Passim

Mandamus decisions / District of Columbia

Musaleev v. Bitter

District of ColumbiaTimothy J. KellyDecided January 28, 2025No. 1:24-cv-01100

Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener

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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
The embassy’s consular section emailed him three weeks later to request more information “as part of [his] administrative processing.”
Form or filing 221(g) (consular refusal); DS-160 (nonimmigrant visa) Read by a model
In early 2023, Dr. Kharis Musaleev and his family applied for nonimmigrant visas so that he could come to the United States to work as a technical sales engineer.
What the suit asked for Finish 221(g) processing Read by a model
This relief is appropriate, he alleges, because Defendants “have failed to adjudicate” the applications, which have been mired in administrative processing since early 2023.
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 to dismiss, ECF No. 13.
Motion decided Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction; Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim Read by a model
Defendants move to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.
Whose motion The government's motion Read by a model
Defendants move to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and 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
The case is dismissed as to the Secretary of State for lack of standing and as to the remaining Defendants for failure to state a claim.
Prevailing party Government Read by a model
For all these reasons, the Court will grant Defendants’ motion to dismiss, ECF No. 13.
The delay claim Dismissed Read by a model
Balancing those factors here, the Court concludes that Dr. Musaleev has not stated a claim for unreasonable delay under the APA or the Mandamus Act.
The other claims Dismissed Read by a model
The case is dismissed as to the Secretary of State for lack of standing and as to the remaining Defendants for failure to state a claim.
Months pending 9.5 months from the application to the suit; 19 months from the application to the court's decision Read by a model
Dr. Musaleev did so by applying for a visa in early 2023, and he completed his interview at the U.S. embassy in Armenia on February 22 of that year.
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
Instead, those factors favor Defendants for the reasons discussed above.
The government's delay arguments Line-jumping accepted Read by a model
And granting Dr. Musaleev “the relief [h]e seeks would come at the expense of other similarly-situated applicants that have waited as long (if not longer)” for an adjudication.
Threshold rulings None Read by a model
Nationality Russia Read by a model
Dr. Kharis Musaleev is a Russian citizen.

How the case ended

Docket
No. 1:24-cv-01100
Filed
April 17, 2024
Ended
January 28, 2025
Suit's filing to its end
286 days
How it ended
Dismissed on jurisdiction or the merits
From the record
order 2025-01-28 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.