Susana Abigail Melara Alvarado v. Director, US Citizenship and Immigration Services

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma considers a motion to dismiss claims brought under the Administrative Procedure Act concerning delays in adjudicating a U-visa applicant’s bona fide determination and waiting-list determination. The court concludes that the plaintiff failed to state claims for unreasonable delay regarding either determination and dismisses the first and third causes of action. The provided text ends during the court’s discussion of the plaintiff’s remaining unlawful-withholding claim.

Holdings

1. The plaintiff failed to state claims for unreasonable delay because her approximately fourteen-month wait, without allegations of unique circumstances or disparate treatment, was insufficient on the pleaded facts to establish unreasonable delay.
2. The plaintiff's claim for unlawful withholding of her waiting-list determination was not rendered unripe by the existence of the bona fide determination process.
3. The plaintiff failed to state an APA claim for unlawful withholding because neither Congress nor the governing regulation imposed a date-certain deadline for USCIS to issue a waiting-list determination.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the plaintiff adequately stated APA claims for unreasonable delay of her U-visa bona fide determination and waiting-list determination.
2. Whether the plaintiff's claim for a waiting-list determination was unripe because USCIS might first grant a bona fide determination employment authorization.
3. Whether the plaintiff adequately stated an APA claim for unlawful withholding of her waiting-list determination when the governing regulation and statutes set no specific deadline for issuing that determination.
4. Whether the court had subject-matter jurisdiction to compel adjudication of the bona fide determination.

Disposition

dismissed