US citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents who have spouses, children, parents, and siblings awaiting immigrant visa interviews from the US Embassy Islamabad (primarily Afghan and Pakistani nationals) are facing unreasonable, and arguably unlawful, delays in the adjudication of their beneficiaries’ immigrant visa applications. Red Eagle Law, L.C. is offering a group lawsuit to challenge the lawfulness of those delays. The group lawsuit aims to accelerate the scheduling of interviews, and end the unreasonable delays for our clients seeking interviews at the US Embassy Islamabad.
Background:
In November 2022, Curtis Morrison, through Morrison Urena, L.C., filed a group lawsuit, Naveed v Blinken, to challenge unlawful causes for the unreasonable delays. The plaintiffs were ten Pakistani-American couples waiting for an Islamabad interview for over one year since they were Documentarily Qualified (“DQ”). On October 27, 2023, Judge Reggie B. Walton dismissed the lawsuit after all the beneficiary plaintiffs had attended interviews and all but one had been issued an immigrant visa.
On June 30, 2023, Curtis Morrison, through Red Eagle Law, L.C., filed a second group lawsuit, Iqbal v Blinken, to challenge unlawful causes for the unreasonable delays. The plaintiffs were three Pakistani-American couples waiting for an Islamabad interview for over one year. The government filed a. motion to dismiss, and Judge Kimberly J. Mueller heard oral arguments on the motion at an October 13, 2023 hearing. See: transcript. At the hearing, Judge Mueller ordered the government to produce declarations showing the Islamabad backlog and where plaintiffs were in the queue, which the government filed on October 25, 2023. From this declaration, we learned the IV Backlog for DQ applicants awaiting interviews at the US Embassy Islamabad is growing rapidly for Immediate Family categories, and it has barely decreased for Family Preference categories (which is probably due to retrogression in the visa bulletin).
On November 9, 2023, Judge Mueller issued an order granting the government’s motion as to the policy challenges but denying the government’s motion as to unreasonable delay and mandamus claims, with excellent analysis. While one of the three beneficiary plaintiffs is already scheduled
for an interview, we expect the other two to be scheduled before this litigation advances much further.
Now, Curtis Morrison, through Red Eagle Law, L.C., is offering a third group lawsuit to build upon the Iqbal v Blinken victory and bring justice for couples and families awaiting interviews at Islamabad. Since the Iqbal v. Blinken victory was based upon the unreasonable delay and mandamus claims only, this group lawsuit will only include those challenges.
We will file the lawsuit for the affected couples and families who register to participate as plaintiffs. Registration ends on November 24, 2023. The lawsuit will be filed on December 1, 2023.
1. This lawsuit will only be for couples and families in the following family-based immigrant visa categories: IR1, IR2, IR5, F1, F2A, F2B, F3, and F4. These are the visa categories for U.S. Citizen families seeking visas for their spouses, children, siblings, and parents; and for Permanent Resident families seeking visas for their spouses, and unmarried children.
2. This lawsuit will only be for couples and families awaiting visa interviews at the US Embassy Islamabad.
3. Participants will include US citizen and Lawful Permanent Resident petitioners with approved Form I-130 petitions and their visa applicant beneficiaries, whose petitions have already been transferred to NVC. Further, the visa applicant beneficiaries must have been found Documentarily Qualified (DQ) by NVC before December 1, 2022. (Click HERE to see a guide on how to know if a visa application is DQ or not). This is because we want to mirror the Iqbal v. Blinken lawsuit and have all plaintiffs suffering a minimum of 1-year delay.
4. If you are a family preference category, the Priority Date for your petition must be current in chart A. of the December Visa Bulletin.
Note: Diversity Visa Selectees are not eligible to participate in this lawsuit.
The total cost to participate will be $800. The terms by which those attorney fees are payable are an initial payment of $400 due upon registration and a $400 payment deferred and due upon visa issuance to the primary beneficiary and their entry into the United States.
1. Will there be any retaliation, punishment, or blowback by the government for a lawsuit?
Answer: No. It is unlawful for the government to give any retaliation to your pending application because of a lawsuit. Lawsuits are a strong part of American culture; you have a protected right to sue the government if they wrong you. Furthermore, the
individual consular officer who will do your interview is not being sued and will not have a problem with you for filing a lawsuit.
2. If I participate in this lawsuit but later believe that my visa was issued without any assistance from the lawsuit, am I still responsible for paying the attorney fees?
Answer: Yes.
3. What is the purpose of this lawsuit?
Answer: This lawsuit aims to get the State Department to accelerate the adjudication of visa applications for named plaintiffs.
4. What is the deadline to join this lawsuit?
Answer: The deadline for joining the lawsuit is November 24, 2023, at 11:59 PM PST (California time). That deadline is concrete and will not be extended under any circumstances. However, please remember that the earlier plaintiffs join the lawsuit, the better we can integrate our plaintiffs’ facts into our arguments, resulting in a stronger complaint. We appreciate all those who choose to participate early.
5. Does the representation include support, guidance, and representation in consular processing?
Answer: Yes. In the past, our clients have often found this guidance and representation to be just as valuable as participating in the lawsuit.
6. Is the litigation guaranteed to win?
Answer: Absolutely NOT. No litigation is ever guaranteed. However, we would not be offering this group lawsuit if we did not believe we have a strong chance of accelerating the scheduling of interviews.
7. If the judge has not ruled and my visa is issued, do I still have to pay the remaining fees?
Answer: Yes, when you sign a retainer agreement, you sign a legally binding contract. You promise to pay the remaining balance when you are issued a visa.
8. Will this be a class action lawsuit?
Answer: We do not plan to file a motion for class certification in this lawsuit.
9. How can I make the required payment to join this lawsuit?
Answer: We will accept credit or debit cards, electronic checks, Zelle, or bank wire/transfer. You will find detailed payment instructions during onboarding.
10. Where will this lawsuit be filed?
Answer: the District Court for the Eastern District of California, where we just won in Iqbal v Blinken.
Curtis Morrison
Email: curtis@redeaglelaw.com
Cell: +1-714-661-3446
Telegram: https://telegram.im/@curtisatlaw
Whatsapp: https://wa.me/17146613446
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