ItServe All., Inc. v. Cissna - 443 F. Supp. 3d 14 (D.D.C. 2020)

Rule:

The agency must "set forth its reasons for decision; an agency's failure to do so constitutes arbitrary and capricious agency action."

Facts:

Congress established the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) and transferred visa authority to it.  CIS has recently withdrawn INS guidance memos and adopted its own guidance, which has caused the H-1B approval process to slow dramatically and resulted in a high level of rejected visa petitions from employers in the IT industry but not others. Thirty-three cases have been filed challenging the handling of H-1B visa applications by CIS.

Issue:

Did the CIS have authority to grant visas for less than the requested three-year period?

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

Both plaintiffs' and defendant's motions for summary judgment will be granted in part and denied in part by the Court. It held that  CIS has the authority to grant visas for less than the requested three-year period but must provide its reasoning behind any denials, in whole or in part.