A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has transferred a lawsuit brought by an elite electric vehicle safety engineer against immigration authorities to a federal court in Michigan. The judge ruled that the dispute over a denied high-skilled immigrant visa belongs where the engineer lives and works rather than the nation’s capital.

Background

The plaintiff, Rakshit Gummaraju, is a citizen of India residing in Troy, Michigan. He is a mechanical engineer with a Master’s degree from Wayne State University and more than eight years of experience in automobile crash and safety restraint engineering.

Gummaraju applied for an EB-2 immigrant visa, which is reserved for foreign nationals who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or their equivalent or who because of their exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) service center in Lincoln, Nebraska, denied Gummaraju’s petition in May 2025. Gummaraju filed his lawsuit in October 2025, alleging that USCIS violated the Administrative Procedure Act by misapplying legal standards and ignoring extensive evidence.

Transfer to Michigan

Judge Sooknanan rejected Gummaraju’s argument that his lawsuit challenged a broader, “policy-level shift” in how immigration officials evaluate these waivers nationwide. The judge stated that the D.C. district court “has no meaningful ties to the controversy and no particular interest in the parties or subject matter.”

The court also dismissed concerns raised by Gummaraju regarding his legal counsel, who are admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., but not in Michigan. The ruling emphasized that the economic and local impacts of the case belong entirely to Michigan.

Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.