Judge ruled against CIS and FBI in a mandamus action

Federal District court judge Maria-Elena James has just ruled in plaintiff's favor in a mandamus action for FBI name check delayed I-485 application. Plaintiff filed her complaint in pro per(by herself) in May of 2007 but retained us after defendants filed motion for summery judgment. We filed motion for summery judgment and today judge made her decision. In her decision, judge James ruled that the court has jurisdiction in mandamus action and has power to compel the CIS and FBI to expeditiously adjudicate plaintiff's I-485 application. Judge James further ruled that USCIS has a non-discretionary duty to process Plaintiff's I-485 within a reasonable amount of time. In this case, judge found that a two and a half year wait is unreasonable as a matter of law.

The court ordered defendants to complete processing of Plaintiff's I-485 application forthwith.

This is one of our many victories in mandamus actions. We welcome inquires from our readers.


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The following transaction was received from entered on 1/23/2008 10:54 AM PST and filed on 1/23/2008
Case Name: Chen v. Chertoff et al
Case Number: 3:07-cv-2816
Filer:
Document Number: 21

Docket Text:
JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF PLAINTIFF, AGAINST DEFENDANTS. Signed by Judge Maria-Elena James on 1/23/2008. (mejlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 1/23/2008)


3:07-cv-2816 Notice has been electronically mailed to:

Ila Casy Deiss ila.deiss@usdoj.gov,

Justin X. Wang justin@lawbw.com

More mandamus victories at Baughman & Wang

We have several long pending I-485 applications approved recently after several months court battle. In one family based I-485, right after the approval, the US spouse wanted to file divorce. If the case was not approved on time, the I-485 application would have been in jerporty.

In another case, federal district court judge issued Order to Show Cause(OSC). This is the way court tells the defendants to give a good reason why plaintiff should not prevail. In the past defendants would always act fast after they got OSC.


115 Case No. C 06-7636 JF (HRL)
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
JFLC2
**E-Filed 11/16/07**
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN JOSE DIVISION
BIN YU,
Plaintiff,
v.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security; ROBERT S.
MUELLER,
Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Defendants.
Case Number C 07-5256 JF

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

On October 15, 2007, Plaintiff Bin Yu (“Yu”) filed the instant “Complaint For Writ in the Nature of Mandamus.” Plaintiff alleges that Defendants have failed to process his I-485 application in a timely manner. Yu is a native and citizen of the People’s Republic of China. Complaint ¶ 2. Yu is married to Di Zhang (“Zhang”), a United States citizen. Id. On May 1, 2005, Yu filed a Form I-485 with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) seeking to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States as a beneficiary of the Form I-130 petition filed by Zhang. Id. Yu’s application is still pending with the USCIS. Id. ¶ 9. Yu alleges that, as a result, Defendants have violated the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C § 701 et. seq. Yu requests that this Court enter an order compelling defendants to act upon his application.

Good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows:
(1) The Clerk of the Court shall serve a copy of the complaint and a copy of this
Order upon counsel for Defendants, the Office of the United States Attorney. The
Clerk of the Court also shall serve a copy of this Order upon Plaintiff.
(2) Defendants shall, within sixty (60) days after receiving service of the complaint, show cause in writing why the relief prayed for should not be granted.
(3) Plaintiff may file a response to Defendants’ filing within twenty (20) days after receipt of such filing.
(4) Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the matter will be deemed submitted upon
the filing of the response or upon the expiration of time to file a response.
(5) The order dated October 15, 2007, setting an Initial Case Management Conference
and ADR deadlines, is hereby VACATED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: 11/13/07
__________________________________
JEREMY FOGEL
United States District Judge
Case 5:07-cv-05256-JF Document 4 Filed 11/19/2007 Page 2 of 3
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Case No. C 07-5256 JF
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
JFEX2
Copies of Order served on the following persons:
Plaintiff:
Justin X. Wang justin@lawbw.com
Counsel for Defendants:
Office of the United States Attorney
150 Almaden Blvd., Suite 900
San Jose, CA 95113
Case 5:07-cv-05256-JF Document 4 Filed 11/19/2007 Page 3 of 3

I-485 approved after notice of appeal was filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

Mr. Chen represented himself in District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento for his mandamus action. The district court judge granted government's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction after more than 8 months court battles. We took over the case and filed notice of appeal on October 11, 2007. We then contacted government attorney in charge of this case. We stated very clearly that we would proceed with out appeal by filing brief, which was due this month. It was clear that government did not want a precedent against them from the 9th Circuit and it expedited the name check. As a result, CIS approved Mr. Chen's I-485 and he received green card on November 5, 2007, less than one month of our notice of appeal was filed..

Another I-485 approval after mandamus action

We filed this employment based I-485 mandamus action in July, 2007. We filed motion for summery judgment in September and then CIS requested the FBI to expedite the name check. The principal applicant's name check was cleared in mid October and his I-485 was approved around October 21, 2007. His wife's case was approved in late October and both of them received their green cards(yes, the actual cards) on November 3, 2007.

The following is our dismissal of the mandamus action after we confirmed that our clients have received the green cards.


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U.S. District Court
Northern District of California
Notice of Electronic Filing or Other Case Activity




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NOTE: Please read this entire notice before calling the Help Desk. If you have questions, please email the Help Desk by replying to this message; include your question or comment along with the original text.
Please note that these Notices are sent for all cases in the system when any case activity occurs, regardless of whether the case is designated for e-filing or not, or whether the activity is the filing of an electronic document or not.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there are two hyperlinks below, the first will lead to the docket and the second will lead to an e-filed document.
If there is no second hyperlink, there is no electronic document available .
See the FAQ posting 'I have a Notice of Electronic Filing that was e-mailed to me but there's no hyperlink...' on the ECF home page at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov for more information.
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The following transaction was received from by Wang, Justin entered on 11/5/2007 11:56 AM PST and filed on 11/5/2007
Case Name: Yuan et al v. Chertoff et al
Case Number: 3:07-cv-3750
Filer: Hongjun Yuan
Meimei Fu
Document Number: 18

Docket Text:
STIPULATION of Dismissal; and [Proposed] Order by Hongjun Yuan, Meimei Fu. (Wang, Justin) (Filed on 11/5/2007)

Mandamus action: After judge's order, I-485 approved

Mr. Dong and his wife filed their i-485 with the California Service Center in September of 2005. The principal applicant's application was delayed due to FBI name check. We filed the mandamus action in January of 2007. The case was delayed because judge Armstrong asked for additional brief and then took the case under submission. In September 6, 2007, judge Armstrong in a 15 page decision denied government's motion to dismiss and granted our motion for summary judgment, ordering the CIS to complete the adjudication by October 15, 2007. CIS then on September 20 requested the FBI to expedite the name check. Today, October 11, CIS approved both applications.

The case cite is Dong v. Chertoff, C 07 0266 SBA, Northern District of California.