Case: Ptasinska v. U.S. Department of State
1:07-cv-03795 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Filed Date: July 6, 2007
Closed Date: Nov. 1, 2007
Clearinghouse coding complete
Case Summary
On July 6, 2007, the plaintiff, a person lawfully present in the United States on a non-immigrant H1-B visa and represented by private counsel, filed a complaint against the U.S. Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and several individual employees of those agencies in their professional capacities regarding a change to the July 2007 Visa Bulletin’s statement about the availability of employment-based immigrant visas for the month. This complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois and the case was assigned to Judge Charles P. Kocoras.
The complaint alleged that the Department of State and USCIS deviated from their longstanding Visa Bulletin procedure for employment-based visas, violating the 5th Amendment due process rights of the plaintiff and “individuals in employment-based categories (except for “Other Workers”) whose priority dates were current under the June and July Bulletins and who either filed or mailed for filing their applications to USCIS between June 29, 2007 and July 31, 2007,” and violating the Administrative Procedure Act, Declaratory Judgment Act, Equal Access to Justice Act, and promissory estoppel. The plaintiff sought class certification, an injunction barring the Department of State from rejecting otherwise eligible applications filed or mailed between June 29 and July 31, 2007, damages, and attorney’s fees.
The Visa Bulletin procedure involved a monthly publication from the Department of State indicating the availability of employment-based immigrant visas for the coming month.
On June 12, 2007, the Department of State published their bulletin for July 2007, stating that visas would be available in July for individuals whose priority dates had come current. However, on July 2, the Department issued an update stating that all employment-based visas had been distributed for the year and that no priority dates would be considered current, and USCIS also issued a statement indicating that they would be rejecting all further Form I-485 applications as there were no applicants with current priority dates.
The priority date for the named plaintiff in this case came current in June 2007, and, in reliance on the June 12 Bulletin, she expected to file in July. She filed her I-485 application on July 2, 2007, at which time she received news of the update. Given USCIS’s statement, she expected her application would be rejected and filed this complaint.
In July 2007, the American Law Foundation (AILF) prepared a lawsuit to file in the Northern District of Illinois challenging the change in policy. The complaint was never filed. Instead, on July 17 (the very day the lawsuit was to be initiated), the federal government announced, as the AILF lawsuit was about to demand, that it was reversing course and accepting the green card applications, if they were filed by August 17, 2007.
In light of this reversal, The Department of State filed a motion to dismiss this lawsuit on August 9, 2007, asserting that the plaintiff’s claim was not ripe for review and that she had not stated a claim for which relief could be granted. The plaintiff filed an amended complaint, again requesting recognition of the class and asserting the same violations, now seeking to protect applications filed or mailed during the period from June 29 to August 17, 2007.
In late August 2007, the named plaintiff’s I-485 application was accepted by USCIS. On November 1, 2007, Judge Kocoras granted the motion to dismiss, deciding that the issue was moot for the named plaintiff given the acceptance of her application. 2007 WL 3241560. Because the named plaintiff had not yet filed a motion for class certification, once her claim was moot, there were no remaining named class members with justiciable claims, making the alleged class’s claims moot as well.
The named plaintiff filed a motion to alter the judgment, which Judge Kocoras denied on January 31, 2008. The case is now closed.
Summary Authors
Margo Schlanger (7/18/2007)
Kyle O'Hara (6/9/2024)
People
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4251812/parties/ptasinska-v-united-states-department-of-state/
Anderson, Michael D. (Illinois)
Atkinson, Theodore W (Illinois)
Attorney, Noticing INS (Illinois)
Aronoff, Peter Max (Illinois)
Attorney, OIL-DCS Trial (Illinois)
Anderson, Michael D. (Illinois)
Atkinson, Theodore W (Illinois)
Attorney, Noticing INS (Illinois)
Bauer, Jeffrey Michael (Illinois)
Beckenhauer, Eric B (Illinois)
Bennett, Michelle R (Illinois)
Blumenfield, Chad A (Illinois)
Bober, David Vincent (Illinois)
Bressler, Steven Y. (Illinois)
Buckingham, Stephen J. (Illinois)
Byars, Michael James (Illinois)
Cargo, Shane Patrick (Illinois)
Cohen, Rebecca Shapiro (Illinois)
Connolly, Christopher Kendrick (Illinois)
Cowart, Brandon Herbert (Illinois)
DOJ, Michelle Bennett (Illinois)
Dupre, Brock Darren (Illinois)
Fernandez, Carole M. (Illinois)
Freeborne, Paul Gerald (Illinois)
Hemesath, Audrey Benison (Illinois)
Henson-DOJ, Angie L (Illinois)
Hikida, Katherine M (Illinois)
Hobbs, Britannia I. (Illinois)
Hogan, Alexander James (Illinois)
Jackson, E. Fletcher (Illinois)
Jafek, Timothy Bart (Illinois)
Kabrawala, Ameet B. (Illinois)
Keiper, Melanie Suzanne (Illinois)
Kuehler, Natalie Nancy (Illinois)
LA-CV, Assistant US (Illinois)
Lefort, Deitz Patrick (District of Columbia)
Leonard, Nancy Cross (Illinois)
Llewellyn, Nicholas P. (Illinois)
Manahan, George Vincent (Illinois)
Marcus, Lisa Zeidner (Illinois)
McCord, Stacey Elise (Illinois)
Murphy-Osborne, Maura (Illinois)
Nemeroff, Patrick George (Illinois)
Poscablo, Christine Schessler (Illinois)
Proctor, Melanie Lea (Illinois)
Pyle, Michael Thomas (Illinois)
Raurell, Carlos Javier (Illinois)
Robinson, Stuart Justin (Illinois)
Schachner, Elliot M. (Illinois)
Sheffield, Carlton Frederick (Illinois)
Singh, Rukhsanah L. (Illinois)
Stevens, Elizabeth Jones (District of Columbia)
Sun, Anthony Jan-Huan (Illinois)
Swinton, Nathan Michael (Illinois)
Theis, John Kenneth (Illinois)
Tyler, John Russell (Illinois)
Ulrich, Tamara Lynn (Illinois)
Vassallo, Kristin Lynn (Illinois)
Ward, Brian Christopher (Illinois)
Westwater, Gisela A (Illinois)
Williams, Melaine A. (Illinois)
Wolstein, Elizabeth (Illinois)
Attorney, OIL-DCS Trial (Illinois)
Barghaan, Dennis Carl (Illinois)
Belsan, Timothy Michael (Illinois)
Bettwy, Samuel William (Illinois)
Bingham, Lauren Crowell (Illinois)
Cha-Kim, Stephen Seungkun (Illinois)
Chaudhury, Arastu Kabeer (Illinois)
Church, Rebecca Grace (Illinois)
Defoe, Craig Andrew (Illinois)
Dolinger, Samuel Hilliard (Illinois)
Goettel, Katherine E (Illinois)
Goldsmith, Aaron S. (Illinois)
Grant, Nicole Patrice (Illinois)
Holder, Charmaine Michele (Illinois)
Hollis, Christopher W. (Illinois)
Johnson, Kristin Berger (Illinois)
Lonegan, Bryan Keith (Illinois)
Oswald, Craig Arthur (Illinois)
Pereda, David Alejandro (Illinois)
Pratt, Sherease Rosalyn (Illinois)
Press, Joshua Samuel (Illinois)
Reddy, Kirti Vaidya (Illinois)
Robinson, Kimberly Anne (Illinois)
Ross, Katherine Ann (Illinois)
Waterman, Brandon Matthew (Illinois)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Docket
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4251812/ptasinska-v-united-states-department-of-state/
Last updated March 25, 2026, 4:40 a.m.
Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: July 6, 2007
Closing Date: Nov. 1, 2007
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A person lawfully in the US on a non-immigrant H1-B visa, seeking to represent a class of individuals in employment-based categories whose priority dates were current under the June and July Bulletins and who either filed or mailed for filing their applications to USCIS between June 29, 2007 and July 31, 2007.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Mooted before ruling
Defendants
Federal
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of State
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 et seq.
Constitutional Clause(s):
Other Dockets:
Northern District of Illinois 1:07-cv-03795
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Immigration/Border:
Work authorization - procedures
Case Summary of Ptasinska v. U.S. Department of State, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, http://www.dev.clearinghouse.net/case/10194/ (last updated 6/9/2024).