Frustrated trying to find/get a quote from an immigration lawyer

[caspiantiger 1]

Alex Halow is a wonderful immigration attorney. He's based in Georgia....but it doesn't matter his location as he can assist anywhere. His number is 706-850-7838. His website is: www.k1fianceevisas.com. He is extremely knowledgeable and helpful with both the fiancee visa and spouse visa, and will be able to tell you upfront exactly what he charges for what. I think he is fabulous. Call him....it wouldn't hurt.

Thank you for your kind reply.

Also, I appreciate everyone's input here

[Justine+David 218]

You have to show extreme hardship as to why you can't go live in the UK to go with the I-601 waiver...check out the waiver forum here on VJ--one lady has a husband with a 30 year old or so CIMT (which it sounds like your husband has) and has been denied; her husband also didn't diclose his CIMT, although he didn't think that he was supposed to based on the wording (which doesn't matter; he's still liable unfortunately). The fact that your husband did not disclose this crime on his entry card is extraordinarily serious.

You need to find out exactly if your husband's events are considred a CIMT

I'm not sure how these waivers work with people on VWP, but it can't be a good thing for the officer to see that your husband entered the US while violating the terms of VWP. Honestly, I would seriously look into living in the UK for a few years if I were you.

As of late, as others have said, the other snag is that some districts are routinely denying VWP AOS applicants, as the VWP was not intended for people to come live in the US permanently.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/113-waivers-i-601-and-i-212-and-administrative-processes-221g/

Best of luck on your journey however you may go...

Edited December 29, 2010 by Justine+David

[Mike&Cherry 45]

You should get a criminal record check done from the UK to see if there is anything still on it. Then at that point you should decide wether to get a lawyer or not. He's going to have to get a police clearance anyways so you might as well do it soon so you can find out what's on it, if anything. Good luck.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Oh my God . . .

Filing for AOS is a standard procedure, done a few ten thousand times a year. The Adjudicator's Field Manual explicitly states that intent to adjust status--alone--even if documented, may not be used as a reason to deny the petition. Adjusting from a VW instead of a visa brings a bit of a twist to the party, but isn't an issue at all as long as no overstay occurs.

Yet, by playing phone games you wasted valuable time that not even $10K will bring you back. Now you have played your cards by not playing your cards as there is no way that you can submit a complete AOS petition that would be accepted on or before January 3, 2011.

Even thinking about filing for AOS with overstay is, given the latest results in such cases, immigration suicide. If your petition is denied, and there's a great chance that it will be denied even if you retain Barack Obama himself, a deportation order could result from it. Not only would you be out $1,070 in fees, but you'd need an I-212 waiver to start the show from the Kingdom.

That said, your time's up. Hubby has to return to the Ukay and you play it from there. You file an I-130, which you can do right now, and, once approved, hubby files for a CR-1 visa. With it he enters the US as a LPR and gets his Green Card in the mail 2 weeks afterward. No AOS, no worries.

If he overstays only one day, he won't be able to use the VW anymore. He would need to apply for a B2 instead, which he wouldn't get because the immigration folks would assume, rightfully so, that he has immigration intent. Therefore, it really doesn't matter. What matters is that you guys do not file for AOS now, no matter what the most expensive attorney tells you.

[Shenzhen 34]

Does anyone know of a good immigration lawyer in the Cleveland, OH area? We are getting really frustrated as we cannot even interview a lawyer to get a quote from them without paying $100 -$150 dollars for each lawyer we talk to. We don't want to waste our limited resources just trying to get a quote. One lady charged us $150 that was supposedly for no time limit and no question limit. We made a phone appointment for 2:00pm and she didn't end up calling us until well in the evening leaving us sitting home all afternoon waiting for her. Then she rushed us while asking questions about our case and would barely let us get a word in or ask any questions at all, she just kept saying it would cost $10,000 to do our case and to call her assistant at the office for an appointment to come in and arrange financing. Another lawyer we contacted wants $100 just to give us a quote on how much our case would be. Our case is not THAT complicated but we do have a couple of issues that are extenuating that we wanted to be sure we addressed correctly so we didn't make any kind of irreversible mistakes. Ten thousand dollars just seemed insane to us. We are educated people and can fill out the forms ourselves but we didn't want to make any errors during the process and needed some advice and possible coaching for the interview. So before we use up all our money trying to just FIND a lawyer, I was wondering if anyone could recommend somebody that would be worth paying the initial consultation fee to.

I am using Harlan D. Karp at Karp and Camino downtown cleveland. He wasn't very familiar with the electronic processing. You can google him on the net.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Shenzhen

[RichiJenny 14]

if you avoid overstay and deportation or removal proceedings, then you avoid having to file an i212.

to find out whats on your husbands record, he needs to obatin his acpo police certificate. if it comes back as no live trace, hes all set. if it comes back as a no trace, it means the police hold a record of him and he will then have to get his subject access report to accompany the acpo certificate.

if your husband returns to the uk, you would be better advised by steven heller. he is based in brighton uk. 200 gbp consultation and 2000 gbp to file everything for you. if the waiver is not successful you only pay half.

he knows his immigration inside out. depending on what the acpo report says will determine whether you need a lawyer.

[RichiJenny 14]

in addition, if the police record returns as no live trace. there is no need tor a lawyer or an i601.

if no trace or further info is on the acpo, depending whether its a cimt will also point towards the embassy could slap a misrepresentation charge onto your husband for misuse of the vwp.

[caspiantiger 1]

if you avoid overstay and deportation or removal proceedings, then you avoid having to file an i212.

to find out whats on your husbands record, he needs to obatin his acpo police certificate. if it comes back as no live trace, hes all set. if it comes back as a no trace, it means the police hold a record of him and he will then have to get his subject access report to accompany the acpo certificate.

if your husband returns to the uk, you would be better advised by steven heller. he is based in brighton uk. 200 gbp consultation and 2000 gbp to file everything for you. if the waiver is not successful you only pay half.

he knows his immigration inside out. depending on what the acpo report says will determine whether you need a lawyer.

We sent for his acpo police certificate already. It comes back as no live trace. The one lawyer told us that since the charge amounted to just pushing another person and no blood was involved, basically a misdemeanor by our standards, it was not considered a crime of moral turpitude. She said we needed to get a copy of the court documents showing the charge and fine paid.

[villaspurs 65]

One of my colleagues swears by Margaret Wong (Margaret W. Wong & Assoc.) in Cleveland. She did a fantastic job on their case.

Good luck!

[RichiJenny 14]

in that case you dont need to provide anything further. no live trace shows no police record and you dont have to provide unnecessary info at the interview.

its up to you whether you risk filing and chancing the aos on the vwp or if he does return to the uk you do have a straight forward case. he was eligible to use the vwp. no police record, its just the length of time you wait while filing then. no danger of any misrep either.

certainly no real need for a lawyer. the process is fairly easy to grasp.

[RichiJenny 14]

in laymans terms, you only need to provide evidence if you have a police record.

your husband does not.

[caeremonarius 26]

We used Philip Eichorn, who is based out of Cleveland. We had a short VWP overstay, but had no problems with AOS. Feel free to PM me with more details. He offers a free first consultation, and my wife and I felt that his rates were reasonable.

Good luck!

AJ

[amykathleen2005 441]

One of my colleagues swears by Margaret Wong (Margaret W. Wong & Assoc.) in Cleveland. She did a fantastic job on their case.

Good luck!

I drive by her office everyday going to work! Never used a lawyer for immigration, but her offices always seem busy.

Anyways, OP, instead of looking for the best deal on a lawyer you should have been filing for AOS. It is too late now because he will be too late to avoid an overstay. He should go back to the UK and file CR1 visa.

[Justine+David 218]

We sent for his acpo police certificate already. It comes back as no live trace. The one lawyer told us that since the charge amounted to just pushing another person and no blood was involved, basically a misdemeanor by our standards, it was not considered a crime of moral turpitude. She said we needed to get a copy of the court documents showing the charge and fine paid.

"No Live Trace" from the UK means that there IS something on record (if you have a clean record, it says "No Trace"). You will have to send for the Subject Access Report for all the details, which takes a few weeks, so not much of a chance for the AOS getting to USCIS on time...

Here's a link of a couple recently: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/274446-no-live-tracesubject-acccessi-601/page__p__4189872__hl__live+trace__fromsearch__1#entry4189872

also, from the London Embassy website regarding VWP:

nder United States visa law people who have been arrested at anytime are not eligible to travel visa free under the Visa Waiver Program(VWP); they are required to apply for visas before traveling. If the arrest resulted in a conviction, the individual may require a special restricted visa in order to travel. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act does not apply to United States visa law. Therefore, even travelers with a spent conviction are not eligible to travel visa free; they must apply for B-1 or B-2 visas.

http://london.usembassy.gov/add_req.html

Looks like a misrep since he paid a fine and was arrested...

Edited December 30, 2010 by Justine+David

[Shenzhen 34]

I drive by her office everyday going to work! Never used a lawyer for immigration, but her offices always seem busy.

Anyways, OP, instead of looking for the best deal on a lawyer you should have been filing for AOS. It is too late now because he will be too late to avoid an overstay. He should go back to the UK and file CR1 visa.

Harlan Karp worked for Magaret Wong for like 5 or more years. Karp and Camino... I went to her first she could not give me any set fees. I left her office all they tried to do is size me up to see how much I could pay them. Same experience without the high cost.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Shenzhen