Unreasonable Delay
for Citizenship
The gap between submitting your application and receiving a verdict can take a long time due to processing delays within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
If you have experienced an unreasonable delay in your green card application and you are wondering what to do if your green card is delayed, you may want to discuss what to do about it with an experienced green card delay attorney.
With the guidance of legal counsel, you could gain a much better understanding of your options and potentially take more effective steps to move forward with your application and obtain a clear response from USCIS regarding your immigration status.
Why is my green card delayed?
In legal terms, once the immigrant’s legal status is approved, the USCIS has 120 days to mail his or her permanent resident card. Generally, the average waiting time is 30 to 90 days.
For those of you who are wondering, why is my green card delayed?As soon as your green card application is approved, you should receive a notice in the mail. It will indicate how long does it take to receive the green card after payment.
What happens if my green card does not arrive, when does a delay qualify as "unreasonable"?
To some extent, applicants for lawful permanent resident status in the United States must wait a period of time before receiving a notice of acceptance or denial from USCIS. Lawful Permanent Resident status in the United States must wait a period of time before receiving a notice of acceptance or denial from USCIS.
According to USCIS’s online tool for tracking average case processing times, a person interested in how you can find out when your green card arrives and who has his or her application processed at the local Atlanta office can expect to wait between 16 and 37 months for his or her case to be fully concluded.
If someone in Marietta has been waiting more than two years for their green card application to be processed, or if 120 days have passed since their visa interview without a verdict from USCIS, they may have grounds for legal action for unreasonable delay.
What to do if your green card is delayed?
To the extent possible, it may be helpful to find out what is causing the delay in processing your green card application before taking steps to address it.
For example, applications occasionally end up stuck on someone’s desk at USCIS or in limbo at the FBI until a background check is completed. In those situations, communicating directly with the agency holding the application may be sufficient to get a delayed application back on track.
In more extreme situations, it may be necessary to file a petition in federal court seeking a writ of mandamus or to file a Code 8 lawsuit.
None of these options guarantees a positive outcome to an unreasonably delayed green card application. It only ensures that the applicant will receive a final decision more quickly.
Talk to a green card delay attorney now
While no one likes to wait to hear from USCIS about their application for lawful permanent resident status, long wait times are an inevitable part of this process.
If you have been waiting for an answer for years and don’t know what to do if your green card is delayed, it may be time to consider taking more proactive steps that could involve a federal court.
A green card delay attorney may be able to explain your options and help you resolve any problems that are causing an unreasonable delay in your green card.
