UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA YEHUDA V. SCHWARTZ, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 21-378 (JEB) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Yehuda Schwartz, a U.S. citizen, wishes to bring his fiancée, Kim Hazel Valenzuela Arafiles, to the United States. In January 2020, Schwartz filed an I-129 form to initiate the process of obtaining a visa that would allow Arafiles, who currently lives in the Philippines, to enter the U.S. and marry him. The visa that the couple seeks remains in limbo, however, given delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hoping to expedite the process and obtain a decision on Arafiles’s visa, Schwartz filed this lawsuit against multiple Government Defendants. He alleges that the delay in adjudicating the visa petition constitutes a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 551 et seq., and the Constitution’s Due Process Clause. Defendants now move to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). As the Court concludes that Schwartz is entitled to no relief here, it will grant the Motion. 1 I. Background A. Legal Background The Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq., provides that U.S. citizens who wish to bring their foreign fiancé(e)s to this country must first file a Form I-129F petition for a non-immigrant fiancé(e) visa with the United States Customs and Immigration Services. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(15)(K), 1184(d); 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(k)(1); see also U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Visas for Fiancé(e)s of U.S. Citizens (March 23, 2018), https://bit.ly/35j9Jup (USCIS Fiancé(e) Visa Information). If USCIS approves the petition, the application is sent to the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC). See USCIS Fiancé(e) Visa Information; see also U.S. Department of State — Bureau of Consular Affairs, Nonimmigrant Visa for a Fiancé(e) (K-1) (last visited Aug. 23, 2021), https://bit.ly/3n6Qmug (State Department Fiancé(e) Visa Information). The NVC then assigns a case number and sends the petition to the U.S. embassy or consulate where the foreign-national fiancé(e) lives. See State Department Fiancé(e) Visa Information. Processing of the petition is completed at the local consulate or embassy and requires the foreign-national fiancé(e) to submit, among other things, an Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application and documentation of the relationship, and to undergo an interview with a consular officer. Id. After the interview, the consular officer determines whether to issue the visa, which allows the foreign-national fiancé(e) “to travel to [a] U.S. port of entry and request permission to enter the United States.” Id. If the foreign-national fiancé(e) is admitted to the United States, she has 90 days to marry her U.S.-citizen fiancé(e), after which she may apply for a Green Card. See USCIS Fiancé(e) Visa Information. 2 B. Factual History Schwartz has followed this protocol. He filed an I-129F petition on January 21, 2020, and USCIS approved the petition on July 9 of that year. See ECF No. 1 (Complaint), ¶¶ 17, 19. Plaintiff alleges that the approved petition was never sent …
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