Passim

Mandamus decisions / District of Columbia

Sheikhbahaei v. United States Department of State

District of ColumbiaJames E. BoasbergDecided October 15, 2024

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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
Even if this policy provided a basis for suit, the G overnment is correct that DHS is simply not the agency delaying visa adjudication here; that is the State Department.
Form or filing 221(g) (consular refusal); DS-260 (immigrant visa) Read by a model
Following the interview, he was refused a visa pending further administrative processing , which a consular officer advised him should take no more than 60 days.
What the suit asked for Finish 221(g) processing Read by a model
Since that interview, Ali alleges that his father’s application has been unreasonably delayed by administrative processing.
Kind of order A ruling on a motion or the petition Read by a model
For the reasons stated above, the Court will grant Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.
Motion decided Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction; Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim Read by a model
Defendants now move to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6).
Whose motion The government's motion Read by a model
Defendants now move to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6).
Disposition Dismissed The case or every delay claim was dismissed for a reason other than mootness. Read by a model
For the reasons stated above, the Court will grant Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.
Prevailing party Government Read by a model
For the reasons stated above, the Court will grant Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.
The delay claim Dismissed Read by a model
On balance, the Court concludes that Plaintiff has not stated an unreasonable-delay claim under the APA.
The other claims Dismissed Read by a model
For the reasons stated above, the Court will grant Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.
Months pending 26 months from the application to the court's decision Read by a model
Reza — aided by Ali — applied for an I-130 visa in August 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 applicant
  • 4. Competing prioritiesfavors the government
  • 5. Interests prejudicedfavors the applicant
  • 6. No impropriety neededfavors the government
Read by a model
The first two factors, which courts generally consider together, favor the Government.
The government's delay arguments First-in, first-out processing accepted; Line-jumping accepted Read by a model
Because USCIS adjudicates vi sa applications based on the date that they were filed, see 8 U.S.C. § 1153(e), j udicial intervention would create just that scenario here.
Threshold rulings Consular nonreviewability rejected; Duty to re-adjudicate a 221(g) refusal found Read by a model
As the Court adopts its reasoning in those cases here, t he doctrine is similarly inapplicable.
Nationality Iran Read by a model
Reza is an Iranian citizen
I-130 category Immediate relative Read by a model
Pro se Plaintiff Ali Matthew Sheikhbahaei , a U.S. citizen, seeks a visa for his father , Reza Sheikhbahaei, an Iranian citizen .

How the case ended

This decision is not linked to a docket in the docket record yet, so how the case ended is not shown.

Supreme Court and D.C. 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 3, 2026. Check the current status before relying on one.