Arun v. Blinken

1 District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 AT SEATTLE ANKIT ARUN, Case No. 2:24-cv-01886-KKE Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO HOLD 11 v. CASE IN ABEYANCE AND ORDER ANTONY J. BLINKEN, et al., 13 Defendants.

15 Plaintiff and Defendants, by and through their counsel of record, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6 and Local Rules 7(d)(1), 10(g) and 16, hereby jointly stipulate and move to stay these proceedings until February 20, 2025. Plaintiff brought this litigation pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act seeking, inter alia, to compel Defendants to complete administrative processing of Plaintiff’s nonimmigrant visa application. Defendants’ response to the Complaint is currently due on January 21, 2025. The parties are currently working towards a resolution to this litigation. For good cause, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until February 20, 2025.1 The parties’ stipulated motion referenced March 24, 2025, instead of February 20, 2025. The Court corrected this reference for consistency.

1 Courts have “broad discretion” to stay proceedings. Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997). “[T]he power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for counsel, and for litigants.” Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936); see also Fed. R. Civ. 5 P. 1.

6 With additional time, this case may be resolved without the need of further judicial intervention. A consular officer at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, India, refused Plaintiff’s nonimmigrant visa application pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1201(g) for additional security vetting on December 27, 2024. Once the vetting is completed, a consular official may readjudicate Plaintiff’s visa application. Because further litigation may not be necessary after the security vetting is completed, the parties agree that holding this case in abeyance through February 20, 2025, is appropriate. Therefore, the parties believe good cause exists for a stay in these proceedings to save the parties and this Court from spending unnecessary time and judicial resources on this matter.

15 Accordingly, the parties request that the Court hold the case in abeyance until February 20, 2025. The parties will submit a joint status report on or before February 20, 2025.

18 // // // // // 3 DATED this 21st day of January, 2025.

4 Respectfully submitted, TESSA M. GORMAN NIMER LAW LLC United States Attorney s/ Michelle R. Lambert s/ Jennifer Nimer MICHELLE R. LAMBERT, NYS #4666657 JENNIFER NIMER (61962) Assistant United States Attorney Nimer Law LLC United States Attorney’s Office 6500 Emerald Parkway, Suite 100 Western District of Washington Dublin, Ohio 43016 1201 Pacific Avenue, Suite 700 Phone: 614-927-0550 Tacoma, Washington 98402 Email: [email protected] Phone: (253) 428-3824 Attorneys for Plaintiff Fax: (253) 428-3826 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Defendants I certify that this memorandum contains 318 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules.

1 ORDER 2 The case is held in abeyance until February 20, 2025. The parties shall submit a status update on or before February 20, 2025. It is so ORDERED.

5 DATED this 22nd day of January, 2025.

A Kymberly K. Evanson 9 United States District Judge