Davijani v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

Background

Amir Ahmad Bakhtiary Davijani brought this action under 8 U.S.C. § 1447(b) to compel adjudication of his Form N-400 naturalization application. He filed the application on October 14, 2023, and completed his initial naturalization interview, including the English and civics tests, on April 19, 2024. After the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not decide the application within 120 days after the interview, Davijani filed this case on August 25, 2025. He initially filed without a lawyer but later retained counsel.

The parties stipulated that Davijani is a citizen of Iran, legally entered the United States in 2012, and has been a lawful permanent resident since December 11, 2018. The court also noted that he satisfied the residence and physical-presence requirements, passed the English and civics tests, swore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, had no criminal history, and had not served in or sought exemption from the U.S. armed forces.

Defendants’ argument

The defendants’ only substantive objection was that Davijani had not proved good moral character. At his naturalization interview, he answered “No” when asked whether any family member had been associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The administrative record showed that his older brother had disclosed serving in that organization from August 2011 through April 2012 as part of mandatory military service.

Davijani testified that he did not know, when he answered the interview question, that his brother had served in that branch rather than the Iran Army. He also testified that he had little communication with his brother and did not support the Revolutionary Guard. The defendants argued that this explanation was implausible because military service is mandatory for Iranian men.

Court’s analysis

The court held that an incorrect answer is not necessarily a knowing or intentional misrepresentation. It found Davijani’s testimony credible and found no indication that he intentionally misstated the facts to obtain an immigration benefit. The court also considered testimony from three witnesses and sworn community declarations describing Davijani as a person of good moral character who contributed to his community.

The court concluded that Davijani proved by a preponderance of the evidence—the requirement that something be more likely true than not true—that he satisfied the statutory requirements for naturalization.

Disposition

The court GRANTED Davijani’s request for relief and approved his naturalization application. It REMANDED the case to USCIS solely to complete his naturalization within fourteen days of the order, schedule his oath ceremony as soon as possible, and issue his Certificate of Naturalization on the same day. The parties must file a status update after naturalization. The order states that, if Davijani had not been naturalized by March 20, 2026, he could reopen the case and appear before the court for naturalization.