Federal Lawsuit Successfully Forced USCIS to Reverse a Wrongful Denial of an I-485 and I-601 Waiver Application for past CCP member (February 2024)

Feb 06, 2024

In February 2024, our office successfully sued USCIS in federal court, forcing USCIS to completely reverse course and approve our client's I-485 Application to Adjust Status.


Our client is the principal beneficiary of an approved employment-based petition. At the I-485 Adjustment of Status interview, our client was found inadmissible because he was previously a member of the Chinese Communist Party. USCIS issued a Request for Evidence requesting an I-601 Waiver to waive their inadmissibility.


The client reached out to our office for assistance. Attorney Nguyen D. Luu reviewed our client’s case file and the factual circumstances surrounding their membership in the Communist Party. Attorney Nguyen Luu determined that our client is qualified for the exceptions enumerated in the Immigration and Nationality Act.


Our office prepared a substantive memorandum of law and extensive supporting documents to establish that our client is qualified for the exceptions, and therefore should not have been found inadmissible. However, even if they were found to be inadmissible - a point we did not concede - our client is still eligible for a green card because they would be eligible for the I-601 Waiver. We submitted a response to USCIS, and out of an abundance of caution, we also filed an I-601 Waiver application.

Unfortunately, USCIS denied both the I-601 Waiver and the I-485 application. USCIS' denial was clearly erroneous and arbitrary because it was based on incorrect legal standards. Specifically, USCIS claimed that our client did not demonstrate sufficient extreme hardship to their LPR spouse for the I-601 Waiver. Furthermore, USCIS improperly gave less weight to a properly issued confirmation of Party membership termination.


The evidence presented sufficiently supported a finding that USCIS’s misapplication of the law was the sole basis of the Denial. This was a material error of law. The Denial completely ignored basic legal concepts regarding the level of hardship required for an I-601 Waiver application. It is well-settled law that extreme hardship is not required in this context. By making such an obvious contradiction of the black letter law in the Denial, USCIS violated its duty under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to engage in “reasoned decision-making.” (Michigan v. EPA, 576 U.S. 743, 750 (2015); 5 U.S.C. § 701, et seq.) Under the APA, USCIS must refrain from making decisions that are “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law.” (5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), emphasis added.) Furthermore, by not giving full weight to the evidence on the record, USCIS’s Decision on its face was “patently unresponsive” to the administrative record.


Due to the imminent harm to our clients, our firm took an aggressive approach to protect their rights. We filed a lawsuit against USCIS in federal court, the Southern District of New York. Notably, this was the same court that previously found it would not have jurisdiction to hear challenges of the I-485 applications. Regardless, as one district judge's decision was not binding, we presented compelling arguments in favor of the court's jurisdiction in our lawsuit. The firm is very pleased to learn that as a result of our action, USCIS completely reversed course, re-opened, and approved our client's I-485 application. As USCIS conceded that our client was not inadmissible as they qualified for the exceptions, USCIS did not even reopen the I-601 Waiver.


As we emerge completely victorious in this litigation, we are reminded that when the government fails to apply the correct law or follow its own regulations, it will be held accountable in the court of law. Our firm will not hesitate to take aggressive action in federal courts to hold the government to the highest standard.



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