Mandamus decisions / Northern District of California
Agrawal v. Edlow
Read the decisionOriginal on CourtListener
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 |
USCIS
Read by a model
Defendant USCIS is a sub-agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security responsible for processing and adjudicating immigration applications such as the Form I-485 applications to register permanent residence filed by Plaintiffs. |
|---|---|
| Form or filing |
I-485 (adjustment of status)
Read by a model
their Form I-485 applications to register permanent residence |
| What the suit asked for |
Decide the application
Read by a model
They seek to compel USCIS to adjudicate their application, alleging violations of the APA, the Mandamus Act, and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. |
| Kind of order |
A ruling on a motion or the petition
Read by a model
For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Defendants’ motion. |
| 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 the APA and Mandamus claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and the Due Process claim for failure to state a claim. |
| Whose motion |
The government's motion
Read by a model
Defendants move to dismiss the complaint, claiming in part that the Court lacks jurisdiction over USCIS’s inaction. |
| Disposition |
Dismissed in part; some claims go on
The government's motion to dismiss was granted in part: some claims were dismissed and others go on.
Read by a model
Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is DENIED. |
| Prevailing party |
Each side in part
Read by a model
Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is DENIED. |
| The delay claim |
The delay claim goes on
Read by a model
Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is DENIED. |
| The other claims |
Dismissed
Read by a model
Plaintiffs’ due process claim is DISMISSED without leave to amend. |
| Months pending |
18.2 months from the application to the court's decision
Read by a model
On February 7, 2025, Mr. Agrawal filed a Form I-526E petition concurrently with his and his wife’s Form I-485 applications. |
| TRAC factors | The court did not weigh the TRAC factors Read by a model |
| Threshold rulings |
Section 1252(a)(2)(B) bar rejected
Read by a model
Accordingly, § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) does not shield agency inaction from judicial review. |
How the case ended
- Docket
- No. 5:26-cv-01400
- On the docket
- This ruling (ECF 19), deciding the motion (ECF 7)
- Filed
- February 17, 2026
- Status
- Pending as of the last docket check
A voluntary or stipulated dismissal is how most suits end once the agency acts; the docket rarely says why. Other suits in this court.
The ruling's entry is the docket's one order or judgment entered the day of the decision, and the motion number is read from that entry's text. Both come from CourtListener's copy of the docket; check them there.
Supreme Court and Ninth 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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Spencer Enterprises, Inc. v. United States, 345 F.3d 683
Ninth Circuit, September 17, 2003. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) covers only discretion specified by statute, so denials of EB-5 investor petitions remain reviewable; the Tenth Circuit declined to follow it, but it binds in the Ninth.
ImmCite: caution, adverse or limiting treatment found. Disagreed with (dictum) in the Third Circuit by Oyenike Alaka v. Attorney General of the United States Secretary of Department of Homeland Security, 456 F.3d 88 (2006).
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Vega v. USCIS, 65 F.4th 469
Ninth Circuit, April 14, 2023. If a statute makes a decision wholly discretionary, regulations or agency practice cannot make it reviewable or exempt it from § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii).
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.
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Independence Mining Co. v. Babbitt, 105 F.3d 502
Ninth Circuit, January 23, 1997. Mandamus and APA § 706(1) claims to compel delayed agency action are analyzed alike under the TRAC factors.
ImmCite: treatment available, history exists, not clearance
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Vaz v. Neal, 33 F.4th 1131
Ninth Circuit, May 9, 2022. Section 706(1) compels only a clear, mandatory and discrete duty that has been unreasonably delayed under TRAC, and the APA's prerequisites go to the merits while § 1331 supplies jurisdiction.
ImmCite: unchecked, treatment not confirmed yet, not evidence either way. ImmCite has found no published decision citing this case as of 2026-11-10; it checks for new citing decisions daily. That is not a determination that the case is good law. The citation index lists 145 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.