Lawsuit: Iowa worker stranded in Canada for a year due to visa-related delays

An Iowa man who alleges federal bureaucracy has left him stranded in Canada for a year, with no way to return to the United States, is now suing the federal government.

Haider Raza, a citizen and national of Pakistan, is suing the U.S. Department of State in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa for alleged delays in processing his visa-related application to remain in the United States.

Raza, 32, of Ames, works for Kingland Systems at the company’s headquarters in Clear Lake. In his lawsuit, he indicates he first arrived in America 11 years ago through a student visa, then attended Iowa State University where he received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree.

After graduating, Raza was granted “H-1B status” — a temporary, employer-sponsored classification that allows foreign nationals to work in specialized fields within the United States — and, in October 2021, began working for Kingland Systems.

In 2024, Raza sought to extend his H-1B status for another three years. Visa requests by foreign nationals are adjudicated through the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. Because of that, the lawsuit alleges, Raza traveled to Canada last year and while there attended a visa-application interview at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto on Aug. 5, 2025.

At that time, the lawsuit claims, Raza was informed that his application would be placed in “administrative processing.” In the almost 12 months since then, the lawsuit alleges, the application has remained pending with no action taken.

The lack of action has left Raza “unable to return to the United States,” which has resulted in his being placed on unpaid leave from his job in Iowa.

“Despite numerous attempts to contact the consulate about the status of his visa,” the lawsuit alleges, Raza “continues to await the defendants’ action after almost a year of delay. … (He) left the United States to travel to Toronto, attend this routine interview, and receive a visa stamp with the expectation that he would soon return and resume his job and life.”

According to the lawsuit, Raza has inquired several times about the status of his application, and that he was initially told the process would take “several months” before being told the consulate was “unable to determine when this process may be concluded.”

Through Kingland Systems, the lawsuit alleges, Raza has enlisted the assistance of three members of Congress, all of whom have only been told the application remains in administrative processing.

Raza, the lawsuit states, “has no criminal history and no immigration violations whatsoever. He received a single traffic ticket in the United States, which … would not preclude the grant of a visa or cause the present delay. (He) cannot re-enter the United States absent a visa stamp and has been on unpaid leave from his U.S.-based job since October 15, 2025. He has encountered significant emotional and financial hardship as a result of the ongoing uncertainty relating to his work status … He remains in a state of limbo.”

The situation has made it difficult for Raza to fulfill his financial commitments in both Canada and the United States and also made it impossible for him to visit his Iowa-based physician and dentist, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit seeks to have the court intervene and compel the U.S. Department of State to act on Raza’s application. The department has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.