Passim

Mandamus decisions / District of Columbia

Da Fonseca v. Emmel

District of ColumbiaJames E. BoasbergDecided February 9, 2024No. 1:23-cv-03300

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 USCIS Read by a model
On July 7, 2023, they filed the present suit, seeking to compel USCIS to adjudicate their petition.
Form or filing I-526 (investor petition) Read by a model
filed their Form I-526 petition on November 20, 2019.
What the suit asked for Decide the application Read by a model
On July 7, 2023, they filed the present suit, seeking to compel USCIS to adjudicate their petition.
Kind of order A ruling on a motion or the petition Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, the Court will grant the Motion to Dismiss.
Motion decided Motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim Read by a model
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) permits dismissal of a complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
Whose motion The government's motion Read by a model
Defendants now move to dismiss.
Disposition Dismissed The case or every delay claim was dismissed for a reason other than mootness. Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, the Court will grant the Motion to Dismiss.
Prevailing party Government Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, the Court will grant the Motion to Dismiss.
The delay claim Dismissed Read by a model
Because the Court ultimately agrees with Defendant that the delay was reasonable, meaning that Counts I and III cannot proceed,
The other claims Dismissed Read by a model
For the foregoing reasons, the Court will grant the Motion to Dismiss.
Months pending 43.5 months from the application to the suit; 50.7 months from the application to the court's decision Read by a model
filed their Form I-526 petition on November 20, 2019.
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 neededfavors the government
Read by a model
The first two factors weigh in USCIS’s favor.
The government's delay arguments First-in, first-out processing accepted; Line-jumping accepted Read by a model
USCIS’s post-2020 rule reasonably calls for prioritizing Form I-526 petitions from immigrants for whom visas are actually available in a given year.
Threshold rulings None Read by a model
Nationality Brazil Read by a model
Plaintiff Vagner Tavares da Fonseca, a citizen of Brazil,

How the case ended

Docket
No. 1:23-cv-03300
Filed
November 3, 2023
Ended
February 9, 2024
Suit's filing to its end
95 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.