Myslimi v. Biden, Civil Action No. 2021-2496

Plaintiff Mimoza Myslimi (Albanian citizen) was selected for a FY2021 diversity immigrant visa; spouse and minor child are derivatives.
Mimoza submitted requested documents by early August 2020 but received no adjudication by late summer 2021.
Plaintiffs filed suit Aug. 24, 2021 in E.D. Pa., alleging APA violation and seeking mandamus; requested injunctive relief to compel adjudication before Sept. 30, 2021 or to reserve visas if adjudication occurred after the FY closed.
Case transferred to D.D.C. in Sept. 2021; plaintiffs never moved for emergency or injunctive relief before the Sept. 30 FY2021 deadline.
Plaintiffs and defendants subsequently agreed to stay the case pending mootness resolution; defendants moved to dismiss for mootness.
Court granted dismissal, holding the suit moot because no relief was sought or granted before the fiscal year ended.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the case is moot because the FY2021 selection period ended before any judicial relief was granted	Myslimi argued the case was not moot, relying on this court's Goodluck decision (which ordered reservation of visas) to preserve relief	Defendants argued Almaqrami controls: when a court fails to grant relief before the fiscal-year cutoff, the claim becomes moot	Court held the case is moot and granted defendants' motion to dismiss because plaintiffs obtained no relief before Sept. 30, 2021

Almaqrami v. Pompeo, 993 F.3d 774 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (holding diversity-visa claims can become moot when the court does not grant relief before the fiscal-year cutoff)