Your Naturalization Application Has Been Pending Over 120 Days After Interview? The Government Might Have to PAY YOU For the Delay. (Dec 2022)

In a December 2022 agreement with USCIS, not only the government APPROVED our client’s N-400 application, but the government also agreed to PAY our client a substantial sum of attorney fees for its failure to adjudicate our client’s naturalization application within 120 days after the interview. Our firm is extremely pleased with the results of our advocacy efforts on behalf of our client, who has been unduly burdened with delays in her case for almost 2 years.

While it seemed to be common for USCIS to take quite some time to issue a decision in a naturalization case after the applicant has his/her interview, it is by no mean legally proper. As the law requires, after the interview, USCIS has only 120 days to issue a decision. If no decision is issued after 120 days, the applicant may request judicial review of his/her application in U.S. Federal District Court.

Our client already had her interview and received an approval notice of her N-400 application. Our client was waiting for her swearing-in ceremony. However, for reasons unknown to our client, USCIS arbitrarily reopened her N-400 application and issued a notice claiming that it intended to deny our client N-400 application. Furthermore, USCIS incomprehensibly stated that it would schedule another interview. While our client patiently waited for USCIS to schedule her interview and despite our client’s multiple attempts to submit inquiry with USCIS, her re-interview notices never came.

Once our client retained our office, attorney Nguyen D. Luu and our legal team aggressively filed an action in federal court, Northern District of California. Generally, if the federal court takes over the adjudication of the N-400 application, the court most likely would order a “remand” of the matter back to USCIS for decision issuance. In that instant, the applicant becomes a “prevailing party” which he/she is entitled to attorney fees and cost from the government.

As a result of our aggressive approach, within 60 days after USCIS was duly served with our action, the agency offered to pay our client’s attorney fees and promptly issued a swearing-in ceremony appointment. Our client is now a U.S. Citizen.

If your case has been stalled for too long, do not accept USCIS’s response that your case is “pending review” at face value. Federal litigation has proven to empower families, individuals, and businesses. Our firm has found it to be the most effective approach in getting immigration cases adjudicated or reverse a wrongful denied decision.

Related success:

• Getting Your Immigration Case Out of the Blackhole of "Administrative Review" - Writ of Mandamus Successfully Forced USCIS to Adjudicate Delayed I-130 Petition (September 2021)
• Success Story: Federal Lawsuit Forced USCIS to Concede and Reverse Course on An Improper Denied I-130 Petition (February 2021)
• Immigration Case Taking Forever? Holding the Government Accountable in Court Might Be the Most Effective Way to Bring the Case to Final Resolution. (August 2022)