Expedite Your Asylum Interview Date and Decision on Your Application

If you or someone you know has ever been involved in the process of seeking asylum within the U.S., you may have heard of a legal procedure referred to as a Mandamus Action. In this article we’re going to be discussing what a Mandamus action actually is as well as what it entails for someone who is seeking asylum. Let's start with a quick definition…

A Mandamus Action is basically a fancy name for a lawsuit that forces the USCIS or any other federal bureaucratic entity to comply with the rules of the Federal or state government.

Congress has specifically mandated that an asylum application should be adjudicated, or finalized, within 180 days. What this means for the applicant is that within that 180 day time frame, the USCIS must have both called them in for an interview and granted a decision regarding their asylum application.

However, if they have been waiting for more than this time frame mandated by Congress, they then gain the right to file a Mandamus Action, which ideally results in a court order demanding the USCIS comply with the aforementioned time frames, thereby granting them both an interview date and a subsequent adjudication or in the instances wherein the applicant has already been interviewed without receiving a decision in 180 days, the adjudication itself.

In practice, this means that if an applicant has been waiting for an interview and adjudication since 2018 or earlier, it is very likely that initiating a mandamus action will be successful in expediting both their asylum interview date and decision.

As a general rule, if you applied for affirmative asylum in or before 2018 you may have your interview date or adjudication by the USCIS regarding your asylum application within 60 days after you file a mandamus action with the Federal Court.

There are certain popular misconceptions regarding such Mandamus actions that we would like to briefly dispel. Contrary to some popular belief, a Mandamus action has no effect on the end result of the asylum application process. Filing a mandamus action will in no way affect the decision of USCIS officers in either direction. Rather it is simply a formal procedure to guarantee that your case is in the system and is being processed according to standard protocol.

We successfully filed many mandamus actions and our clients received their interview dates or decisions on their applications. They are ready for their green card applications.

If you have any questions about a Mandamus action or would like in-person consultancy regarding your asylum application please feel free to reach out to Sari Law Firm through email info@sarilaw.us or by calling our office at 949.426.5071.

Note: This is not a legal advice.