Court Compels State Department to Act on ‘Extraordinary Ability’ Visa Applications Stuck in Administrative Purgatory for Over a Year

A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three foreign nationals against U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

The plaintiffs, who are seeking EB-1A visas for individuals with “extraordinary abilities,” sued the government over what they call unreasonable and unlawful delays in the adjudication of their visa applications. The court’s decision allows the case to proceed, compelling the State Department to provide a final decision on the long-pending applications.

The case, Lyazat Tolymbekova, et al. v. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, et al., centers on three plaintiffs—a Kazakh metallurgist, a Russian project manager, and a Rus

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