Solutions to Long Term Immigration Delay
It is unfortunate that many deserving immigrants or applicants for naturalization are delayed by the US Citizenship & Immigration Service’s failure to timely process their file. These delays can negatively impact travel, employment, and cause family separation.
There are steps intending immigrants and their families can take to try and learn the reason for a delay and move their case forward. Read more about the Self-Help Steps you can take, or our answers to Frequently Asked Questions in order to learn more about the causes and law surrounding immigration delays.
For some applicants, the only remaining step is to file a Federal Lawsuit so a judge can issue an order requiring the USCIS to process the pending application. Gallinger Law has assisted dozens of applicants for visas, green cards, and citizenship in obtaining action on long delayed cases. Please use the form to request a free consultation with an attorney to see what options are available in your circumstance.
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Todd Gallinger
Immigrants to the United States of America have always faced challenges in their pursuit of building a comfortable life, but perhaps never more than today. An already overloaded and broken system has been ground to a halt by the anti-immigrant policies of the current Trump administration. Many people seeking citizenship or green cards, many of whom have families in the US, are facing months or even years long delays on their applications that can amount to years. Moving a case forward today requires fighting through government bureaucracy and standing up to anti-American policies and officials. Todd Gallinger is committed to taking the US government to task with regard to the compounding and unfair challenges facing immigrants today.
Self-Help Steps
The process of immigrating to the United States is already difficult and burdensome. A long delayed case can leave you feeling confused, overwhelmed, and powerless. But you are not powerless. There are ways to move forward long-delayed immigration cases, including steps you can do on your own.
Four steps you can take to move your case forward:
Lookup Your Case Online
Check on your case regularly, using the CIS’s online and telephone systems.
Schedule an In-Person Inquiry
Once it is formally our side of case processing time, use InfoPass to schedule an appointment with an information officer.
Get Help From a Local Congressperson
Ask your local district office make an inquiry on your behalf.
Evaluate a Lawsuit to Expedite Your Case
Get more information about the law and have an attorney evaluate your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about immigration & naturalization delay
Most common reason for a delay is an issue in a background check, but delays can be for other
reasons as well. The background check might be called the name check, if being done in the
United States, or administrative processing if the visa application is with an embassy or
consulate abroad.
Very often the reason for a delayed background check is “name confusion” – meaning that
issues relating to someone else with the same or similar name and identifying are appearing in
your background check. Since initial “flags” or “hits” may come from information shared by other
US or foreign government agencies, the FBI or DHS may request files to clear the confusion, a
process which sometimes can take months or years.
It is often difficult, or even impossible, to find out the exact reason for a delayed case. You can
do inquiries with the USCIS online, by phone, and in person through scheduling an Infopass
appointment. You can also follow up with an embassy or consulate on a submitted application
by email. If these normal channels do not give a satisfactory answer, you can also follow up with your local congressional office to request that they make an inquiry on your behalf.
Read more about the Self Help Steps you can take to move your case forward.
Sometimes the process of multiple inquiries can itself move a case forward, if it was delayed to
a bureaucratic error and an inquiry forces the CIS to find a missing file. Oftentimes, however,
applicants have to file a “Mandamus” lawsuit to move their delayed case forward.
Read more about evaluating if a case is right for you.
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