When a client’s I-130 and I-485 sat stuck with no movement and a job on the line, Powers Law Group filed in federal court. The result: both applications approved.
Two Applications. Both Stuck. One Decision.
Every green card case involving a family member has two critical milestones. The first is the I-130, the petition that establishes the qualifying family relationship — proof that the person seeking permanent residence has a legitimate, legally recognized connection to a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. The second is the I-485, the application for adjustment of status itself, the document that formally asks USCIS to grant lawful permanent residence in the United States.
Both of these applications belong to the same case. And for this client, both were stuck.
No decision. No timeline. No explanation. Just silence from the agency while the client’s life continued to move forward in ways that government delays do not accommodate: a job with an employer who needed certainty, a future that required resolution, and the daily reality of not knowing how or when any of it would be decided.
Powers Law Group filed a federal mandamus action. Both applications were approved.
What a Mandamus Action Is
A writ of mandamus is a federal court order compelling a government agency to perform a duty it is legally required to perform. In immigration cases, it is used when USCIS has sat on an application for an unreasonably long time without making a decision. It does not ask the court to approve the case. It asks the court to require USCIS to do its job.
Filing a mandamus action is not a routine step. It requires identifying the right federal respondents, establishing jurisdiction, framing the legal argument correctly, and moving with enough urgency to matter. The government often responds by arguing the delay is not unreasonable, or by filing to have the case dismissed. In this case, the mandamus worked: USCIS approved both the I-130 and the I-485.
Why This Victory Matters Right Now
This win comes at a particularly significant moment. On May 21, 2026, USCIS issued a new policy memo directing officers to apply heightened scrutiny to every adjustment of status application, treating the green card process inside the United States as disfavored and requiring applicants to justify why they should not have to leave the country to apply at a consulate abroad.
As we have reported in recent weeks, this policy threatens 1.2 million people with pending applications. It has created real fear among legal immigrants who followed the rules, waited their turn, and now find the rules being changed around them.
Cases that have been pending for a long time without decision are now more vulnerable, not less. Delays allow circumstances to shift, policies to change, and new adverse interpretations to be applied to applications filed under very different conditions. Moving a stuck case to resolution, before those shifts take full effect, is one of the most important things an attorney can do right now.
What Was at Stake
For this client, the stakes were concrete. Their job was on the line. Many employment-based and family-based green card applicants hold their current immigration status through their employer’s sponsorship. A case that never gets decided is not a case that stays safely pending. It is a case that ages, that creates uncertainty for employers, that puts continued employment authorization at risk, and that can unravel the entire legal framework a person has built their life around.
The client is now a lawful permanent resident of the United States. That uncertainty is gone. That job is secure. That future is settled.
This Is What Fighting for Your Case Looks Like
There is a version of immigration legal work that involves filing applications and waiting. And then there is the version that involves going to federal court when the system fails the people it is supposed to serve.
Powers Law Group does both. When the administrative process works as it should, we navigate it efficiently and thoroughly. When it does not, when USCIS sits on a case without justification while a client’s life hangs in the balance, we take the next step.
If you have a pending immigration application that has been waiting without decision for an unreasonable period of time, you may have legal options beyond waiting. Contact Powers Law Group today to find out whether a federal mandamus action could move your case.
Sources
- 28 U.S.C. § 1361: Federal Mandamus Statute. https://uscode.house.gov
- American Immigration Lawyers Association, Federal Mandamus Actions in Immigration Cases: Practice Guide, 2025. https://www.aila.org
- USCIS, Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199: Adjustment of Status Policy Memo, May 21, 2026. https://www.uscis.gov
- TRAC Immigration, USCIS Application Processing Times and Backlog Data, 2026. https://trac.syr.edu
- American Immigration Council, How the Immigration Court Backlog Affects Pending Applications, 2025. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org
- National Immigration Law Center, Adjustment of Status: Your Rights During a Pending Application, 2025. https://www.nilc.org
- Powers Law Group, Four and a Half Months Detained. No Hearing. A Federal Court Said That Was Unconstitutional., May 2026. https://www.rubypowerslaw.com
- Powers Law Group, What You Need to Know: USCIS’s New Adjustment of Status Policy, May 2026. https://www.rubypowerslaw.com
- Powers Law Group, 1.2 Million People Are in the Green Card Backlog. USCIS Just Told Almost All of Them to Leave the Country., May 2026. https://www.rubypowerslaw.com
- USCIS, I-130 Petition for Alien Relatives and I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence, 2026. https://www.uscis.gov
