Attorney Isis Irizarry is proud and honored to have been featured in Connecticut Public Television’s CT Innovators series.
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Attorney Isis Irizarry is proud and honored to have been featured in Connecticut Public Television’s CT Innovators series.
See the award ceremony where Attorney Isis Irizarry receives the New Leaders in the Law Award.
Hopefully you have already had the opportunity to review the introductory video. That video reviews the three categories of expenses, and many important details that we are not going to review now.
In talking about the cost of obtaining permanent residence, one detail that greatly impacts the answer is whether you are eligible for adjustment of status or if you has to go through consular process.
Another video will address details such as how to determine which path is available to you, what steps to take in that process, how long it takes each step, etc. In this video, we are going to focus on expenses for those that need to go through the consular process.
Using the three categories of expenses – government fees, attorneys fees, and miscellaneous fees – let’s dive in.
Government fees:
This gives us a total of $1,200 in government fees.
Attorney’s fees:
This varies in terms of how much is charged, and when it is charged. Some attorneys divide the fees into two stages, which coincide with the two stages of the consular process. But generally, you can expect the total to range between $4,000 and $6,000 for one person’s consular process.
Miscellaneous expenses. What can we expect.
I know this is a lot of information. Feel free to rewatch the video as many times as you need. But remember, you don’t have to do any of this alone! At IMI Law, we can help with this, and much more. Feel free to reach out: 860-263-9126.
Thank you for your attention. Send us any questions, and stay tuned for the next video.
Attorney Isis Irizarry has been named one of Connecticut Law Tribune’s 2020 New Leaders in the Law.
Here it is: the first video in “What’s the Cost?” — the first video series presented by IMI Law. Stay informed, and stay tuned for the next video. Give the Facebook page a like so you don’t miss it!
Ask any lawyer a broad question and there’s a good chance the answer will be “it depends.” In immigration law, with the question “what’s the cost,” we’re not safe from the same unhelpful answer. Since it all depends, we’ll review the general answers, one topic per video.
Welcome to the first video in the series “What’s the Cost?”
When we talk about the cost of an immigration case, there are three categories of costs: attorneys fees, for those hiring an attorney; government fees, mostly in the form of filing fees; and the general category of miscellaneous expenses.
First, attorneys fees. These vary greatly, depending on what part of the country (or world) you’re in, whether you live in a city like Los Angeles or in a more rural area. It depends on the type of case you have and on how quickly or how slowly that particular process moves.
It varies depending on the type of lawyer you have as well. That is, if you are represented by a nonprofit organization, it is likely your case will be taken free of charge, known as pro bono. If you’re represented by a private firm, it is very unlikely that your case will be taken pro bono, and even within the category of private practice, the costs can vary greatly as well. It is not a bad idea to speak with more than one immigration attorney before hiring an attorney. On the one hand, this allows you to see who you feel most comfortable with, and it also allows you to get a sense of how much it will cost to have that office represent you.
Now, the second category: government fees. Again, this primarily consists of filing fees. Filing fees vary depending on the type of application you want to file, and you can expect them to increase over time. This is important to note because perhaps you know one person who paid a certain amount five years ago, and now you’re being told that the same application costs more. There are few waivers available for some applications, but not all of them, and in certain cases it might negatively impact your case to request these waivers.
The third category is of miscellaneous expenses. This includes transportation costs to get to the lawyers office, or to the immigration office. It also includes the cost to send documents, to make photocopies, to request copies of official documents, to translate documents, to notarize documents, to buy Money Orders or certified checks, to send money, etc. etc.
In many immigration processes, you will need to get a medical exam, and this price varies greatly depending on the country in which you are located. For people who are in the United States, you already know that everything that has to do with physical health is expensive.
This category also includes expenses such as buying formal clothes to wear to an interview, as well as the economic effect of requesting a day off from work to be able to attend to the different aspects of your case. Certain aspects of the process require you to bring your own interpreter, and using a family member is often prohibited. In these cases there are many people who end up having to hire an interpreter, and that represents an additional expense.
At the end of the day, when we talk about how much an immigration case costs, it is not simply a matter of how much the government charges to receive and review the application, nor is it limited to what the lawyer charges, nor to what is explicitly enumerated in the contract. There are many additional expenses, several of which can’t always be predicted with precision, and you are in a better position if you anticipate some of these possible expenses.
Thank you for your attention. Send us any questions, and stay tuned for the next video.
IMI Law introduces its first ever video series: “What’s the Cost?” These videos will go over the costs of some of the most common immigration applications and processes. Be sure to Like and Subscribe so you don’t miss out on these videos.