Yes, you can sue USCIS for taking too long on your immigration application. The lawsuit is called a mandamus action, filed in federal district court, and it asks a judge to order USCIS to make a decision on your pending case. It does not ask the judge to approve your application, and it cannot force an approval. What it forces is adjudication: the agency has to pick up your file and decide it. For applicants who have waited months or years past posted processing times, that is usually the point.
Two federal statutes authorize the suit. The Administrative Procedure Act allows courts to “compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed,”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S. Code 706 – Scope of Review and requires agencies to conclude matters within a “reasonable time.”2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 555 – Ancillary Matters The Mandamus Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1361, gives district courts jurisdiction to compel a federal officer “to perform a duty owed to the plaintiff.”3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1361 – Action to Compel an Officer of the United States Most attorneys file under both. The legal hook is the same in each: USCIS has discretion over whether to grant your benefit, but no discretion over whether to decide at all.
When Is Your Wait Long Enough to Sue
There is no fixed month count that automatically qualifies as unreasonable. Federal courts apply a six-factor balancing test drawn from a 1984 case, Telecommunications Research and Action Center v. FCC, known as the TRAC factors.4Open Casebook. Telecommunications Research and Action Center v. Federal Communications Commission – TRAC Factors Judges weigh whether USCIS is following a rational approach to its caseload, whether Congress set a statutory deadline for the form type, whether real human welfare is at stake, whether an order would disrupt higher-priority work, what interests the delay is harming, and whether the agency acted in bad faith. No single factor controls.
The practical starting point is comparing your wait against the posted processing time for your specific form and service center on the USCIS case processing times page.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Check Case Processing A case pending two years with serious personal consequences and no explanation from USCIS is much stronger than a case pending 14 months for a form type that routinely takes 12. Family separation, inability to work, risk of losing status, and safety concerns all cut in your favor. Bad faith is hard to prove and usually neutral.
What to Do Before You File
Courts expect you to show you tried the normal channels first. Building this record also strengthens your complaint if you do sue. Start as soon as your case exceeds the posted processing time.
Submit a Case Inquiry to USCIS
You can file a service request through your online USCIS account, by calling the Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283, or through the e-Request portal.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Check Case Processing For form types without a posted processing time, USCIS’s stated goal is six months, and the agency asks you to wait that long before submitting an inquiry. Save every confirmation number and response.
Request Help From the CIS Ombudsman
The Department of Homeland Security’s CIS Ombudsman is an independent office that can escalate cases to USCIS. Before it will accept your request, you must have contacted USCIS through one of its customer service tools within the last 90 days and given the agency at least 60 days to respond.6Department of Homeland Security. How to Submit a Case Assistance Request You submit the request on DHS Form 7001. The Ombudsman can flag your case, but only USCIS can approve or deny it.
Contact Your Member of Congress
Every congressional office has caseworkers who handle inquiries with federal agencies. Expect an acknowledgment within about five business days for email and a substantive response within 30 calendar days for written inquiries.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Congressional Inquiries Refresher for Legislative Staff Your congressional office can also submit an expedite request if you face severe financial loss, urgent humanitarian circumstances, or a clear USCIS error, though approval is not guaranteed.
Document all three efforts. If your case is still stuck, you have the record you need to show a judge that litigation was the only option left.
How the Lawsuit Works
You file the case in U.S. District Court. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e), you can choose the district where you live, the district where the USCIS office handling your case sits, or the District of Columbia. The defendants are the officials responsible for deciding your case: typically the Secretary of Homeland Security, the USCIS Director, and either the local District Director (for field office cases) or the Service Center Director (for service center cases).8National Immigration Litigation Alliance. Who to Sue, Who to Serve
The lawsuit starts with a complaint that identifies you, explains what you filed and when, cites the posted processing time, states how long you’ve been waiting, describes your efforts to resolve the delay, and asks the court to order USCIS to act. You attach your receipt notice, processing time screenshots, service request responses, Ombudsman correspondence, and congressional inquiry records.
The court filing fee is $350 by statute9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1914 – District Court Filing and Miscellaneous Fees plus a $55 administrative fee, for a total of $405. If you cannot afford it, you can ask to proceed in forma pauperis. After filing, you must serve the government under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(i): a copy of the complaint and summons goes to the U.S. Attorney for your district, another goes by registered or certified mail to the Attorney General in Washington, D.C., and another goes by registered or certified mail to USCIS.10Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons Missing any of these can cause procedural delays or dismissal.
What Happens After You File
Once served, an Assistant U.S. Attorney is assigned to represent the government, which has 60 days to respond.11Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12 – Defenses and Objections The most common outcome is that the AUSA contacts USCIS to ask about your case, and that inquiry alone often prompts adjudication. If USCIS decides your application after the suit is filed, the case is usually dismissed because there is nothing left to order. The AUSA may also negotiate a stipulated agreement committing to a specific decision deadline. Either way, the lawsuit has done its job. Most mandamus cases end this way, not in a hearing.
What It Costs and Whether You Need a Lawyer
Beyond the $405 filing fee, attorney fees are the main expense. Most immigration attorneys handle mandamus cases on a flat fee, generally between $5,000 and $15,000 depending on complexity and the attorney’s experience. Straightforward cases sit at the lower end. Cases involving security-related background check delays or multiple applications tend to cost more.
You can file pro se. Federal courts allow it in civil actions. But mandamus complaints require precise legal arguments, correct identification of defendants, and strict compliance with procedural rules. Mistakes in service or defendant selection can sink the case before it starts.
Recovering Attorney Fees
If your lawsuit succeeds, the Equal Access to Justice Act may let you recover attorney fees from the government. You must be a “prevailing party,” the government’s position must not have been “substantially justified,” and your individual net worth cannot have exceeded $2,000,000 when you filed.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 2412 – Costs and Fees The complication: when USCIS adjudicates voluntarily after the suit is filed and the case is dismissed as moot, some courts have found the applicant did not technically prevail because there was no court order compelling the action. Fee recovery is not automatic. You must file the fee application within 30 days of final judgment, with billing records and a sworn statement of net worth.
Will USCIS Retaliate If I Sue
This is the most common worry, and there is no evidence it happens. USCIS officers adjudicate based on the law and the evidence in the file. If you’re eligible, the application gets approved. If you’re not, it gets denied, and that outcome would have arrived either way. A mandamus action does not change the substantive analysis. It forces the agency to complete it.
The government can move to dismiss. The usual arguments are that the delay is not actually unreasonable under the TRAC factors, or that mandamus is inappropriate because the action involves discretion. Courts have consistently rejected the discretion argument when it comes to the duty to adjudicate: deciding a benefit may be discretionary, but processing the application at all is not.13National Immigration Litigation Alliance. Mandamus and APA Delay Cases – Avoiding Dismissal and Proving the Case If the court dismisses the lawsuit, your underlying application remains pending; dismissal does not trigger a denial. And if you win, the court orders adjudication, not approval.
A Stronger Tool for Naturalization Applicants
If you’re waiting on a naturalization application specifically, you have a separate and stronger avenue. Federal law provides that if USCIS does not decide your naturalization application within 120 days after your examination, you can ask a federal district court to either decide the application itself or send it back to USCIS with instructions to decide within a set timeframe.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1447 – Hearings on Denials of Applications for Naturalization Because Congress set an explicit deadline, courts weigh that heavily under the TRAC analysis. Naturalization delay cases must be filed in the district where the applicant lives.