A guide, with live counts from the courts' own feeds
Suing USCIS or the State Department over a delay
When an immigration application or visa has sat undecided for an unreasonable time, people ask a federal court to order the agency to decide it. The suit does not ask the court to approve the application, only to make the agency act. Most are brought by individuals and small immigration practices.
129 new suits against USCIS or the State Department filed in federal court between September 20, 2026 and September 26, 2026, across 34 districts, counted from the district courts' own filing feeds.
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How the case runs
The legal basis
These cases are usually brought under the Administrative Procedure Act, which lets a court compel agency action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed (5 U.S.C. §§ 555(b) and 706(1)), and the Mandamus Act (28 U.S.C. § 1361).
Serving the government
Suing a federal agency means serving the U.S. Attorney for the district, the Attorney General, and the agency itself (Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(i)).
The government has 60 days to respond
A United States agency or officer sued in an official capacity has 60 days after the U.S. Attorney is served to answer or move to dismiss (Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a)(2)).
How courts weigh a delay
Many courts judge whether a delay is unreasonable by the factors in Telecommunications Research & Action Center v. FCC, 750 F.2d 70 (D.C. Cir. 1984). Many of these suits end without a ruling because the agency decides the application and the case is dismissed as moot.
Know the day your docket moves
In these cases the thing that ends the suit often happens outside the courtroom, and the docket is where it shows up: a stipulation to extend time, a notice that the application was decided, a motion to dismiss. CaseMagic Watch reads your case every day and emails you when a new entry lands.
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Where they were filed
A case is counted once, on the date its opening filing was made, when the defendant the court typed into the caption is one this kind of case is brought against. Districts that publish no filing feed are not counted. No names are listed here on purpose.
Questions people ask before they start
Will the court approve my application?
No. A court in these cases can order the agency to make a decision; it does not decide the application itself.
How long before the government responds?
60 days after the U.S. Attorney for the district is served, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a)(2), unless the court extends it — which is common, often by agreement while the agency works on the file.
CaseMagic is an independent service, not a law firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice. The rules cited are the ones in force as this page was written; check your court's local rules and any order in your own case.
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