Based Visas to General Immigration-Related Discussion; topic is not AOS specific**

[carmel34 3,545]

Be patient with the process, as hard as it is, you are likely very close to approval.  Looks like the concern, given the two Stokes interviews, are that she is doing anything to get US LPR status, this being her third visa application.  They are being more thorough than usual because of this, it looks like she is trying to buy her way into the US.  So hang in there and see what their response is after submitting the requested college information.  They're likely looking to see if her F-1 visa was legitimate, for educational purposes vs. just trying to live in the US at all costs.  Given what you've posted, the approval should come soon.  If denied, that's the time to consider a lawsuit.  Good luck!

[Boiler 44,098]

Well a Stokes is not unusual and with an EB5  there must be a Lawyer involved anyway, so what does the Lawyer say?