Another lawsuit over CW-1 permit denial pending in federal court

Another lawsuit filed by a private company and a Bangladeshi national against Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and other federal officials over the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ denial in 2012 of a petition for Commonwealth-only worker, or CW-1 permit, has been pending in federal court.

Angando Inc. and Moniruzzaman Masud are suing the U.S. government, Homeland Security Secretary Johnson, USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez, and USCIS California Service Center Director Rosemary Langley Melville.

The plaintiffs, through counsel Joseph Horey, filed the lawsuit in July 2015. They asked the court to declare that Masud was lawfully present in the CNMI at the time of Angando’s petition, and is eligible for CW-1 classification.

Horey wants the court to compel the defendants to classify Masud as an alien eligible for CW-1 classification and to approve Angando’s petition to employ him.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica F. Cruz and Mikel W. Schwab, counsel for Johnson and co-defendants, filed last week a status report about the plaintiffs’ petition.

Cruz and Schwab said the defendants anticipate a final agency decision by the USCIS California Service Center by the end of the week or early next week.

Cruz and Schwab said they will notify the plaintiffs and the court as soon as the final agency decision has been issued.

The lawyers requested the court that the stay or suspension of the proceedings be continued and that defendants be permitted to file another status report when the final agency decision is issued or in another 30 days.

The parties reported to court last September, that the USCIS Administrative Appeal Office has remanded to USCIS California Service Center for further review Angando’s petition for CW-1 permit for Masud.

The parties said the USCIS Administrative Appeal Office has withdrawn its decision in this matter.

The parties disclosed that the USCIS Administrative Appeal Office reopened Angando’s petition and remanded it to USCIS California Service Center for further review.

The U.S. government’s position is that the administrative process must be exhausted in order for Masud and Angando to proceed with their lawsuit.

The parties then agreed to request the court to stay or suspend the case and vacate defendants’ response deadline pending the final decision of USCIS.

The lawyers agreed to provide the court with a status report every 60 days.

USCIS denied Masud’s and Angando’s petition for CW-1 permit on the grounds that the employer had not established that he was lawfully present in the CNMI at the time the petition was filed.

The plaintiffs asserted that Masud obtained an umbrella permit in 2009, which proved he was lawfully present in the Commonwealth.

Horey said the umbrella permit was a two-year permit issued prior to Nov. 28, 2009, by CNMI Labor, Department of Commerce, or the Attorney General’s Office.

Horey said the umbrella permit remained valid through Nov. 27, 2011.

The lawyer said that, on Nov. 27, 2011, Angando mailed to USCIS a petition for CW-1 worker classification for Masud.

In 2012, the USCIS California Service Center denied the petition on the basis that Angando had not presented evidence that Masud was lawfully present in the CNMI at the time the application was filed.

Angando appealed.

In February 2015, the Administrative Appeals Office upheld the denial. This prompted Masud and Angando to file the lawsuit.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and 18 of its foreign workers recently filed a lawsuit against Johnson and other federal officials over the delay of CUC’s petition to renew the workers’ CW-1 permits.

Last Jan. 13, the federal government announced that the final rule “Enhancing Opportunities for H-1B1, CW-1, and E-3 Non-immigrants and EB-1 Immigrants,” which amends the regulations so as to authorize continued employment for CW-1 nonimmigrants if a petitioner has timely filed a petition requesting an extension of stay, is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 15, 2016, and will be effective 30 days from the date of publication.