It can feel like your entire life is put on hold when you are waiting to hear about the next steps in your immigration case. When a pending application gets stuck in bureaucratic red tape, it can feel like you are trapped. A lack of answers makes it difficult to plan for major life decisions like housing, career, and education.
A Union City immigration delay lawyer can assess your case and help get the application moving through a range of approaches. An immigration attorney from the Law Office of Lloyd E. Bennett Esq., P.C., is ready to guide you.
The first step to breaking through an immigration delay is to identify the source of the delay. Unfortunately, the process is complex and can hit snags at multiple points.
If the delay is at the background check stage, there are many possible causes. If the applicant has a common name, they may see a delay when the background check triggers multiple hits that must be evaluated. Depending on the applicant’s birth country, there may be administrative hurdles to clear. Some countries have higher security concerns and require additional background screening. In addition, minor criminal charges or errors in an applicant’s records can cause delays.
Moving through the process may involve multiple departments, including the FBI, CIA, and DOS.
While the process is designed to work as smoothly as possible, the reality is that things go wrong. If the USCIS or another entity has lost or misplaced important documents, the application may face significant delays. It is also common for outgoing documentation to get lost. If a Request for Evidence (RFE) or a request to schedule an interview is not received by the applicant, they may be stuck waiting with no way of knowing what they need to do next or worse, an application can be denied due to a lack of response within a specific time frame to a RFE.
It is no secret that many immigration service centers are facing delays in processing applications due to staffing issues and backlogs. Wait times can be uneven and unpredictable, and a breakdown in communication can leave applicants unclear on a reasonable timeline.
Some of the most common delays are caused by very simple omissions on the applications. Common issues include missing signatures, outdated application editions, and unpaid or incorrect filing fees. These errors can lead to significant delays, and there are not always timely requests sent to applicants for revisions.
A Union City attorney can help determine the cause of an immigration delay and attempt to resolve any issues with the application. However, some errors or omissions can be fatal.
While some delays are unavoidable, there are many tools an immigration delay lawyer in Union City can use to get the process moving forward again.
One powerful tool at a lawyer’s disposal is a writ of mandamus. This is a federal lawsuit (28 U.S.C. § 1361) that aims to compel a federal agency to complete its duties by acting on a delayed application. This is most common when there has been no reason for a delay that has gone on for a prolonged period of time with no resolution in sight.
A broader tool is an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) lawsuit. Under 5 U.S.C. § 706(1), an APA lawsuit can compel action when there has been an unreasonable delay. An immigration delay lawyer can help establish what is legally unreasonable and file this kind of suit on their client’s behalf.
In addition to these legal tools, an experienced and well-connected immigration delay lawyer can also make official inquiries to find the source of a delay, help correct errors to move documentation forward, and generally help shepherd an application through the immigration process.
If you have been waiting for information on your immigration case and are unsure of what to do next, it is time to reach out to a Union City immigration delay lawyer. We are here to help you and understand the frustration of waiting for answers. Call us to get started so you can get the information you need.
(201) 330-8883