QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

– YOU ASK WE ANSWER –

A You are not required by law to hire an attorney or law firm to represent you in your immigration case. Many people successfully navigate the immigration process by themselves without any legal representation.
An immigration case may be one of the most important legal proceedings in someone’s life. The benefits of having an attorney in the immigration process are numerous. An immigration lawyer can provide individuals and businesses with advice about their case and the best path to achieving their goals. Legal counsel can help craft the best argument and overcome challenges and pitfalls which can derail a process that may appear simple at first glance.

Having an attorney represent you can never guarantee success in your immigration matter. However, having the guidance and support of an immigration law firm can be extremely helpful for anyone going through the immigration process given the constant changes in this area of the law. According to a study from the National Immigration Forum, asylum applicants are statistically five times as likely to be approved when they are represented by an attorney.

A The initial attorney consultation is the first discussion with the attorney about an immigration case. At the meeting, the lawyer will gather preliminary information needed to understand the client’s immigration situation and review the relevant documents provided by the client beforehand. The attorney will be able to give initial advice and recommendations based on how the U.S. immigration laws and regulations apply to that particular case. The attorney will be able to give the client specific options to move their case forward, the next steps in the process, and what the costs will be for legal services. The initial consultation takes less than an hour to complete.
Moro Legal uses technology to minimize costs and make the process as easy as possible for those going through the immigration process. We offer attorney consultations through video-conferencing and by phone with flexible scheduling. Use our online calendar to schedule your initial attorney consultation.

A

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services operates a Case Status Online tracker that allows users to see the status of immigration applications, petitions, and requests at https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do.

A

This will depend on many factors including the type of case, the government office that is handling the case, the immigration official handling the case, the evidence, and the particular individual and/or business involved. USCIS provides an online tool to check case processing times based on the form submitted and the field office or service center involved: https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

The USCIS case processing time tool will show an estimated time range for processing time for a particular form at a particular field office or service center. The best estimate can be given for your particular case by scheduling an attorney consultation.