CASE PROSPECTUS:

After a break, we are offering a group lawsuit in April that is an opportunity for citizens of the 39 countries listed in Presidential Proclamations 10949 and 10998 to challenge the “hold” on the processing and/or adjudication of their Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (I-765 Application) caused by the  December 2, 2025 USCIS Policy Memorandum, PM-602-0192, and January 1, 2026 Policy Memorandum, PM-602-0194.  

In sum, we believe the blanket withholding of USCIS processing and adjudications of I-765 Applications is unlawful because it is based upon the national origin of the applicants, and because USCIS lacks the legal authority to do such a blanket suspension. In fact, multiple courts have already issued injunctions enjoining the holds, including: Varniab v Edlow (NDCA), Bowser v. Edlow (Mass.), Doe v. Trump (Mass.), and Doe v. USCIS (NDIL).

We will be filing this group lawsuit in a U.S. District Court to be determined by your attorneys with the goal of maximizing a successful outcome, mitigating potential issues with venue and joinder, based on factors like where the I-765 Applications are being processed, where the plaintiffs are domiciled, and the latest outcomes related to the 30+ lawsuits already pending challenging the holds. 

Important Dates

Deadline to participate:  April 22, 2026  

Filing date for complaint:  April 29, 2026 

Filing date for motion for preliminary injunction:  May 6, 2026 

To participate in this group lawsuit project, an I-765 Applicant must meet the following four requirements: 

(1) The applicant must be inside the United States; 

(2) The applicant must have an I-765 Application pending (with I-797 receipt notice to prove it); 

(3) The applicant must be a national of a country impacted by President Trump’s June 4, 2025, travel ban called Restricting The Entry Of Foreign Nationals To Protect The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats; or his December 15, 2025, travel ban called Restricting and Limiting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security Of the United States; and 

(4) The applicant cannot be a plaintiff in any other active unreasonable delay/mandamus lawsuit challenging delays related to the I-765 application. 

Cost to Participate

The attorney fee to participate as a plaintiff in the lawsuit will be $3,000 for each I-765 Applicant. This fee includes the cost of participation of all derivative beneficiaries who also have a pending I-765 (spouses and children) who also have I-765 pending, regardless of family size.  (Note: Do not include young children as plaintiffs who do not have pending I-765 applications.) 

The terms for payment are as follows: The initial attorney fee of $1,000 is due in advance of the representation, and the $2,000 balance is deferred until and due on July 1, 2026.  

Note: the $2,000 backend payment is only deferred as a courtesy for the unpredicted hardship faced by victims of the hold. Participants who are not comfortable with this contingency are welcome to pre-pay the entire $3,000 attorney fees. 

Exception: If you participated as a plaintiff in our previous group lawsuits for Form I-485 (internal case numbers: CM613, CM619, CM642, CM643),  then participation as a plaintiff in this lawsuit too for your I-765 only is $1,000, with no deferred/back-end payment.