Interview rescheduled in November 2014, no updates

[n400user 0]

Summary of what I have gone through so far with my N-400 case: Submitted my N-400 in June 2014, biometrics done in July 2014, received interview notice for October 2014 and upon arrival with my lawyer, I was told that they cannot proceed with the interview because of the pending background check. Received a letter from the local office that interview could not be conducted due to unforeseen circumstances and have not received any notice about the next interview date. Have called congressman and senators office and they got a response indicating that USCIS do not have any estimate on how long the background check will take. Made an appointment with InfoPass in December 2014 and was told they don't have any other information available. Initiated an inquiry with the USCIS Ombudsman and received a reply that "our review indicates that your case is within normal processing times on the USCIS web site". I have a clean record and not really sure why it is taking that long. What else can I do other than waiting impatiently and praying?

[JimmyHou 614]

Summary of what I have gone through so far with my N-400 case: Submitted my N-400 in June 2014, biometrics done in July 2014, received interview notice for October 2014 and upon arrival with my lawyer, I was told that they cannot proceed with the interview because of the pending background check. Received a letter from the local office that interview could not be conducted due to unforeseen circumstances and have not received any notice about the next interview date. Have called congressman and senators office and they got a response indicating that USCIS do not have any estimate on how long the background check will take. Made an appointment with InfoPass in December 2014 and was told they don't have any other information available. Initiated an inquiry with the USCIS Ombudsman and received a reply that "our review indicates that your case is within normal processing times on the USCIS web site". I have a clean record and not really sure why it is taking that long. What else can I do other than waiting impatiently and praying?

You can wait until your case is outside of normal processing times and then contact the Ombudsman again. If that does not get you a response, you can try contacting your representatives again; they may be more helpful once your case is beyond normal processing times. Right now, there's not much you can do because there are others who have applied before you and are still waiting.

As a last resort, if all else fails, you can sue USCIS and ask a federal judge to rule on your immigration application. I don't think you're at that stage yet.

Unfortunately, all of those things involve more waiting... in the mean time, if you live close to the USCIS office, I would make another infopass appointment for a month from now and go in and ask again.

[n400user 0]

You can wait until your case is outside of normal processing times and then contact the Ombudsman again. If that does not get you a response, you can try contacting your representatives again; they may be more helpful once your case is beyond normal processing times. Right now, there's not much you can do because there are others who have applied before you and are still waiting.

As a last resort, if all else fails, you can sue USCIS and ask a federal judge to rule on your immigration application. I don't think you're at that stage yet.

Unfortunately, all of those things involve more waiting... in the mean time, if you live close to the USCIS office, I would make another infopass appointment for a month from now and go in and ask again.

Thanks JimmyHou, much appreciated! I had waited too long for EB green card and wish N-400 could be much faster. Really hope to have an activity on my case soon.

[DC85 113]

Summary of what I have gone through so far with my N-400 case: Submitted my N-400 in June 2014, biometrics done in July 2014, received interview notice for October 2014 and upon arrival with my lawyer, I was told that they cannot proceed with the interview because of the pending background check. Received a letter from the local office that interview could not be conducted due to unforeseen circumstances and have not received any notice about the next interview date. Have called congressman and senators office and they got a response indicating that USCIS do not have any estimate on how long the background check will take. Made an appointment with InfoPass in December 2014 and was told they don't have any other information available. Initiated an inquiry with the USCIS Ombudsman and received a reply that "our review indicates that your case is within normal processing times on the USCIS web site". I have a clean record and not really sure why it is taking that long. What else can I do other than waiting impatiently and praying?

you need to keep following up with them. if this got delayed more than 6 months. It a good idea to start looking for a lawyer who is familiar Writ of Mandamus.

you can't sue uscis because there is no law statute which allows you to do so, the only time you can sue them if 120 passed the interview and a decision has not been made. that's why uscis canceled the interview so you don't have that option.uscis used to get sued a lot ,so , that's why now if your background check is not complete they won't schedule the interview.

Th only option you may have is a writ. which a lawyer would petition the federal court to force uscis to make a decision , that petition will not give the court the authority to make a decision but only make a deadline for uscis to make a decision.

[JimmyHou 614]

you need to keep following up with them. if this got delayed more than 6 months. It a good idea to start looking for a lawyer who is familiar Writ of Mandamus.

you can't sue uscis because there is no law statute which allows you to do so, the only time you can sue them if 120 passed the interview and a decision has not been made. that's why uscis canceled the interview so you don't have that option.uscis used to get sued a lot ,so , that's why now if your background check is not complete they won't schedule the interview.

Th only option you may have is a writ. which a lawyer would petition the federal court to force uscis to make a decision , that petition will not give the court the authority to make a decision but only make a deadline for uscis to make a decision.

This is just a technicality but the way that you file a writ is to actually file a lawsuit. You file a lawsuit against USCIS naming either the USCIS director or the secretary of the department of homeland security as the defendant in the lawsuit. If the judge rules in your favor he/she then issues a writ of mandamus. These lawsuits are filed under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) which requires government agencies to perform the duties delegated to them by Congress in a timely manner.

At least this is what I've managed to understand from reading about this If someone has more experience you can jump in and correct me. Below is an explanation from a legal advice website I've seen more or less the same information on similar websites. Note that the lawsuit couldn't be filed after the interview, or before the interview, for example if the delays are due to missing files or prolonged background checks. In fact, just last year a group of immigrants in jointly sued USCIS for stalling their background checks for several years and refusing to interview them. In other cases, people have sued after having passed their interviews but for USCIS refusing to schedule an oath ceremony.

"Assuming the delay is unreasonable, the APA does give you the right to file a lawsuit. Typically in these lawsuits, you sue the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the USCIS Director, the district director of the field office your case is pending in, (sometimes) the director of the main USCIS Service Center, and quite possibly, the FBI (especially in security check delay situations.) The lawsuit itself is known as a writ of mandamus a request to the Court to force (mandate) a government agency to do something. In this case, you are asking the Court to tell USCIS to make a decision."

http://www.hmalegal.com/how-an-immigration-writ-of-mandamus-works.html

Please note that this is not an official USCIS link.

Edited January 6, 2015 by JimmyHou