Do I Have To Go To Court If My Visa Is In Administrative Processing?
Do you have to go to court to attend hearings if you file a writ of mandamus lawsuit to get your visa out of administrative processing?
I’m Josh Goldstein, an immigration lawyer, and I help people and families across the country and around the world get their visas out of administrative processing.
People always ask me, “What’s it like going to court? I mean, I understand that the solution to administrative processing is to file a lawsuit, but what’s that experience like? Am I going to have to go to court? Am I going to have to prepare for hearings? This sounds like a real hassle.”
So I want to explain a little bit about how the court process works to help you get more comfortable with it and have more background information.
If you see a lawyer on TV, the lawyer goes to court, walks around, says, “May it please the court,” and makes a presentation in court. There is a jury and people are sitting and watching the hearing. It sounds very dramatic.
Well, a mandamus lawsuit is nothing like this. We file writ of mandamus lawsuits in the U.S. district court and the District of Columbia, so they’re all filed in Washington, D.C.
Everything is done electronically
They’re also all filed electronically. We actually upload a PDF and we file that with a court. It’s all done through email or through a system called Pacer ECF. Everything’s done through PDF, uploading of PDFs and electronically, so I never physically go to court.
In all the lawsuits that I’ve been involved with to challenge visa delays and to fight administrative processing, never once have I ever had an actual hearing where I had to personally appear in court. So, here’s one of the things that I want you to know:
You probably won’t have to go to court
If your visa is stuck in administrative processing, and you’re sick and tired of waiting and you’re thinking about filing a lawsuit to challenge the delay, you’re probably not going to have to go to court. I’m almost certain that you’re not going to have to physically go to court.
So, it’s really a situation where you sit back and you wait for the legal process to unfold and to take place, but you’re not going to have to actually go to court and appear in court. Don’t worry about that, and in fact, don’t worry about anything.
The only thing to worry about
The only thing that you should be worried about is continuing to wait any longer, because administrative processing is a special form of hell. They put you on hold, and they brush you off. It’s an excuse for a delay, and nobody should be stuck with this. Nobody should take it. Everyone should fight to challenge it.
If your visa is stuck in administrative processing and you have questions, I want you to reach out to me. And if you need help, I’m here for you. Get in touch with me. I’ll be happy to help you out.
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