How to file a Mandamus in Federal Court

[Shobaba 2]

On 7/28/2024 at 12:32 PM, TimTian said:

I learned a lot from your post. Thank you very much!

I also found this:

https://assistantwom.github.io/

which provides a detailed tutorial for filing a WOM and helped me successfully file my case. I got a complaint form template there.

 

Hi @TimTian Have you heard back from the US attorney in your district? Also, did you file the proof of service with the court?

[Shobaba 2]

On 4/30/2023 at 6:06 PM, igoyougoduke said:

What is a Mandamus ?

A (writ of) mandamus is an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion. In case of immigration it deals with asking Courts to intervene when USCIS is not performing its task of adjudicating immigration petition within 180 days of filing date. Congress as part of immigration law has written the law that USCIS should adjudicate petitions at the max period of 180 days ( as per 8 USC CHAPTER 13) ( link: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title8/chapter13/subchapter2&edition=prelim#:~:text=It is the sense of,days after the filing of) 

 

 

Here is the basic essence of wom process :

 

Step 1: Draft and File complaint against Uscis . This will be the defendant. In the current scenario of April 2023, Mayorkas is the head of DHS or Jaddou is USCIS head. Court has a format for a civil complaint and a template (example of template from a court in San Francisco https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/pro-se/legal-help-center-templates-and-packets/General-Complaint-Packet_12-1-2020.pdf). You can download it from local court website . You are filing the complaint as a "Pro Se" meaning yourself without a help of lawyer.

 

The complaint will need the following information

1) Nature of the Complaint:

 

You can write the complaint in simple English using the above template document and asking for something like below :

 

Iam so and so( include your name ) who has filed for I-XXX( xxx can be the form ( i-131, i-485, i-751)  with  receipt number  WAC21900XXXX  and it was filed with Uscis on date (dd-mmm-yyyy) and Uscis is expected to adjudicate  hold interview within 180 days of receiving the application as per 8 USC code 1186b. You can add more information about your petition as needed.

 

2) Second part is jurisdiction in the compliant .

 

You can says that the court has jurisdiction cause you live there as per  8 USC 1391(e) where you are resident of the jurisdiction and the defendant is a United States officer .You are allowed to file the case in your local jurisdiction aka district  you reside if the defendant is a United States officer

 

3) Third part in the complaint is statement of facts . This is where you tell the court why courts need to step in and tell Uscis to adjudicate the case. You are asking the courts to intervene as USCIS has not performed its duty assigned by Congress to adjudicate your case within 180 days of filing. ( see attachment X)

 

So most complaints don’t go for trial and the us attorney will reach out to you over phone to discuss an agreement. Us attorney will call and say “ hey we won’t need a trial but we can get you a decision  on your case in. 90/120/150 days “

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Going back to statement of facts is where you write the story . The courts needs to know why they need intervene and it is for you to tell them why ?. You can say something like below 

 

You talk about the i-131/i-485/i-751 Petition you filed .  You filed your i-131/485/751 on date dd-mm-yyyy.( see attachment 1)  you completed biometrics on dd-mm-yyyy date and it has been XX months since you filed and you have not got a decision on your case . 

 

Uscis current processing time for i-131/485/751.is now about XX months which is 10x the time set by Congress in immigration act of 1990 as per 8 USC 1186b . Congress  has set a guidelines of 180 days for Uscis to conduct to adjudicate the petition 

 

To close it out you can say USCIS has violated. 8USC 1186b or an immigration law section 8 USC XXXX ( read immigration law here https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/chapter-12)  and failed to adjudicate your case as set by Congress.

 

4) Last part of the complaint is relief

 

This is where you ask what court should do.You ask for court to enter a mandate time to adjudicate the petition. You sign the complaint at the end

 

That is the end of complaint and your mandamus (Writ of Mandamus) 

 

It should be about 4-5 pages max

 

5) Attachments 

You attach a print out of your i-131/485/751 receipt, green card( if applicable)  , USCIS processing time print out from USCIS.gov website

 

Along with complaint you need the following 

1) civil cover sheet 

2) summons

 

 

Here is a

link for civil cover sheet https://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caednew/assets/File/JS_044.pdf. ( search your own local federal court for the correct form )

link to summons https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/ao440.pdf ( search your own local federal court for the correct form )

 

 

Step 2: Filing the complaint with court:

 

Once you have the complaint and civil cover sheet and summons go to the local district court,Remember it is DISTRICT court

 

Go to the clerk at the court and tell you have a civil case to file . This has to be in person . They will review the documents . Make fourh copies of complaint and 4 copies of civil cover sheet and 4 copies of summons

 

Make a check for 402$ for filing fee

 

Once the clerk accepts the complaint they will take two copies of all documents .1 for court and 1 for chambers . They will give you 2 copy stamped for you (one copy for you and one backup) . You will get a case number assigned and like 500 pages of instructions

 

So now your complaint has been filed with Court. You now have to send a copy of complaint, Summons, Civil Cover Sheet and all the instructions that Court gave you to the defendant. 

 

Step 3 Serving the Complaint to defendants (USCIS/DHS) : 

So now the complaint is filed with court. Once the complaint is filed . You make like 4 copies of your complaint that was stamped by the court. You also make 4 copies of the documents given to you by court

 

So you should now have 4 copies of your complaint , civil cover sheet, summons and instructions from court

 

Now you need to serve three people 1) US attorney in your district 2 ) attorney general in Washington DC 3) Uscis office general counsel in Washington DC

 

Take stamped complaint , civil cover sheet , summon, court instructions and send them via usps certified mail to the above 3 officers 

 

Address for US attorney can be obtained by calling your local us attorney office

 

USCIS General counsel can he served at : office of attorney counsel ,dhs, 2701 Martin Luther jr ave, Washington DC, 20528-0485

 

Attorney general of United States office can be served at : US department of justice, 950 Pennsylvania ave, Washington DC 20530-0001

 

So now the complaint is served to three people 1) US Attorney in your district 2) Attorney General 3) General Counsel at USCIS/DHS

 

The clock now starts for 60 window before which the District Attorney will give you a phone call to negotiate. 

 

Thank you for this detailed explanation.

 

Not sure if I made a mistake in the case I filed.

Firstly, I used a single summon for all the defendants. Also, I listed the director of USCIS (Ur Jaddou), director of USCIS national benefit center (Terri) and my local field office director as the defendants.

Then, I served the Office of the Attorney General, US Attorney in my local district and the USCIS general counsel. Have I committed any blunder?

 

[HarryWhite2 4]

On 7/29/2024 at 5:40 PM, Shobaba said:

 

Hi @TimTian Have you heard back from the US attorney in your district? Also, did you file the proof of service with the court?

I heard from the USCIS just 7 days after I filed the writ of mandamus asking me to send extra evidence. I have waited for 800 days before that. WOM really works!

Yes I uploaded the proof of service, the second page of the summon, to the court.

[igoyougoduke 1,635]

On 8/3/2024 at 8:29 AM, TimTian said:

I heard from the USCIS just 7 days after I filed the writ of mandamus asking me to send extra evidence. I have waited for 800 days before that. WOM really works!

Yes I uploaded the proof of service, the second page of the summon, to the court.

congrats !. good for you and posting an update here 

[lincclay 5]

Thank you very much, this is life saving. I intend to file it once I hit 1 year mark (getting very close) but before that I am thinking about submitting a notice of intention. I have heard that it sometimes works. Does anyone know a template for the notice of intention and what other documents should get included and where it should get sent to?

 

Regarding adding defendants, let's say the case is stuck at NBC but for some reason USCIS always refers me to the local FO for checking the processing times. Should both of NBC and local FO be included?

[lincclay 5]

Also I wanted to add that everyone needs to be very careful when doing DIY. These templates online might be generated by ChatGpt and can contain errors, you need to check every line of it. OP talks about per 8 USC 1186b , this has nothing to do with the 180 days thing. Also https://assistantwom.github.io/ seems to be a chatgpt generated thing.  Here is a reddit post explaining it: 

 

[lincclay 5]

As I learn more and find more issues (or red flags with some of these guides) I would update here so the others know about it and don't make mistakes. The process of serving is highly non-trivial. It is not as simple as sending mails. You need a confirmation that they have received and that is called Proof of Service. For defendants in some states (for example CA) you cannot use certified mail (https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-certified-or-priority-mail-acceptable-to-serve--2376657.html), so if your court is in CA and or FO is in CA. Apparently it needs to be personally served or subserved.

[igoyougoduke 1,635]

On 9/9/2024 at 9:01 PM, lincclay said:

As I learn more and find more issues (or red flags with some of these guides) I would update here so the others know about it and don't make mistakes. The process of serving is highly non-trivial. It is not as simple as sending mails. You need a confirmation that they have received and that is called Proof of Service. For defendants in some states (for example CA) you cannot use certified mail (https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-certified-or-priority-mail-acceptable-to-serve--2376657.html), so if your court is in CA and or FO is in CA. Apparently it needs to be personally served or subserved.

USPS certified mail is perfectly acceptable to any federal agency complaint for Mandamus.   no one at the state level needs to served for Mandamus.  its a federal level complaint. Rules vary at state level for the type of case ( civil/criminal) . We dont really care about any other type of cases except Mandamus to USCIS 

 

 

[igoyougoduke 1,635]

On 8/31/2024 at 4:04 PM, lincclay said:

Also I wanted to add that everyone needs to be very careful when doing DIY. These templates online might be generated by ChatGpt and can contain errors, you need to check every line of it. OP talks about per 8 USC 1186b , this has nothing to do with the 180 days thing. Also https://assistantwom.github.io/ seems to be a chatgpt generated thing.  Here is a reddit post explaining it: 

 

Again you are incorrect. Read the law here https://casetext.com/statute/united-states-code/title-8-aliens-and-nationality/chapter-12-immigration-and-nationality/subchapter-ii-immigration/part-ii-admission-qualifications-for-aliens-travel-control-of-citizens-and-aliens/section-1186b-conditional-permanent-resident-status-for-certain-alien-entrepreneurs-spouses-and-children  that specifies that the category of application ( Alien Enterprenuer) must be adjudicated within 180 days. You need to read the law and write your OWN mandamus. its not a cookie paste copy that you can copy the text and file mandamus. Again this IS DIY case 

 

The law varies based on type of case but the immigration law is clear that USCIS is required to be adjudicated within  180 days. 

On 8/31/2024 at 4:04 PM, lincclay said:

 

 

[Family 3,823]

4 hours ago, igoyougoduke said:

Again this IS DIY case 

 

The law varies based on type of case but the immigration law is clear that USCIS is required to be adjudicated within  180 days. 

Just here to cheer /applaud your efforts @igoyougodukein always checking and responding to questions. You Rock!