Writ of Mandamus worked for my EB-2 I-485 — approved 19 days after filing + JSON timeline
I wanted to share my timeline because Reddit posts about writs of mandamus helped me a lot while I was deciding whether to file.
My employment-based EB-2 I-485 was filed on January 10, 2025.
I completed my USCIS interview on July 24, 2025. At the end of the interview, USCIS gave me a written notice stating that my case was being held for review and that, at that time, they did not require any further information or documents from me.
After that, the case remained pending for more than a year after the interview. I made multiple inquiries, including congressional inquiries, and USCIS at different points referenced additional review and adjudication pauses.
Eventually I decided I had waited long enough.
I filed a pro se APA/Writ of Mandamus lawsuit in federal court on September 15, 2026.
Then the timeline was:
January 10, 2025 — I-485 filed
July 24, 2025 — USCIS interview completed
September 15, 2026 — Writ of Mandamus / APA lawsuit filed
September 16–17 — silent backend activity on I-485J
September 17 — summons issued by federal court
September 25: Defendants as well as Attorney General and Us attorney received summons.
September 29 — I-485J approved
September 29 — linked I-485 received FTA1
October 1 — first silent I-485 updatedAt change
October 3 — second silent I-485 updatedAt change
October 4 — two H008 events appeared
October 4, 2026 — principal and dependent I-485s approved
From filing the lawsuit on September 15 to I-485 approval on October 4 was 19 days.