When an alien green card or immigrant visa applicant is considering the challenging legal journey to attain a U. S green card and realizes that he/she is inadmissible, the question of acquiring a waiver may be something valuable. However, there is one question that applicants encounter often and that is the cost of getting an immigration attorney to assist in the preparation of an I-601 waiver application. In this detail, the necessity of an attorney and the costs associated with this service are discussed in detail.
The Importance of the I-601 Waiver
As part of one’s journey towards obtaining a green card which is a legal permission for one to permanently reside in the United States of America, applicants may occasionally require what is referred to as the “waiver of inadmissibility. ” This waiver simply seeks pardon for various reasons that make the client ineligible to be granted permission to enter or permanently live in the United States of America through a green card.
On many occasions, the waiver is needed because the applicant has violated the Immigration and Nationality Act and must leave for three or ten years if he or she applies for a visa/ green card interview at a U.S. consulate. As a result, it becomes necessary to understand the essence of the I-601 waiver for people seeking legal status in the United States community.
The Concerns About Attorney Fees
Of course, such an approach raises concerns about the additional expenses that applicants might bear to afford the services of an attorney to submit the waiver application. That is why it is shocking when people get a wake-up call after realizing that the cost being charged by an attorney for the waiver is as much or more than the basic application for the U. S lawful residence. Let us therefore understand why this has to be the case and some of the services one ought to expect their competent attorney to deliver in exchange for the fee that is charged.
A Multifaceted Approach
However, most people tend to think that preparing a waiver application is a simple task that entails doing a lot of writing, from the application form itself to a cover letter.
It is a complex process that is not just limited to writing an application and a cover letter for the application. Think of it as telling a big story of your life, your family, and all the important details as they form a detailed plot of life.
Detailed Scenarios and Extreme Hardship
Breaking down the various considerations that a client and attorney need to address to draft a strong waiver application, it can be seen that there are two different sets of circumstances to analyze. These scenarios revolve around assessing the potential extreme hardship that would befall your qualifying U. S. relatives if the waiver were to be denied:
Relocation of the Entire Family: In this case, the attorney determines which specific relatives in the United States including spouses, parents, or in some cases, children, would be deemed to be suffering from hardship should the whole family be forced to move to the home country of the immigrant.
Immigrant’s Solo Relocation: In the second context, the attorney deems who among the close relatives residing in the U. S. would likely be considered for facing extreme hardship in case the immigrant leaves the place alone and goes back to the country of origin.
The level of difficulty can be inferred from the number of qualifying family members with migration prospects in the United States and the number of potential scenarios where a candidate may experience hardship. Therefore, it may be important for the attorney to take several approaches and present to the USCIS several cases for consideration.
In-Depth Consultations
To assess your specific case, the attorney will engage in consultations both with the U. S. citizen or permanent resident filing the petition (the “petitioner” in legal jargon) and with the person who wants to immigrate to the United States – the “beneficiary”. These meetings aim at confirming whether the beneficiary meets the basic requirements for a waiver entailing having “qualifying relatives” in the United States.
These can be held individually and in a combined way so that all vital aspects are discussed broadly, and closely without feeling awkward.
Managing the Paperwork
The attorney’s responsibilities in preparing the waiver application extend to managing a variety of paperwork tasks, including:
Listing the remaining documents that should be attached to the application and photos that may be incorporated into the application.
Collecting information on the climate in the immigrant’s home country to compile evidence in the form of developing backup materials for the hardship claim, which include articles from local newspapers or immigrant publications, and government reports from the US, among other related documents that would support this claim.
Assisting in the gain of statements from professionals inclusive of psychologists and doctors who treated the U.S. qualifying relatives concerning disorders concerning the hardship claim.
Preparing affidavits from persons such as friends, relatives, teachers, or employers who would give vital information that could add credence to the request for waiver.
Individual successfully prepared one clear and detailed summary that synthesizes the evidence and which explains why the foreign-born applicant should be granted a waiver of inadmissibility.
Fee Structure
The fee can be reasonable depending on the cases and the lawyers are likely to choose an hourly billing system since the proceedings of the I-601 waiver application can be lengthy and difficult to determine. It may cost as low as $100 per hour for basic services, and the rates are even higher for such business locations as NY, LA, and other large cities.
To sum up, it is expected that an applicant would spend between $3,500 and $11,000, at least, to prepare the I-601 waiver application. They are excluding other legal services fees, the application fee, and other costs that may be associated with the fee.
As much as the appearance may warrant otherwise, gaining the services of a credible lawyer will greatly help in the preparation of a persuasive I-601 waiver application. The investment is often worthwhile when the cost is compared to the operations and challenges that come when dealing with immigration.
In conclusion, the cost of an immigration attorney to prepare an I-601 waiver application fees should be viewed as an investment in securing lawful U.S. residence. The intricate nature of the waiver process necessitates comprehensive services that go beyond form completion, making the expertise of an attorney invaluable in navigating these complexities.
