U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been ordered by a federal judge in Boston, Massachusetts to adjudicate the I-485, application for permanent residence of Mohamoud Abdi, a Somalian with asylum status. Mr. Abdi’s I-485 green card application was pending with USCIS for more than four years because of a delayed security clearance from the FBI.
To resolve this frustrating delay, Boston immigration attorney Joshua L. Goldstein filed a writ of mandamus law suit against USCIS, the Director of the FBI, the Attorney General of the United States, and various officials of USCIS asking the court to force the government to process the necessary background checks and adjudicate Mr. Abdi’s application for permanent residency.
Judge Tauro of U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts allowed immigration attorney Goldstein’s motion for summary judgment, finding that:
“[w]hile it would be difficult to identify with any precision a ‘boundary between reasonable and unreasonable time for adjudication of permanent residency applications,’ the four-year delay here is clearly not reasonable. Accordingly, Defendants are hereby ordered to adjudicate Plaintiff’s application for adjustment of status and render a decision by February 17, 2009.”
With a successful mandamus decision, Attorney Goldstein is now preparing to ask the Court to award attorney’s fees and other costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).
If you have experienced a delay with your citizenship, green card, or other immigration application, call the immigration law firm of Joshua L. Goldstein today at 617-722-0005 and find out whether a writ of mandamus law suit would be appropriate to resolve your immigration delay.
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