Our client filed her Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, in 2021. She attended two biometrics appointments, filed two formal “outside normal processing time” inquiries, and did everything USCIS ever asked of her. For nearly five years she received nothing in return — no interview notice, no Request for Evidence, no decision — only a series of extension letters standing in for the permanent green card she had already earned. Seven weeks after the Law Offices of Sabrina Li filed a writ of mandamus lawsuit against USCIS in federal court, her petition was approved — proof of what we had argued all along: there was never a lawful reason to make her wait.

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Nearly Five Years in Immigration Limbo

Our client, a conditional permanent resident married to a U.S. citizen, filed Form I-751 to remove the conditions on her marriage-based green card in 2021. USCIS cashed the filing fee, issued a receipt notice extending her status, and then went silent.

Over the years that followed, the file generated plenty of paper — but no progress:

• Multiple extension notices, each one a reminder that her permanent status remained in bureaucratic limbo
• Two separate biometrics appointments, both attended as instructed
• Two formal case inquiries for a petition far outside normal processing times — answered only with generic form responses that provided no meaningful information
  

By 2026, the petition had been pending nearly five years. Living on extension letters is not a technicality: it complicates employment verification, international travel, driver’s license renewals, and mortgage applications, and it leaves families in a state of permanent uncertainty. Worse, our client had no way to know why her case was stuck — USCIS never told her anything was wrong.

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When Does a USCIS Delay Become Legally “Unreasonable”?

USCIS has discretion over whether to approve or deny a petition — but it does not have discretion to simply never decide. Two bodies of federal law protect applicants from indefinite delay:

• ‍The Administrative Procedure Act (APA). 5 U.S.C. § 555(b) requires federal agencies to conclude matters presented to them “within a reasonable time,” and 5 U.S.C. § 706(1) authorizes federal courts to compel agency action that has been unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed. ‍
• The Mandamus Act. 28 U.S.C. § 1361 gives federal district courts the power to order a federal officer to perform a duty owed to the plaintiff — here, the nondiscretionary duty to adjudicate a properly filed petition.
  

Congress has expressed its sense that immigration benefit applications should generally be completed within 180 days. See 8 U.S.C. § 1571(b). Although courts have recognized that this provision is aspirational rather than mandatory, it remains one factor some courts consider when evaluating whether agency delay has become unreasonable. Measured against that congressional expectation, a delay of nearly five years — with the applicant in full compliance the entire time — made a compelling case for federal court intervention.

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Three Weeks Later, USCIS Called to Schedule the Interview

We filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus and relief under the APA in federal district court. Barely three weeks later, a USCIS officer from the local field office called our client to schedule

the interview she had been waiting on for nearly five years. That is not a coincidence — it is the predictable effect of a well-pleaded federal complaint: once an Assistant U.S. Attorney must answer for a file, the file finally gets read.

Our team immediately shifted from litigation to interview preparation. We provided detailed interview instructions and preparation questions, held a live prep session with the couple before the interview, and Attorney Elizabeth Luevano personally attended the I-751 interview with them.

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The Hidden Obstacle No One Had Told Her About

The interview revealed something USCIS had never disclosed in almost five years: our client’s fingerprints were unclassifiable, meaning the standard biometrics process had never produced a completed background check — despite her attending two appointments. USCIS issued a Request for Evidence requiring a certified police clearance letter and a sworn, notarized affidavit documenting her efforts to complete the background check process.

We guided our client through obtaining the correct certified records from local law enforcement, advised her on precisely which version of the documents USCIS required, and worked with her to prepare and finalize the sworn affidavit before notarization. She hand-delivered the complete response to the interviewing officer within two weeks.

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Approved in Seven Weeks: A 10-Year Green Card at Last

Just seven weeks after we filed suit, our client received written approval of her I-751 petition, with her 10-year permanent green card to follow by mail. A petition that sat untouched for almost five years was interviewed, documented, and approved in under two months.

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What This Case Teaches About Suing USCIS for Delay

• ‍Silence from USCIS is not neutral. Behind this “routine” delay was an undisclosed fingerprint problem that no amount of patient waiting would have solved. Litigation did not just speed up the case — it forced the agency to surface the real obstacle so it could finally be fixed. ‍
• A mandamus lawsuit asks for a decision, not a favor. Framing the complaint around the agency’s nondiscretionary duty to adjudicate — while expressly not demanding a particular outcome — gives the government very little to argue about. ‍
• The work does not end when USCIS wakes up. The lawsuit produced an interview in three weeks, but the approval was won at the interview and in the RFE response that followed. Delay litigation works best when the same firm can litigate in federal court and handle the underlying immigration case.
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This case study is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Details have been modified to protect client confidentiality. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Consult a licensed immigration attorney about the specific facts of your case.