Wei Lai Dev. LLC v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs.

WEI LAI DEVELOPMENT LLC, et al., Plaintiffs, v. U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 21-887 (RDM)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

May 24, 2021

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Plaintiff Wei Lai-USA, a Washington State limited liability company engaged in the construction and rental of residences, and Lin Han, a citizen and national of the People's Republic of China currently present in the state of Washington, bring this action pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"), 5 U.S.C. § 706, seeking review of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' ("USCIS") denial of an I-129 immigration petition and associated L-1A adjustment-of-status application that they had filed. Dkt. 1 at 2 (Compl. ¶ 1); Dkt. 1-5 at 1. Pending before the Court is USCIS's motion, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), to transfer the case to "the Western District of Washington state[,] where Plaintiff [Han] resides[,] or the Central District of California because the denial happened there." Dkt. 8-1 at 2. USCIS also moves to dismiss this case under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and (b)(3) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and improper venue, respectively. Dkt. 8 at 1.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court will GRANT USCIS's motion to transfer the case to the Central District of California.

I. BACKGROUND

When evaluating a motion to transfer to a different venue, "a court should only consider undisputed facts supported by affidavits, depositions, stipulations, or other relevant documents." One on One Basketball, Inc. v. Glob. Payments Direct, Inc., 38 F. Supp. 3d 44, 48 (D.D.C. 2014). The Court therefore draws the relevant facts from uncontested allegations in the complaint and a declaration submitted by Catherine C. Bowie, who recently "led the headquarters consolidation efforts" and "physical relocation" of USCIS, Dkt. 14-1 at 1 (Bowie Decl. ¶ 1).

"On November 4, 2019, Wei Lai-USA filed a[n] [I-129] petition for nonimmigrant worker upon behalf of Lin Han to classify her as an intracompany transferee manager with a concurrent request to change her nonimmigrant status to L-1A."¹ Dkt. 1 at 3 (Compl. ¶ 8a).² As Plaintiffs explain, "Ms. Han had, at the time of filing, been employed for over two years by Harbin Jin Mao Cheng Public Facility Co., Ltd. (Jin Mao-China)"—which is "an affiliate of Wei Lai-USA"—"as its Deputy General Manager." Id. (Compl. ¶¶ 8b-9). "The petition filed by Wei Lai-USA offered to employ Ms. Han in the United States in a position in which she would primarily manage the organization." Id. at 4 (Compl. ¶ 15).

On April 3, 2020, USCIS issued Plaintiffs a Request for Evidence ("RFE"), asking them to further substantiate that Han was employed in a "managerial, executive, or specializedknowledge position" while at Jin Mao-China. Dkt. 11-1 at 951 (capitalization altered). As USCIS explained in the RFE:

[Plaintiffs] submitted a letter, org[anizational] chart, description of duties, and copies of the foreign entity's payroll records to establish the beneficiary's role abroad. While you have described and illustrated the nature of [Han's] position, you did not provide sufficient evidence of her daily duties to show how she carried out the nature of these tasks. . . . Although the payroll records provide evidence of pay and employment, the records do not establish the beneficiary operated in primarily a managerial capacity on a daily basis. . . . [D]escriptions of the position abroad should be supported by sufficient corroboratory evidence of the beneficiary's role, duties, and daily responsibilities.

Id. at 952.

Plaintiffs responded to the RFE on August 25, 2020, submitting to USCIS roughly 160 pages of materials, including additional letters, payroll records, and documents signed by Han that purportedly verified her managerial duties at Jin Mao-China. Id. at 958-62. But USCIS was still unsatisfied. It issued another RFE to Plaintiffs on October 13, 2020, requesting additional evidence demonstrating that Wei Lai-USA was engaged in business in the United States in 2019 and that the proposed position for Han at Wei Lai-USA was "primarily managerial or executive." Id. at 1127-30. As before, USCIS explained in some detail why it required the additional evidence. Id. Plaintiffs responded months later, on January 22, 2021, providing USCIS nearly 300 pages of documents including, inter alia, Wei Lai-USA's 2019 federal tax returns, payroll summaries of Wei Lai-USA employees from September 2019 to November 2020, and certain contracts into which Wei Lai-USA had entered between 2019 and 2020. Id. at 1139-40. USCIS, however, remained unconvinced that Plaintiffs had met their burden, and on February 12, 2021,USCIS issued a decision denying Wei Lai-USA's I-129 petition and its L-1A application on behalf of Han. Dkt. 1 at 5 (Compl. ¶ 20-21a).³

This suit followed. Dkt. 1. Plaintiffs' complaint, filed on April 1, 2021, alleges that USCIS's decisions denying the I-129 petition and L-1A application were arbitrary, capricious, and not in accordance with law, all in violation of the APA. Id. at 5-28 (Compl. Counts I-IV). In addition, Plaintiffs ask the Court to "order USCIS to re-adjudicate Wei Lai-USA's petition and application upon behalf of Ms. [Han] within thirty (30) days of its order holding the decisions denying them unlawful and setting them aside." Id. at 29 (Compl. Prayer for Relief). Plaintiffs have also moved for a preliminary injunction "to postpone the effectiveness of the denial of Wei Lai-USA's nonimmigrant visa petition upon Ms. Han's behalf and the corresponding denial of her application for a change of nonimmigrant [status]." Dkt. 2-1 at 2.

On April 16, 2021, USCIS responded to Plaintiffs' pending motions with a motion to transfer the case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), or, in the alternative, to dismiss this case pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and (b)(3) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and improper venue. Dkt. 8. Plaintiffs later filed their opposition to transfer or dismissal, Dkt. 13, after USCIS had prematurely filed a reply brief in favor of its motion, Dkt. 11. On May 10, 2021, the Court ordered USCIS promptly to file "a declaration under the penalty of perjury that explains (1) the timing of USCIS's relocation to Maryland; (2) any remaining USCIS presence in the District of Columbia; (3) any other facts relevant to the motion to transfer, including whether any aspect of Plaintiffs' petition was adjudicated or reviewed in the District of Columbia." Minute Order (May 10, 2021). The Court also invited Plaintiffs to file aresponse to the declaration. Id. USCIS submitted Bowie's declaration on May 13, 2021, Dkt. 14, and Plaintiffs filed their response on May 17, 2021, Dkt. 15. USCIS then submitted additional material for the Court to consider, Dkt. 16, as did Plaintiffs in response, Dkt. 17.⁴

II. ANALYSIS

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), the Court may transfer a case to "any other district or division where it might have been brought" for the "convenience of [the] parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice." The inquiry is two-fold. First, the Court must determine whether the case could have been brought in the transferee district. Van Dusen v. Barrack, 376 U.S. 612, 616 (1964). Second, the Court must decide whether the private and public interests at stake favor transfer. Aracely v. Nielsen, 319 F. Supp. 3d 110, 127 (D.D.C. 2018); see also Ike v. USCIS, No. 20-cv-1744, 2020 WL 7360214, at *2 (D.D.C. Dec. 15, 2020). This requires the Court to consider the "preferred forum of the parties," "the location where the claim arose," and "other factors of convenience," as well as "the transferee district's familiarity with the governing law," "the relative congestion of the courts," and the "local interest in deciding local controversies at home." Aracely, 319 F. Supp. 3d at 128-30. In making the decision to transfer, the Court must make an "individualized, case-by-case consideration of convenience and fairness." Abusadeh v. Chertoff, No. 06-cv-2014, 2007 WL 2111036, at *3 (D.D.C. July 23, 2007) (quoting Barrack, 376 U.S. at 622). As the moving party, USCIS bears the burden of justifying the proposed transfer. Aracely, 319 F. Supp. 3d at 127.

For the following reasons, the Court will transfer this action to the United States District Court for the Central District of California, where the USCIS service center that adjudicated Plaintiffs' petition and application is located.

A. Where the Action Could Have Been Brought

The Court starts its analysis by evaluating whether either of the proposed transferee districts were ones in which Plaintiffs' action could have been brought. Barrack, 376 U.S. at 616. The Court concludes that Plaintiffs could have filed suit in the Central District of California or the Western District of Washington.

Where an agency of the United States is the defendant, as here, venue is proper "in any judicial district in which (A) a defendant in the action resides, (B) a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or . . . (C) the plaintiff resides if no real property is involved in the action." 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e)(1). Plaintiffs' immigration petition and application were both adjudicated at the California Service Center in Laguna Niguel, California. Dkt. 14-1 at 3 (Bowie Decl. ¶ 10); see also Dkt. 11-1 at 1, 14. Therefore, because "a substantial part of the events . . . giving rise to [Plaintiffs'] claim[s] occurred" in the Central District of California, venue is proper in that district. 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e)(1); accord Pasem v. USCIS, No. 20-cv-344, 2020 WL 2514749, at *3 (D.D.C. May 15, 2020) ("In APA cases, the underlying claim typically arises 'where the decisionmaking process occur[s].'" (alteration in original) (quoting Gyau v. Sessions, No. 18-cv-407, 2018 WL 4964502, at *1 (D.D.C. Oct. 15, 2018)). Similarly, the Western District of Washington is also a proper venue...