DOS Lawsuit Update

Class Action Suit Versus Department of State

Mehta v. DOS is the class action lawsuit that private lawyers have filed to compel the federal government to use the original October Visa Bulletin that thousands of newly eligible Green Card eligible individuals file for permanent residence. The lawyers filed the complaint on September 28. It is replete with declarations and stories from individuals who were convinced from September 9 to September 25 that the government had made an immigrant visa available to them. Many but not all of the individuals in the lawsuit are EB-2 and EB-3 individuals from India and China. There are also concerns for individuals aging out from the Child Status Protection Act. The complaint requests that the federal court reinstate the Visa Bulletin issued on September 9, rather than the revised October Visa Bulletin that is in force. The revised bulletin has dashed many potential applicants’ hopes by rolling back filing times. The original bulletin was feted for “modernizing” the process by including filing dates and priority dates. The modernization was an aspect of the president’s executive actions on immigration from November 2014.

The main update from the lawsuit is that the federal judge is expected to make his decision on whether the government must use the original visa bulletin on Monday. Hopeful applicants who decided to give the application a try anyway have had their packages refused by USCIS. Pressure has been mounting from interested Congresspersons, through media channels, and individuals’ actions, in addition to the lawsuit. For example, some have taken to sending roses to USCIS.

The complaint details the lives of the representatives of the class action lawsuit. The representatives each have different stories, but the common thread is that they had been waiting for visa availability for years and were finally able to file. They continue to wait anxiously, as a decision is expected on Monday. If the revised bulletin is upheld, it is unknown when they will be able to file. The calculations are done on a month-to-month basis.

The hashtag on Twitter is #visagate2015.