Our Fees

Making the numbers work for you.

Our law firm realizes that the immigration process can be a costly process. USCIS charges fees for filing Forms and then immigration lawyers charge attorney fees. Additional expenses include making hundreds of copies of supporting materials for your case and mailing or sending them by courier service to USCIS.

Our firm makes arrangements to “finance” attorney’s fees. We require a deposit when you engage us to represent you. Although we usually require the balance of the fees be paid at the time we file your Forms, in individual circumstances we are willing to “finance” the remaining balance.

How do immigration attorneys charge for their services?

Most immigration attorneys usually charge fees for their services on a flat or fixed-fee basis. Some immigration attorneys charge purely hourly rates. Yet other immigration attorneys charge a combination, depending on the circumstances. Fixed, or flat, fees are offered where the attorney has a good idea of how much time is involved in the "typical" case by case type., e.g., family-based immigration, emplopyment-based immigration, etc. With fixed fees, the client agrees to pay the attorney a set amount of money to represent the client with a particular immigration issue, such as a labor certification application or a petition for H-1B visa status. The benefit of this fee structure is that the client knows the legal costs from the start and can budget accordingly.

What factors determine the fee an immigration attorney will charge?

There is often a wide fluctuation in the fees charged by an immigration attorney. Several factors determine the appropriate fee, including the complexity of the case, the more difficult the case, the more time an attorney would have to spend on it and therefore a higher fee would be involved.

What is the difference between "attorney's fees" and "costs"?

Attorney's fees are the amount you will be charged to compensate for the time spent by the attorney and staff for their time. In addition to the "fees" for professional services, the U.S. Government charges specific costs for each of its Form filings and these are not included in attorney’s fees. Costs also include other administrative expesnes, such as express mail, photocopying, faxes, long-distance charges, etc. Our firm charges a flat 6% of attorney’s fees for service costs.

How much are your attorney’s fees?

The problem with posting fees is that if we post a fee, it may not be correct for your type of case. We are surprised to learn that people call us saying that other attorneys are charging twice to three times what we charge. We can only respond by saying our prices are based on our overhead (and expenses which we actively manage to limit) and a fair price for the work required. We WANT your business and we know that although quality legal care does cost money, there is no reason to over-price the service because some other attorneys may operate with higher overhead costs or may work on a “what the market will bear” basis.

Immigration cases are extremely individual-fact intensive. The only way we can advise you of the cost for your case is after we have an initial consultation with you and are able to develop an understanding of the particular facts of your case.

What the Attorney's Fees Does (and Does Not) Cover.

A fixed fee covers an analysis of your case and preparation of the USCIS Forms and materials, and/or the visa petition packet for your case. USCIS and State Department visa packet preparation includes compiling your supporting documents and reviewing them to make sure that they are sufficient. Our fixed attorney’s fees also include responding to a first request for additional information from the USCIS and monitoring your case at the USCIS to make sure it is being processed in a timely manner.

The fixed fee also includes similar monitoring of the processing of any other Government Agency, such as the Department of State/National Visa Center or the Department of Labor. The fixed fee includes our technical support, advice, and review as the client prepares any other immigration applications, affidavits and filings, as well as any associated follow-up correspondence and problem-solving.

Our attorney’s fees do not cover any Government filing fees. Clients need to pay Government filing fees at the time we file the initial paperwork, by providing our office with a check, money order or certified check made out directly to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (which oversees the USCIS), or the appropriate Government agency assessing the filing fee.

Fixed fees also do not include additional USCIS Requests for Evidence (RFE’s) after a first RFE. Fixed fees do not include making appearances or preparing briefs for appearances at hearings or in court unless it was expressly provided in the engagement contract. Examples of services not included in the basic fixed attorney's fees, unless specifically stated in the engagement contract, are appeals, reconsideration, court review, waivers, dealing with deportation or exclusion grounds or proceedings, extensions of immigrant visas, new or amended applications based upon change in employment, immigration work for relatives not mentioned in the engagement contract, nonimmigration work, and other services, including special services required due to unforeseen developments in your case or changes in the law.

What finance packages do we offer?

You can choose to pay the balance in either one month or three months.
One month payment
After you pay the deposit, the next AND FINAL payment is due 30 days later. Clients who choose this option have no finance or administrative fees.
Three Month Payment
After you pay the deposit, the next payment is due 30 days later and then the same for the next 2 months after. There is a $30 administration fee and a 5% finance charge.

How much is the engagement retainer or deposit?
Whatever your case, we ask for no less than $500 upon engagement; however, depending on your case, this engagement fee may be higher.

Types of Payment we accept
Personal Checks
Company Checks
Money Orders
Visa
Mastercard
And, of course, cash

What is the downside of making payments?

Our law firm will be working very hard on your case, and preparing it for a first time acceptance to the USCIS, and we ask that you never miss a payment when it is due. Should you miss a payment by more than 5 days from when it is due, your case will be closed, and there will be a charge of $150 to reactivate it.

Engaging our firm to represent you is more affordable than you think

We charge reasonable fees, and unlike many other attorneys, we allow clients to pay in two or three installments, instead of paying for everything "up front." For those who are short on cash, we also accept credit card payments at no extra charge to clients.

No matter what, you will pay for the work that is needed to be successful in the process. In the end, you can pay in any one of three ways:
1. You can hire and pay for an immigration attorney;
2. You can "go it alone", in which case you will pay with a significant amount of time, effort, stress, and uncertainty to make sure you do things properly -- and still run a higher risk of "paying" with the delay or denial of your petition, and many times, eventually hire an immigration attorney to clean up your case; or
3. If you are not willing to pay an immigration attorney, or put in the necessary time and effort to do it on your own successfully, you can "pay" by dealing with endless processing delays or even the denial of you case.

When you consider that what is at stake is your ability to be with your loved one and their ability to immigrate to the U.S., what price would actually be too high if it means that your case will be handled competently and efficiently?

Sample Fee Schedule (PDF)