Mandamus decisions / District of Columbia
Van Ravenswaay v. Chertoff
Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener
2,914 written decisions from 2,661 cases in the whole mandamus and agency-delay group, the group's newest decided October 30, 2026. Updated November 3, 2026 at 1:24 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 1,606 public decisions since January 1, 2025 that a CourtListener and GovInfo search for mandamus and agency delay finds, Passim holds 1,371 (85%), measured November 3, 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
The U.S. Consulate in Suriname denied his visa request on March 30, 2004, due to ineligibility under Section 212(a)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(c) (relating to illicit trafficking of a controlled substance). |
|---|---|
| Form or filing |
B-1
Read by a model
On March 26, 2004, Plaintiff Eric van Ravenswaay submitted an application for a B-1 nonimmigrant visa to enter the United States “for business purposes.” |
| What the suit asked for | Not recorded Read by a model |
| Kind of order |
A ruling on a motion or the petition
Read by a model
Accordingly, the Court shall GRANT Defendants’ [9] Motion to Dismiss, for the reasons that follow. |
| Motion decided |
Motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction
Read by a model
For the reasons set forth above, the Court shall GRANT Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). |
| Whose motion |
The government's motion
Read by a model
On January 21, 2009, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. |
| Disposition |
Dismissed
The case or every delay claim was dismissed for a reason other than mootness.
Read by a model
For the reasons set forth above, the Court shall GRANT Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). |
| Prevailing party |
Government
Read by a model
For the reasons set forth above, the Court shall GRANT Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). |
| The delay claim |
Dismissed
Read by a model
For the reasons set forth above, the Court shall GRANT Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). |
| The other claims |
Dismissed
Read by a model
For the reasons set forth above, the Court shall GRANT Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). |
| Months pending |
52.9 months from the application to the suit; 61.3 months from the application to the court's decision
Read by a model
On March 26, 2004, Plaintiff Eric van Ravenswaay submitted an application for a B-1 nonimmigrant visa to enter the United States “for business purposes.” |
| TRAC factors | The court did not weigh the TRAC factors Read by a model |
| Threshold rulings |
Section 1252(a)(2)(B) bar applied; Consular nonreviewability applied
Read by a model
This argument fails because the INA expressly precludes judicial review of these types of discretionary decisions. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) |
How the case ended
- Docket
- No. 1:08-cv-01455
- Filed
- August 21, 2008
- Ended
- May 4, 2009
- Suit's filing to its end
- 256 days
- How it ended
- Dismissed, ground not recorded
- From the record
- idb disp 14 (dismissed: other)
A voluntary or stipulated dismissal is how most suits end once the agency acts; the docket rarely says why.
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.
-
Kucana v. Holder, 558 U.S. 233
Supreme Court, January 20, 2010. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) bars review only of decisions whose discretionary character is specified by statute, not discretion the agency gives itself by regulation.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Patel v. Garland, 596 U.S. 328
Supreme Court, May 16, 2022. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) bars review of any judgment regarding the granting of the listed forms of relief, including the factual findings on which a denial of adjustment rests.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Bouarfa v. Mayorkas, 604 U.S. 6
Supreme Court, December 10, 2024. Revoking an approved visa petition under § 1155 is a discretionary decision or action that § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) places beyond judicial review.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
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
-
Saavedra Bruno v. Albright, 197 F.3d 1153
D.C. Circuit, December 3, 1999. Consular visa decisions are not subject to judicial review absent an express statutory grant, and the APA does not displace that doctrine.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Baan Rao Thai Restaurant v. Pompeo, 985 F.3d 1020
D.C. Circuit, January 22, 2021. Consular nonreviewability bars a federal court from second-guessing a consular officer's decision to issue or withhold a visa, and dismissal on that ground is a merits ruling rather than a jurisdictional one.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance. ImmCite has read all 3 published decisions citing this case, as of 2026-10-29; none treats it adversely. That describes those decisions; it is not a determination that the case is good law.
-
Pietersen v. Department of State, 138 F.4th 552
D.C. Circuit, May 30, 2025. Consular nonreviewability does not bar a forward-looking APA challenge to generally applicable State Department guidance, as distinct from review of an individual visa refusal.
ImmCite: unchecked, treatment not confirmed yet, not evidence either way. ImmCite has found no published decision citing this case as of 2026-11-03; it checks for new citing decisions daily. That is not a determination that the case is good law. The citation index lists 24 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.
-
Telecommunications Research & Action Center v. FCC, 750 F.2d 70
D.C. Circuit, October 24, 1984. Whether agency delay is unreasonable turns on six factors: a rule of reason, any statutory timetable, the human welfare interests at stake, the effect of expediting on competing priorities, the interests prejudiced by delay, and no need to find impropriety.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, Inc. v. Norton, 336 F.3d 1094
D.C. Circuit, August 8, 2003. A claim that an agency has unreasonably delayed a matter arises under the APA and § 1331, and the TRAC factors decide whether the delay is unreasonable.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
-
In re Core Communications, Inc., 531 F.3d 849
D.C. Circuit, July 8, 2008. Mandamus to compel unreasonably delayed agency action is an extraordinary remedy guided by the TRAC factors, granted here after years of unexplained delay.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance