MAVNI FEDERAL CLASS ACTION LITIGATION
Kirwa, et al. v. United States Department of Defense, et al., Civil Action No. 17-1793
Nio, et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security, et al., Civil Action No. 17-0998
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
If you are a service member who has served or is serving in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve (the “Selected Reserve”), who enlisted through the MAVNI program, and who has not yet become a naturalized U.S. citizen, you may be affected by ongoing litigation in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (the “Court”). Several MAVNI soldiers brought two lawsuits (the Kirwa litigation and the Nio litigation) against the United States Department of Defense (“DoD”), the United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), and certain government officials challenging the lawfulness of Defendants’ policies affecting naturalization.
Please read this website carefully if you are a MAVNI service member who has not been naturalized. Also, please note that class members, as described below, can reach class counsel with questions and information at the following email addresses: [email protected] and [email protected]
|
Kirwa, et al. v. United States Are you a member of the Kirwa class? You are a member of the certified Kirwa class if you: If you are a member of the Kirwa class you should know the following: On October 25, 2017, the Court issued a preliminary injunction against the Secretary of Defense and DoD enjoining DoD from refusing to issue N-426 forms and refusing to certify honorable service for MAVNI service members who enlisted prior to October 13, 2017 and who have served one day or more in the Selected Reserve. The Court further ordered DoD to use its best efforts to issue signed Form N-426s within two business days from the date the request is submitted. If you submitted an N-426 prior to October 25, 2017, you will need to resubmit your N-426 request to the military to take advantage of the Court’s Order. Requests should be directed to an O-6 in the service member’s chain of command. That Order, as amended/clarified on October 27, 2017, can be found HERE. UPDATE (DECEMBER 14, 2017): If you are a Selected Reserve MAVNI who has served for one day or more (e.g., through attendance at one drill) and you have not received a completed and signed Form N-426 from a military official and thus do not have a pending N-400 naturalization application, IMMEDIATELY review the Notice provided in the link below. NOTICE TO KIRWA CLASS MEMBERS (UPDATED DECEMBER 14, 2017) UPDATE 12/9/19: With respect to the Notice above, Mr. Dana Hollywood is no longer the primary point of contact for the Army regarding N-426s. Instead, please contact Mr. Wesley Martin at [email protected], Captain Emily McElroy at [email protected], and Major Benedict Cockburn at [email protected], and copy class counsel using this updated email address: [email protected] Once you receive a copy of the completed N-426 per the Notice linked above, do not delay the submission of your N-400 application. Copies are accepted by USCIS, per the attached Notice. Also, please take care to submit your N-400 to the correct address per the directions for military applications on the USCIS website, and maintain a copy of your full N-400 application for your own records. |
Nio, et al. v. United States Are you a member of the certified Nio class? You are a member of the certified Nio class if you: If you are a member of the Nio class you should know the following: Pursuant to the Court’s October 27, 2017 Order found HERE, your N-426 may not be revoked. The Court has granted partial summary judgment in favor of the MAVNI class, setting aside the USCIS policy of waiting for MSSRs, MSSDs, or discharges before proceeding with MAVNI naturalization application processing. Please use the Nio Schedule tab to see select dates from the litigation calendar. UPDATE (May 31, 2019): The Court has granted summary judgment in favor of the MAVNI class. Please review the decision through this link. |
Please check back periodically as class counsel for the Kirwa class and the Nio class will be adding and updating documents and information found on this Site.