Mandamus decisions / District of Columbia

Sereshti v. Gaudiosi

District of ColumbiaBeryl A. HowellDecided October 30, 2024No. 1:24-cv-01288

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 last action taken on plaintiff’s visa application was his February 2023 interview at the U.S. Embassy in the United Arab Emirates.
Form or filing 221(g) (consular refusal); DS-260 (immigrant visa) Read by a model
to adjudicate his immigrant visa application, which had been in administrative processing for approximately fifteen months at the time plaintiff initiated this lawsuit.
What the suit asked for Finish 221(g) processing Read by a model
On May 2, 2024, approximately fifteen months after plaintiff’s visa application was placed in administrative processing, plaintiff filed a two-count complaint seeking to compel defendants to adjudicate his application.
Kind of order A ruling on a motion or the petition Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, defendants’ motion to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim for relief, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), is granted.
Motion decided Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, defendants’ motion to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim for relief, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), is granted.
Whose motion The government's motion Read by a model
On July 30, 2024, defendants moved to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint 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 all the stated reasons, plaintiff’s complaint must be dismissed for failure to state a claim.
Prevailing party Government Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, defendants’ motion to dismiss the Complaint for failure to state a claim for relief, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), is granted.
The delay claim Dismissed Read by a model
For all the stated reasons, plaintiff’s complaint must be dismissed for failure to state a claim.
Months pending 14.5 months from the application to the suit; 60.5 months from the application to the court's decision Read by a model
Plaintiff and his family received the Notice of Immigrant Visa Case Creation from NVC in June 2019 and completed their visa applications and paid the relevant fees in October 2019.
TRAC factors The court weighed the TRAC factors
  • 1. Rule of reasonfavors the government
  • 2. Congressional timetablefavors the government
  • 3. Human health and welfarenot reached
  • 4. Competing prioritiesfavors the government
  • 5. Interests prejudicednot reached
  • 6. No impropriety needednot reached
Read by a model
The first two TRAC factors, which consider “the extent of and reasons for” agency delays, Afghan & Iraqi Allies, 103 F.4th at 816, both weigh in favor of defendants.
The government's delay arguments Line-jumping accepted Read by a model
the fact that granting plaintiff relief would merely reorder his visa application in the queue of waiting applicants, all support the conclusion that the delay in adjudication of plaintiff’s visa application is not unreasonable.
Threshold rulings None Read by a model
Nationality Iran Read by a model
Plaintiff Mehrdad Sereshti, a citizen of Iran
I-130 category Family preference Read by a model
In September 2006, Daryoush Tamizkar, a U.S. citizen, submitted a Form I-130 petition to USCIS on behalf of his sister Fatemeh Tamizkar, who is the wife of plaintiff Mehrdad Sereshti.

How the case ended

Docket
No. 1:24-cv-01288
Filed
May 2, 2024
Ended
October 31, 2024
Suit's filing to its end
182 days
How it ended
Dismissed on jurisdiction or the merits
From the record
idb disp 6 (judgment: motion before trial), judgment for defendant

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.