UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA LARRY EUGENE WHITLOCK, Plaintiff–Petitioner, v. No. 21-cv-807 (DLF) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY et al., Defendants–Respondents. MEMORANDUM OPINION Larry Eugene Whitlock brings this suit—a petition for a writ of mandamus and a complaint under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA)—to compel the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and others to process his foreign fiancée’s visa application. See generally Compl., Dkt. 1. Before the Court is the defendants-respondents’ motion to dismiss under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). See Defs.’-Resp’ts’ Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss at 1, Dkt. 5-1. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant the motion. I. BACKGROUND1 A. Statutory Framework If a U.S. citizen wishes to bring a foreign fiancée to the United States to marry her, the citizen, in conjunction with his fiancée, must petition the Department of State for a K-1 1 When deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court may consider only the complaint itself, documents attached to the complaint, documents incorporated by reference in the complaint, and judicially noticeable materials. EEOC v. St. Francis Xavier Parochial Sch., 117 F.3d 621, 624 (D.C. Cir. 1997). At this motion-to-dismiss stage, the court may take judicial notice of publicly available information on official government websites. See Fed. R. Evid. 201(b) (“The court nonimmigrant visa, commonly known as a fiancée visa. See Visas for Fiancé(e)s of U.S. Citizens, U.S. Citizenship & Immigr. Servs., https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-of-us-citizens/ visas-for-fiancees-of-us-citizens (last updated Mar. 23, 2018). Obtaining a fiancée visa takes several steps, the first of which begins with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency within DHS. Id. (under Process for Bringing your Fiancé(e) to the United States, Step 1: Petition for Fiancé(e) – USCIS). DHS requires the citizen to file Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), on behalf of the fiancée. Id. Once DHS approves the form, it forwards the form to the National Visa Center, the State Department’s visa-processing center. Id.; Nonimmigrant Visa for a Fianc(é)e (K-1), Bureau of Consular Affs., U.S. Dep’t of State, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/nonimmigrant- visa-for-a-fiance-k-1.html (last visited Jan. 26, 2022). The State Department then requires both the citizen–petitioner and the fiancée–applicant to submit “fees, forms, and supporting documents.” Immigrant Visa Process, Bureau of Consular Affs., U.S. Dep’t of State, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1- submit-a-petition/step-2-begin-nvc-processing.html (last visited Jan. 26, 2022) (under Step 2: NVC Processing). The main form the petitioner and applicant must submit to the State Department is Form DS-160, an online application for a fiancé(e) visa. Nonimmigrant Visa for a Fianc(é)e (K-1), Bureau of Consular Affs., U.S. Dep’t of State, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/nonimmigrant- visa-for-a-fiance-k-1.html (last visited Jan. 26, 2022). Based on that form, the State Department may judicially notice a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because it . . . can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.”); see also Cannon v. District of Columbia, 717 F.3d 200, 205 n.2 (D.C. Cir. 2013) (taking judicial notice of an official government website). 2 either approves or denies an …
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