CA9 on Consular Reviewability: Muñoz v. Dept. of State - UPDATE: Pet. Reh. En Banc Denied (July 14, 2023)

UPDATE, July 14, 2023: "The full court was advised of the petition for rehearing en banc. A judge requested a vote on whether to rehear the matter en banc. The matter failed to receive a majority of the votes of the nonrecused active judges in favor of en banc consideration. Fed. R. App. P. 35. The petition for rehearing en banc, Docket No. 39, is DENIED."

Muñoz v. Dept. of State - 50 F.4th 906 (9th Cir. 2022)

"After the government denied the immigrant visa application of plaintiff-appellant Luis Asencio-Cordero under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(A)(ii), Asencio-Cordero and his U.S.-citizen spouse, plaintiff-appellant Sandra Muñoz, sought judicial review of the government’s visa decision and challenged the statute as unconstitutionally vague. Concluding that the government was entitled to invoke the doctrine of consular nonreviewability to shield its decision from judicial review, the district court granted summary judgment on all claims to defendants-appellees, the U.S. Department of State, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and U.S. Consul General in El Salvador, Brendan O’Brien. This appeal followed. Because we conclude that the government failed to provide the constitutionally required notice within a reasonable time period following the denial of Asencio-Cordero’s visa application, the government was not entitled to summary judgment based on the doctrine of consular nonreviewability. We therefore vacate and remand to the district court for further proceedings."

[Hats off to Eric Lee (argued) and Alan Diamante!]