Federal Mandamus Litigation

This is the question every client asks first. A mandamus action asks the court to make the agency DECIDE — not to decide in your favor, and not to overrule the officer's judgment. The government is represented by the U.S. Attorney's Office, which litigates the delay itself. Your petition is adjudicated on the same record and the same law as before.

Not every wait qualifies. We measure your case against the agency's own posted processing times and the case law on unreasonable delay — I-485 and I-140 adjudications, N-400 naturalization, I-130 petitions, and consular cases stuck in 221(g) administrative processing each have their own baseline.

Most immigration firms refer the lawsuit out to a litigator who has never seen the petition. We do both: the same firm that built your case files the complaint. Nothing is lost explaining eight years of immigration history to outside counsel, and the litigation strategy is built around the underlying benefit, not just the delay.

The government has 60 days to answer. In practice a great many cases are decided during that window, before any hearing takes place — the complaint puts the file in front of someone with the authority to move it. We tell you honestly which category yours falls into before you spend anything.