[Also available on Reddit]

This is a great decision from the Ninth Circuit that puts a dent in the Government shield of consular nonreviewability. Consular denials are notoriously difficult to challenge and are generally considered immune from judicial review. However, consular denials (especially for cases fought on the west coast) just got a little easier to fight in federal court.

“Vacating the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the government, and remanding, the panel held that (1) where the adjudication of a non-citizen’s visa application implicates the constitutional rights of a citizen, due process requires that the government provide the citizen with timely and adequate notice of a decision that will deprive the citizen of that interest; and (2) because the government failed to provide timely notice in this case, the government was not entitled to summary judgment based on the doctrine of consular nonreviewability.”

“Our understanding of reasonable timeliness is informed by the 30-day period in which visa denials must be submitted for internal review and the 1-year period in which reconsideration is available upon the submission of additional evidence.”

https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2022/10/05/21-55365.pdf