Question on lawyer fees for RFEs

[jxn 86]

I casually help friends with immigration-related questions and my friend (green card holder) and her husband (applying for AoS on the basis of the spouse of an LPR). The application just got an RFE from USCIS saying that his wife doesn’t make 125% of the poverty level and they need a co-sponsor. She is pulling out the documents they filed with and unless I misunderstood something she makes more than double that amount.

 

I have asked her to clarify what income/taxes she submitted with his application when they submitted it in late 2021 (so presumably her 2020 taxes), but regardless the lawyers they used are asking for a lot of money to draft a response and I can’t find logic in needing to pay for this. Either she made enough money when they originally submitted and USCIS committed an error, at which point it should be so easy for the lawyer to resend the evidence they already have on file with a boilerplate letter, OR the lawyers themselves messed up if she didn’t make enough money and they didn’t tell them to get a co-sponsor before filing.

 

They want nearly a thousand dollars to begin drafting a response and I want just a bit of context so I can encourage this sweet couple to advocate for themselves in the most accurate and appropriate way possible since I think this RFE would or should fall under the umbrella of his AoS application and not incur a large cost.

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Crazy Cat 41,349]

Why not just get a joint sponsor? It's a lot less expensive. 

[Family 3,842]

First get a look at current income : 

Is she a W-2 employee with a regular printed paycheck? If yes , everything is quite simple .

 Gather copy of 2021 Federal Tax Return ( 1040 only), a copy of the W-2 , 3 current paystubs and send them as Response to RFE. 
 

If she is self -employed..well either you brush up your I-864 skills OR they get a Joint Sponsor  

[jxn 86]

A follow-up to let you know that they decided to pay the lawyer the cost to prepare the RFE response. Then, a few weeks ago, there was an RFE on his I-485 (requesting documents related to his F-1 status) and another RFE on his I-130 (proof of the good faith relationship). And again they are asking for $1,000.

 

To me this strikes me as a reach since presumably a well-prepared application would have these things front-loaded and the RFEs demonstrate the gaps in the lawyer's initial application preparation. I am encouraging them to ask the lawyers to prepare the RFE responses for free for this reason, but since I had this thread up from the first RFE I wanted to get the forum's opinion on how common this is among law firms and get a sanity check if it's crazy to be requesting money (or at least, this much money).

[OldUser 6,167]

@jxn looks like you're working with either unexperienced lawyer or somebody who has bad intentions, e.g. making $$$$ on immigrants.

 

Usually, you would discuss these things during initial consult to ensure that you understand whether lawyer be charging for any RFEs or fix them for free if it was their problem. Many good lawyers would charge one fee to get your application approved and respond to RFEs for free if it was their mistake / something minor.

Lawyers usually charge fees for attending the interview.

 

Did you check, whether your lawyer is listed on American Bar Association website?

 

Here is the link:

 

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/flh-home/flh-bar-directories-and-lawyer-finders/

 

You first select the state, and then search lawyer by name.

 

If the lawyer cannot be found, ask them which state they passed the bar exam. Of they don't give you their bar number or you can't find them using the website above - that's a bad sign. In this case, ask for copy of your application and everything submitted. Once you get copies, ask for refund since they did a poor job. Look for a good lawyer, listed on that website and transfer your case to them.

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by OldUser

[jxn 86]

13 hours ago, OldUser said:

@jxn looks like you're working with either unexperienced lawyer or somebody who has bad intentions, e.g. making $$$$ on immigrants.

 

Usually, you would discuss these things during initial consult to ensure that you understand whether lawyer be charging for any RFEs or fix them for free if it was their problem. Many good lawyers would charge one fee to get your application approved and respond to RFEs for free if it was their mistake / something minor.

Lawyers usually charge fees for attending the interview.

 

Did you check, whether your lawyer is listed on American Bar Association website?

 

Here is the link:

 

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/flh-home/flh-bar-directories-and-lawyer-finders/

 

You first select the state, and then search lawyer by name.

 

If the lawyer cannot be found, ask them which state they passed the bar exam. Of they don't give you their bar number or you can't find them using the website above - that's a bad sign. In this case, ask for copy of your application and everything submitted. Once you get copies, ask for refund since they did a poor job. Look for a good lawyer, listed on that website and transfer your case to them.

 

Thanks for the info—I will ask for a copy of the original agreement to see what it said. The lawyer indeed passed the local state bar exam.