Complaint for Writ of Mandamus Results in Approval of I-485 Adjustment of Status Application

Complaint for Writ of Mandamus Results in Approval of I-485 Adjustment of Status Application

In April 2007 our client filed an I-485 Adjustment of Status Application to apply for a green card based upon an I-130 Immigrant Petition for Alien Relative filed by a U.S. Citizen spouse. USCIS did not promptly schedule an adjustment interview and our immigration attorneys had to contact USCIS to have an interview scheduled. Our client and spouse attended an interview at the Philadelphia District Office in June 2008 but following the interview USCIS did not issue a decision on the adjustment of status application. Our law firm followed up on the status of the adjustment of status application in October 2008, January 2009, March 2009, April 2009, July 2009 and August 2009. We then put USCIS on notice of our intent to file a Complaint for Writ of Mandamus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania if the application for adjustment of status was not promptly adjudicated. USCIS did not respond to this final inquiry so in December 2009 our lawyers filed a Complaint for Writ of Mandamus requesting the District Court to issue an order compelling USCIS to decide our client’s green card application. Within a month of filing the Complaint for Writ of Mandamus our client and spouse were scheduled for a second adjustment of status interview which they attended and our client’s green card was approved within 10 days after the second adjustment of status interview.