UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STELLAR IT SOLUTIONS, INC. and : KARTIK KRISHNAMURTHY, : : Plaintiffs, : Civil Action No.: 18-2015 (RC) : v. : Re Document No.: 2 : UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND : IMMIGRATION SERVICES, : : Defendant. : MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Kartik Krishnamurthy, a citizen of India, has lived in the United States legally since 2011 as the holder of an H-1B visa, a status granted to foreign citizens employed in “specialty occupation[s].” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b). Last year, Mr. Krishnamurthy’s employer, Plaintiff Stellar IT Solutions, Inc., submitted a petition on his behalf for an extension of his visa based on a change in his previously approved employment. After Defendant, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), denied the petition, Stellar IT filed an appeal with USCIS’s Administrative Appeals Office (“AAO”). But while he awaits a decision from the AAO, Mr. Krishnamurthy is left without lawful immigration status, and if he does not leave the country by November 27, 2018, he risks being deemed inadmissible for the next three years. Mr. Krishnamurthy and Stellar IT therefore initiated this lawsuit, asking the Court to ultimately set aside USCIS’s denial of the H-1B petition as “arbitrary” and “capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). Presently before the Court, however, is solely their motion for a preliminary injunction that would postpone the effectiveness of USCIS’s decision and allow Mr. Krishnamurthy to remain in the United States while the lawsuit is pending. There are multiple reasons to approach this request with caution: a preliminary injunction is considered an extraordinary form of relief; judicial intervention is generally disfavored when administrative remedies have not been exhausted; and arbitrary and capricious review under the APA is highly deferential to agency decisions. Yet, for the reasons provided below, the Court concludes that it has jurisdiction to provide relief in this case and that limited judicial intervention is warranted. Plaintiffs have shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits, as USCIS’s reasoning for denying the H-1B petition is squarely contradicted by the record and ignores critical evidence. Meanwhile, if the Court takes no action, Mr. Krishnamurthy is likely to suffer irreparable harm in that he will be forced to leave the country for an indefinite period of time. Accordingly, the Court grants Plaintiffs’ motion in part, and enters an order staying the effectiveness of USCIS’s denial of the visa petition while Stellar IT’s administrative appeal is pending. The Court’s order applies retroactively to the date Mr. Krishnamurthy lost lawful immigration status, and as a result, Mr. Krishnamurthy will retain lawful H-1B status pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(2)(i)(H). It bears emphasis, however, that the relief the Court orders is narrow. The Court takes no position on the ultimate merits of the H-1B petition; it merely finds that USCIS’s articulated reasoning for denying the petition likely does not comply with the APA. The ordered relief is also ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals