Manvi v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Service

Background

Eight foreign nationals holding H-4 visas, and spouses of H-1B visa holders, sued the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). They alleged that USCIS unreasonably delayed deciding their applications for H-4 nonimmigrant status and employment authorization documents. They brought the claims under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The defendant moved to dismiss and transfer venue. The motion was unopposed. The court vacated the scheduled hearing and decided the motion without oral argument.

Mootness

USCIS presented evidence that seven of the eight plaintiffs’ H-4-status and employment-authorization renewal applications had been approved. The court held that those seven plaintiffs’ unreasonable-delay claims were moot because there was no longer any relief the court could grant. It therefore dismissed the claims of Premila Manvi, Prasana Nandhini Rengasamy, Tejeswi Pratima Dodda, Hemavthi Dilip, Jyotsna Sharma, Lavanya Gundu, and Sasi Basireddy as moot.

Venue

The eighth plaintiff, Aishwarya Manepalli, still had pending applications. USCIS presented evidence that the applications were pending at its Nebraska Service Center. The court found that her claim could have been brought in the District of Nebraska because a substantial part of the events connected to the claim occurred there. It also found good cause to transfer the claim in the interest of justice, including because the motion was unopposed.

The court therefore severed Manepalli’s unreasonable-delay claim from the other claims and transferred it to the District of Nebraska.

Disposition

The court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss and transfer venue. It dismissed seven unreasonable-delay claims as moot and severed and transferred Manepalli’s remaining claim to the District of Nebraska. The order disposed of Docket No. 38.