Most mandamus stories are about how long someone waited. This one is also about how quickly the answer came once they stopped waiting.
T. v. Edlow U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas Filed October 19, 2026
USCIS approved both applications on October 27, 2026, eight days after we filed and before the government ever answered in court. This is the story of that case, told from the court record.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances. A mandamus lawsuit asks the court to require a decision. It does not guarantee approval.
Most mandamus stories are about how long someone waited. This one is also about how quickly the answer came once they stopped waiting.
Our client is an H-4 spouse from India, living in the United States while their spouse works here. In early 2026 they filed two applications together: Form I-539 to extend their H-4 status, and Form I-765 to renew their work permit.
Spring turned into summer, and summer into fall. The case status did not change. For an H-4 spouse, the work permit is not a formality: without it they cannot work, and every month of waiting is a month of lost income and plans on hold.
Eight months in, our client contacted us. That is usually the moment people are told there is nothing to do but keep waiting.
But a federal court doesn’t judge a delay with a stopwatch alone. Under what are known as the TRAC factors, judges also look at what the delay is doing to a person’s welfare and livelihood. And a mandamus lawsuit (a request asking a federal judge to order an agency to act) does not ask the court to approve anything. It asks the court to require a decision.
We reviewed the file and filed the lawsuit four days later.
We filed T. v. Edlow in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The defendant was Joseph B. Edlow, the Director of USCIS, sued in his official capacity. The request was simple: require the agency to decide the pending applications, under the federal mandamus law, 28 U.S.C. § 1361.
The next day, the case was assigned to a district judge, and the court issued summonses for the USCIS Director, the U.S. Attorney and the U.S. Attorney General. In a lawsuit against a federal official, that is how the government is formally put on notice.
On day 8, USCIS approved both applications: the H-4 extension and the work permit renewal. By then, the government had not filed a single document in the case. It never had to explain the delay, because the delay was over.
After more than eight months at USCIS, the decision came eight days after the lawsuit was filed.
With the approval in hand, there was nothing left to ask the court for. On November 3, we filed a notice of voluntary dismissal. It told the court exactly why:
On October 27, 2026, 8 days after this action was filed, USCIS approved the applications. Plaintiff has therefore obtained the relief sought in the Complaint, and no further action by the Court is necessary.
Because the government had not answered, that notice closed the case the day it was filed, 15 days after the complaint. No court order was needed, and the government never had to appear.
From early 2026 to the day we filed: more than eight months at USCIS. From the day we filed to the day USCIS decided: 8 days. From filing to a closed case: 15 days.
The months of waiting were the long part. The lawsuit was the short one.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
The dismissal notice we filed, with our client’s name and the case number covered.
Filed November 3, 2026, docket #4
Name and case number covered View documentOur client’s name and the case number. The text of the notice, its date and the attorney’s signature block stay visible, because those are what show how the case ended.
Federal court records show a client’s full name. To protect our client’s privacy, we leave out the case name, the case number and the judge’s name, and we don’t link to the docket.
Arif Gozel, Esq.
Managing Attorney, Gozel Law Firm PC
Arif Gozel’s federal practice is built around one problem: immigration cases that have stopped moving. He prepared and filed this lawsuit himself, and every document the plaintiff filed in this case was filed and signed under his name.
His cases range from delayed work permits and marriage-based green cards to naturalization, investor petitions and visas held in administrative processing. For each one, he chooses the federal court with precedent, docket speed and case-type history in mind.
Send us your receipt date and the end date on your card. Within 24 hours, we’ll tell you whether a federal lawsuit makes sense now, later, or not at all.
Flat $5,000 for a typical case, plus the $405 federal filing fee. Your current immigration attorney keeps handling the application.
Sources: Federal court record, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Case name and number withheld to protect our client’s privacy.
Published November 2026. Last updated November 10, 2026.