Immigration Lawyer Fees???
Q: There is a lawyer I have been in contact with about application for green card for a skilled worker. Before beginning the process I would have to pay 1500 dollars for the law firm and another 3500 dollars later during the 2-3 years. Does this sound like a regular amount or do some lawyers take more and some less? How can I know which laywer is one is a good one? Does it matter where this laywer is at? If the company that wants to hire me is in Wisconsin and the laywer in Florida, does it make any difference?
A: $5000 sounds like a reasonable fee, and I would not balk at up to about $7000 or so. If you find a lawyer who charges less than $5000, I would be worried that he may not be as qualified and charge less than the market. If a lawyer charges by the hour for immigration cases, I'd be very careful (I got burned with one such lawyer). Immigration is fairly routine, so a standardized fee is reasonable. Oh, the $1,000,000 question! Most people use several resources, such as recommendations from others who already used the lawyer, referrals from other professionals, check with the bar association if there have been any complaints filed against the lawyer. In immigration cases, it is also quite common for the employer to provide the lawyer. That has advantages and drawbacks. The advantage is that the lawyer is usually already familiar with the employer, and sometimes - this is up to negotiations between you and the employer - the employer would pay for all or part of the fees. The drawback is that in this case, the lawyer would have more ties to the employer than to you. Technically, the immigration lawyer always represents both you and the employer jointly and can never get involved in any dispute between the employer and you. Still, if you hire and pay the lawyer yourself, then the lawyer is more "yours" than if you use the employer's lawyer. Of course, you would want to interview the lawyer by talking to him on the phone. For the interview, think of the lawyer as your