Mandamus decisions / Western District of Wisconsin

Pak, Melody v. Biden, Joseph

Western District of WisconsinStephen L. CrockerDecided January 3, 2023No. 3:22-cv-00250

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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.

These are counts of past written decisions and dockets, not predictions of how any case will be decided. A distribution appears only when at least 5 decisions (or 5 dockets) are behind it; smaller groups are listed, not summarized. How it's counted.

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 Defendant Antony Blinken is the U.S. Secretary of State and oversees the Department of State (DOS), which is responsible for processing visa applications.
Form or filing	DS-160 (nonimmigrant visa); DS-260 (immigrant visa) Read by a model The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE scheduled Pak for an interview on March 12, 2018. At the interview, his visa was temporarily refused pending a security clearance.
What the suit asked for	Some other action Read by a model They bring this lawsuit under the Constitution and various federal laws to compel defendants to develop a transparent TRIG exemption process that is applied consistently across consular posts and to plaintiffs.
Kind of order	A ruling on a motion or the petition Read by a model I am denying defendants’ Rule 12(b)(1) motion, but I am granting their Rule 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing this case for failure to state a claim.
Motion decided	Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction; Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim Read by a model Before the court is defendants’ motion to dismiss the visa-applicant plaintiffs under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) for lack of standing and motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim.
Whose motion	The government's motion Read by a model Before the court is defendants’ motion to dismiss the visa-applicant plaintiffs under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) for lack of standing and motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) 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 I am denying defendants’ Rule 12(b)(1) motion, but I am granting their Rule 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing this case for failure to state a claim.
Prevailing party	Government Read by a model I am denying defendants’ Rule 12(b)(1) motion, but I am granting their Rule 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing this case for failure to state a claim.
The delay claim	Dismissed Read by a model I am denying defendants’ Rule 12(b)(1) motion, but I am granting their Rule 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing this case for failure to state a claim.
The other claims	Dismissed Read by a model I am denying defendants’ Rule 12(b)(1) motion, but I am granting their Rule 12(b)(6) motion and dismissing this case for failure to state a claim.
Months pending	Not stated Read by a model
TRAC factors	The court did not weigh the TRAC factors Read by a model
Threshold rulings	Consular nonreviewability applied Read by a model this action is barred by the doctrine of consular nonreviewability.
Nationality	Iran Read by a model Plaintiff Melody Pak is a U.S. permanent resident residing in Madison, Wisconsin, and her father, plaintiff Ali Pak, is an Iranian national residing in Tehran, Iran.
I-130 category	Immediate relative Read by a model Plaintiff Maryam Fatouraei is a U.S. citizen residing in Lexington, Massachusetts, and her father, plaintiff Vahid Fatouraee, is an Iranian national residing in Oroumiyeh, Iran.

How the case ended

Docket: No. 3:22-cv-00250
Filed: May 5, 2022
Ended: January 3, 2023
Suit's filing to its end: 243 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 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.

Trump v. Hawaii, 585 U.S. 667

Supreme Court, June 26, 2018. Mandel's facially-legitimate-and-bona-fide standard governs constitutional challenges to entry restrictions, and a citation to a valid statutory ground ordinarily satisfies it.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Department of State v. Muñoz, 602 U.S. 899

Supreme Court, June 21, 2024. A U.S. citizen has no fundamental liberty interest in a noncitizen spouse's admission, so marriage alone entitles the citizen neither to Mandel review of the consular refusal nor to an explanation beyond the statutory citation.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753

Supreme Court, June 29, 1972. When a visa refusal burdens a U.S. citizen's own constitutional rights, courts ask only whether the Executive gave a facially legitimate and bona fide reason and do not look behind it.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 542 U.S. 55

Supreme Court, June 14, 2004. Section 706(1) and mandamus reach only a discrete agency action that the agency is legally required to take, so a court cannot compel programmatic improvements or action the law leaves to agency discretion.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
Pak v. Biden, 91 F.4th 896

Seventh Circuit, January 31, 2024. Consular nonreviewability bars a systemic challenge to how terrorism-related inadmissibility exemptions are considered, a matter the statute commits to the Secretaries' sole unreviewable discretion, and a statutory citation with a facial link to the record satisfies Mandel.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance. ImmCite has read all 2 published decisions citing this case, as of 2026-11-13; none treats it adversely. That describes those decisions; it is not a determination that the case is good law.
Matushkina v. Nielsen, 877 F.3d 289

Seventh Circuit, December 7, 2017. Consular nonreviewability is a merits rule rather than a limit on subject-matter jurisdiction, and it bars indirect attacks on a visa refusal through the underlying inadmissibility finding.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance. ImmCite has read all 11 published decisions citing this case, as of 2026-11-13; none treats it adversely. That describes those decisions; it is not a determination that the case is good law.
Yafai v. Pompeo, 912 F.3d 1018

Seventh Circuit, January 4, 2019. A visa refusal citing a statutory inadmissibility ground supported by facts in the record is facially legitimate and bona fide, and bad faith must be affirmatively shown before a court looks further.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance. ImmCite has read all 8 published decisions citing this case, as of 2026-11-13; none treats it adversely. That describes those decisions; it is not a determination that the case is good law.
Iddir v. INS, 301 F.3d 492

Seventh Circuit, August 6, 2002. INS had a nondiscretionary duty to adjudicate diversity-visa applications and § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) does not bar review of a failure to act, but no relief is available once the fiscal year ends.

ImmCite: caution, adverse or limiting treatment found. Questioned by Akash Shahi v. United States Department of S, 33 F.4th 927 (2022).
Calderon-Ramirez v. McCament, 877 F.3d 272

Seventh Circuit, December 5, 2017. USCIS must process U-visa petitions within a reasonable time, but neither mandamus nor the APA offers relief to an applicant who shows nothing setting him apart from those ahead of him in the oldest-first queue.

ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance. ImmCite has read all 3 published decisions citing this case, as of 2026-11-13; none treats it adversely. That describes those decisions; it is not a determination that the case is good law.
Shahi v. United States Department of State, 33 F.4th 927

Seventh Circuit, May 6, 2022. Courts cannot order a diversity visa issued after the fiscal year ends whatever relief is requested, because the statute ends eligibility, and the Mandamus Act supplies a remedy rather than jurisdiction.

ImmCite: unchecked, treatment not confirmed yet, not evidence either way. ImmCite has found no published decision citing this case as of 2026-10-29; it checks for new citing decisions daily. That is not a determination that the case is good law. The citation index lists 10 other decisions citing it, none a Supreme Court, BIA or Attorney General precedent or a published circuit opinion; ImmCite's status does not review them.