Petty crime exception

[Boiler 45,952]

Here is the problem, if they handed you the I601 and told you that is what you need, they already decided it doesn't meet the exception rules.

Ditto

Do you believe they have acted in error?

[Used to be broken 147]

Its just this its simple I can not afford 7000-8000 on a lawyer, if I could I would, so I am hoping of some support on getting it throuh on my own, any help?

I am not sure it will cost $8000 to get an attorney to make a few phone calls and get an advisory opinion for you on this. How did you come up with that number?

How to reduce attorney fee's:

If you do the legwork as someone else suggested ..in fact I did as well..it will reduce the clock hours your attorney has to research and prepare.

get the criminal code that you were charged with in the Canadian system, its a set of numbers ... google it, they spell out what the charges maximum sentence is. print it out, (use a Canadian government source not an attorney website,this will be considered evidence it has to have a credible source. )

From your past history, get a copy of the criminal charges and gather all the documents related to the crime, dismissal and disposition of your case. Did you have an attorney then? If so get a copy of the file. You have to prove to USCIS that your crime fits the petty theft exception. That is the path of least resistance, I keep insisting on you getting an attorney for this reason, only an attorney can request the advisory opinion which may solve this, then you won't need to spend the big bucks on an I601 preparation fee.

If you need the I601 its a longer harder more difficult battle than the petty theft exception issue, and way more expensive.

Call and get some quotes on attorneys to request advisory for you. It should be at the hourly rate, maybe $400 -$600 an hour, but if you do the research you can minimize the financial damage.