Passim

Mandamus decisions / Northern District of Illinois

Vargas Orozco v. Blinken

Northern District of IllinoisSara Lee EllisDecided July 18, 2023No. 1:22-cv-05134

Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener

2,996 written decisions from 2,731 cases in the whole mandamus and agency-delay group, the group's newest decided November 12, 2026. Updated November 14, 2026 at 1:17 a.m. CT; the Passim connector counts the live collection, which can differ by the day's additions and retirements (which total to quote). Coverage: of the 1,617 public decisions since January 1, 2025 that a CourtListener and GovInfo search for mandamus and agency delay finds, Passim holds 1,406 (87%), 1,039 of them in this group, measured November 14, 2026. Some of what that search finds are not mandamus decisions. Tell us about a decision we're missing.

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What the decision decided

Each value cites the passage it was read from. Values read by a model were checked against that passage; values read by rule come from fixed text patterns. Read the decision before relying on either.

Agency Department of State Read by a model
Here, the Bogota Embassy has admittedly recommenced processing for those “visa applicants who submitted applications prior to [the Embassy’s] ceasing operations due to COVID-19,” but they continue not to accept any new applications.
Form or filing DS-160 (nonimmigrant visa) Read by a model
to compel action on their E-2 visa applications, which they submitted on July 28, 2022.
What the suit asked for Decide the application Read by a model
In their complaint, Plaintiffs ask that the Court compel Defendants to perform their duty to adjudicate Plaintiffs’ E-2 visa applications within a reasonable period of time as specified by the Court
Kind of order A ruling on a motion or the petition Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants Defendants’ motion to dismiss [21].
Motion decided Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim Read by a model
Defendants argue that the delay has not been unreasonable as a matter of law and move to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
Whose motion The government's motion Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants Defendants’ motion to dismiss [21].
Disposition Dismissed The case or every delay claim was dismissed for a reason other than mootness. Read by a model
The Court dismisses Plaintiffs’ complaint without prejudice and terminates this case.
Prevailing party Government Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants Defendants’ motion to dismiss [21].
The delay claim Dismissed Read by a model
The Court dismisses Plaintiffs’ complaint without prejudice and terminates this case.
Months pending 1.8 months from the application to the suit; 11.7 months from the application to the court's decision Read by a model
Plaintiffs submitted all parts of the E-2 visa application, including evidence of application fee payment, to the Bogota Embassy on July 28, 2022.
TRAC factors The court weighed the TRAC factors
  • 1. Rule of reasonfavors the government
  • 2. Congressional timetablefavors the government
  • 3. Human health and welfarefavors the government
  • 4. Competing prioritiesfavors the government
  • 5. Interests prejudicedfavors the government
  • 6. No impropriety neededneutral
Read by a model
Given the resumption in processing, this factor weighs slightly in favor of Defendants.
The government's delay arguments First-in, first-out processing accepted; Line-jumping accepted Read by a model
But this suggests that the Bogota Embassy has reverted back to a recognized rule of reason, the first-in, first-out procedure, in an attempt to clear its backlog of applications caused by the pandemic suspension.
Threshold rulings None Read by a model
Nationality Colombia Read by a model
Plaintiffs are Colombian citizens

How the case ended

Docket
No. 1:22-cv-05134
Filed
September 21, 2022
Ended
July 18, 2023
Suit's filing to its end
300 days
How it ended
Dismissed on jurisdiction or the merits
From the record
order 2023-07-18 for the defendants, ground not stated; idb disp 14 (dismissed: other)

A voluntary or stipulated dismissal is how most suits end once the agency acts; the docket rarely says why. Other suits in this court.

Supreme Court and Seventh Circuit authority

District decisions bind no one. On the questions this decision raises, the Supreme Court decisions and the circuit's published decisions listed here bind this court; a circuit disposition marked nonprecedential was not published as precedent and is persuasive only. ImmCite status as read November 14, 2026. Check the current status before relying on one.