Most mandamus stories are about how long someone waited. This one is about the day someone decided they had waited long enough.
R. v. Edlow U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York Filed October 2, 2026
USCIS approved the applications on November 2, 2026, 31 days after we filed and before the government ever answered in court. This is the story of that decision, 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 about the day someone decided they had waited long enough.
Our client is an H-4 spouse from India, living in the United States while their spouse works here on an H-1B visa. Their applications with USCIS, including Form I-765 for an H-4 work permit, had been pending for about two months.
For an H-4 spouse, that permit is what makes work possible. Without it, a job offer can’t be accepted, and an existing job can’t continue past the date printed on the card. USCIS gives no date for when it will decide.
Two months into a wait, most applicants are told it is too early to do anything, and that the only option is to wait for USCIS’s posted processing time to run out.
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 does not ask the court to approve anything. It asks the court to require a decision.
For H-4 spouses, waiting carries a specific risk. Since October 30, 2025, work permit renewals no longer come with an automatic extension, so a pending application does not protect the right to work past the date on the card. Our client decided not to wait any longer.
We filed R. v. Edlow in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 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.
Four days later, the case was assigned to a district judge, and the court issued summonses for the USCIS Director, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General. In a lawsuit against a federal official, that is how the government is formally put on notice.
On day 31, USCIS approved the applications. The government had neither answered the complaint nor filed any motion. It never had to explain the delay, because the delay was over.
The wait at USCIS had no end date. Once the case was in federal court, the decision came in a month.
With the approval in hand, there was nothing left to ask the court for. On November 9, we filed a notice of voluntary dismissal. It told the court why:
On November 2, 2026, 31 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, 38 days after the complaint. No court order was needed, and the government never had to appear.
About two months at USCIS before we filed. 31 days from filing to approval. 38 days from filing to a closed case.
For this family, the most important decision wasn’t made in a courtroom. It was the decision to stop waiting.
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, the case number and the judge’s name covered.
Filed November 9, 2026, docket #12
Name and case number covered View documentOur client’s name, the case number and the judge’s name. The text of the notice, its dates 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 signed every document filed on the plaintiff’s behalf, including the notice that closed the case.
Delayed work permits are a large part of that work, alongside marriage-based green cards, naturalization, investor petitions and visas held in administrative processing. Where a case is filed is a strategic choice, and he makes it based on precedent, how quickly a court moves and how it has handled similar cases.
Send us your receipt date and, if you have one, 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 Southern District of New York. Case name and number withheld to protect our client’s privacy.
Published November 2026. Last updated November 10, 2026.