A lawsuit filed against the Trump administration by a permanent resident over delays in processing a citizenship application is drawing attention.
Meng Ju Liu, a Taiwanese national and permanent resident residing in Ohio, filed a lawsuit on the 15th in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, citing delays in processing her citizenship application and requesting court intervention.
According to the complaint, Liu, who obtained permanent residency in 2002, submitted her citizenship application (N-400) to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on April 25 of last year, but raised the issue that she had not even been notified of a citizenship interview schedule for approximately 18 months.
In his complaint, he pointed out that the processing time for citizenship applications in the Cincinnati area, as disclosed by USCIS, is 9.5 months, with 80% of all applications being processed within this period. However, he claimed that his application has not been processed for nearly 18 months and that he has received no explanation regarding the reason for the delay.
Last May, USCIS notified Liu that biometric data, such as previously collected fingerprints, could be reused, meaning a separate collection procedure was not required.
Furthermore, it is reported that as of May 2 of this year, no significant progress updates were provided other than a notice stating that the application was still being processed.
While Liu acknowledges the necessity of criminal background checks and national security-related identity verification for citizenship applicants, he maintains that the federal government has violated its obligation to process applications within a reasonable timeframe.
For this reason, he requested the court to order the federal government to complete the identity and security checks within 30 days and, if the applicant passes the screening, finalize the citizenship acquisition process within another 30 days. The key issue in this lawsuit is expected to be how long the federal government can delay a decision on a citizenship application.
Current federal law stipulates that if a review result is not released within 120 days of the citizenship interview, the applicant may request intervention from the federal court. However, as there is no separate, clear statutory deadline for the stage prior to the interview, the court’s decision is drawing attention.