Immigration Lawyers
What is an Immigration Lawyer?
An immigration lawyer is someone who specializes in the laws and regulations governing immigration in the U.S. They work with immigrants, refugees, and anyone seeking entry, a visa, a Green Card, or citizenship and their families.
What Do Immigration Lawyers Do?
An immigration lawyer’s main role is as an interface between their clients and the U.S. government agencies that handle immigration. They advise their clients and help them through this complex process. Some of the many things immigration lawyers do for clients include:
- Advise anyone wishing to enter the country on an immigrant visa
- Advise family and other sponsors of immigrants
- Help citizens petition for an immigrant visa for a family member
- Work with employers to bring in foreign workers
- Explain the complex process, rules, and requirements of immigration
- Help clients understand the best type of visa to apply for
- Represent immigrants threatened with deportation in hearings and appeals
- Help clients become U.S. citizens
When Do I Need an Immigration Lawyer?
The safest way to ensure you make no mistakes and have the best chance of success in immigrating or bringing someone to the country is to work with a lawyer from the beginning. It is not required, but a lawyer is an expert guide through this difficult process. It is especially important to have legal representation in certain situations:
- You started the process but feel overwhelmed and don’t know what to do next.
- You started the visa process, but it is taking an unreasonably long time.
- The applicant has already had applications for visas denied.
- The applicant for a visa has been convicted of a crime.
- The applicant has a medical condition.
- The government has begun deportation proceedings.
- There are marital complications, such as divorce from a U.S. citizen before conditions were removed from the permanent resident status.
- The applicant was a minor when proceedings began but would turn 21 before achieving permanent resident status.
Top Reasons to Hire an Immigration Lawyer
Anyone can start the immigration process without legal representation. There are good reasons to hire a lawyer, even if you don’t have complicating factors. Immigration is fraught with pitfalls and mistakes that are easy to make. Choose a lawyer right from the start for the best outcome.
- Get the benefit of experience
Knowing the laws is not enough to make a good case for a visa or permanent status. What you really need is someone who has done this many times for other people. Immigration lawyers have practical experience navigating the system and getting results for clients. - Understand your options
You can read the laws and all the visa types, but what you really need is someone to explain them. It’s not easy to understand what to do next until a lawyer with expertise puts it into plain English for you. - Avoid mistakes
The immigration process is not simple, which means it is easy to make mistakes. Just one mistake can set you way back or even result in a denied application. A lawyer gives you a better chance of doing it right. - Get a path to citizenship
A lawyer can help you look to the future and plan for eventually becoming a citizen. Getting a visa may be your goal now, but a lawyer will guide you through the steps to ultimately gain permanent residency and citizenship. - Defend against deportation
Deportation is not a definite sentence. As a legal immigrant, you have a right to a hearing in administrative court. A lawyer can make your case and represent you in front of a judge.
How to Find and Choose an Immigration Lawyer
Immigration is a maze-like process with complicated regulations and changing laws. You need not just any lawyer but an immigration lawyer, someone who specializes in this area of the law and works with clients on immigration issues.
There are several resources you can use to compile a list of potential law firms and lawyers to help you:[1][2]
- Friends or family who have been through the immigration process
- A lawyer you know or trust who can recommend a colleague with this specialty
- Your state bar association
- The American Immigration Lawyers Association
- The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Only select lawyers who specifically work on immigration. This is an important decision, so line up a few lawyers and interview them to get important questions answered:
- Do you only work on immigration cases?
- How long have you been working on immigration?
- How do you keep up with changes in policies and regulations?
- How many clients have you successfully helped get through immigration issues?
- Can you refer me to past clients?
- How would you handle my case?
- What do you see as the challenges in my case?
- How long do you think it will take to resolve my case?
- What are your fees?
Working with Your Immigration Lawyer
Once you’ve selected the right immigration lawyer, you’ll get the best outcome by working with them toward your goals. Most importantly, they need a lot of information from you. They need to know everything about your current citizenship, residency, visas, applications you’ve already made, travel, and family status.
Your lawyer will ask a lot of questions. Be thorough and honest, answering everything to the best of your ability. They will also need documents, like your visas or Green Card, marriage certificates, birth certificates or passport, and proof of residency. If you are working on a Green Card through marriage, you will need to present evidence that your relationship is real; even photos of you together and with family can help.
Working with an immigration lawyer is the best way to ensure you have a good chance of getting a visa or permanent residency. Don’t wait until something goes wrong. Work with a lawyer from the beginning.