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Mandamus decisions / District of Columbia

Bonsi v. Bitter

District of ColumbiaTimothy J. KellyDecided January 23, 2025No. 1:23-cv-03740

Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener

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What the decision decided

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Agency Department of State Read by a model
Bonsi’s visa application has been pending since 2022, and officials at the U.S. Embassy in Accra have yet to schedule her for a consular interview—a necessary step toward receiving a visa.
Form or filing DS-260 (immigrant visa) Read by a model
In 2017, Bonsi received her “NVC welcome letter” instructing her to submit her DS-260 visa application.
What the suit asked for Schedule an interview Read by a model
Tired of waiting, Plaintiffs sued in December 2023, seeking to compel Defendants to schedule an interview and decide the visa application, among other things.
Kind of order A ruling on a motion or the petition Read by a model
For all these reasons, the Court will grant Defendants’ motion and dismiss the case .
Motion decided Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim Read by a model
Defendants now move to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
Whose motion The government's motion Read by a model
Defendants now move to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
Disposition Dismissed The case or every delay claim was dismissed for a reason other than mootness. Read by a model
For all these reasons, the Court will grant Defendants’ motion and dismiss the case .
Prevailing party Government Read by a model
For all these reasons, the Court will grant Defendants’ motion and dismiss the case .
The delay claim Dismissed Read by a model
Plaintiffs’ claims must be dismissed because the delay in adjudicating the visa application is not unreasonable as a matter of law.
The other claims Dismissed Read by a model
For all these reasons, the Court will grant Defendants’ motion and dismiss the case .
Months pending 36 months from the application to the court's decision Read by a model
So, at this point, the application has been mired in administrative proceedings for nearly three years.
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 neededneutral
Read by a model
So the Court’s conclusion that the first and second TRAC factors favor Defendants remains unchanged.
The government's delay arguments First-in, first-out processing accepted; Line-jumping accepted Read by a model
consulates fill interview appointments “in a first -in, first-out manner” once “an applicant’s paperwork is documentarily complete.”
Threshold rulings None Read by a model

How the case ended

Docket
No. 1:23-cv-03740
Filed
December 15, 2023
Ended
January 23, 2025
Suit's filing to its end
405 days
How it ended
Dismissed on jurisdiction or the merits
From the record
order 2025-01-23 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 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.