Recommendation on a good immigration lawyer?

Question

For a Florida resident.

Answer 1

"Finding a Damn Good Immigration Attorney in the United States

Why Finding the Right Immigration Attorney is Important

Finding an immigration attorney in the United States can easily cause a headache. This article will help you choose the one that is right for you.

The Wall Street Journal dubbed it a "new port for the huddled masses," and indeed, the Internet has become a popular resource, at times even a life line, for those seeking to immigrate or obtain temporary visas. Or simply for people who need to understand the legalities of their situation or pending case. The dynamics are changing in some interesting ways.

Now that so much information is available online, some people with very simple cases have opted to go it on their own. While this is certainly more possible than it used to be, the amount of information available is copious, and the time commitment is great, as are the demands for attention to detail and a grasp of how the process works (and in some cases doesn't work).

In addition to the do-it-yourselfers, there are a growing number of people who do turn to the Web to seek a good immigration attorney. With the expansion of the Internet there are many more long distance client/attorney opportunities available now.

But where there are more choices, there is also more room for mistakes and incompetence. We almost always recommend an attorney, to ensure that no stone in your case will go unturned. However, the catch is that you must stay well informed in order to be sure you aren't breaking any rules, and you must also make sure that the immigration attorney is a damn good one. Put your paperwork in the hands of someone who knows not what they do, and he or she can make matters even worse than you would have on your own.

Remember that even the best immigration attorney can't be there every minute to make sure you aren't doing something in your daily life that could jeopardize your case. And if you don't know many of the quirky rules, you won't know you are making the mistake, and won't think to ask about it. "Usually, a good immigration attorney should know the right questions to ask," Greg Siskind of Siskind Susser stresses. But knowledge is power, and if you want to have any control of your destiny, it's wise to know the basics.

A good immigration attorney is worth his or her weight in gold. This is underscored by the frightening stories we hear on a regular basis, about those who are not experienced.

One woman came to us to ask about when she might be getting her green card, as she missed her family, and had been unable to see them for three years due to the delay in getting her actual card. We asked why she hadn't gotten an Advance Parole. She didn't have the foggiest clue of what we were talking about. This woman had been on a valid F-1 student visa when she married her US citizen husband. She had never been out of status and there were no complications in her case. When her immigration attorney told her not to leave the country before receiving her green card, he simply failed to inform her that she could have filed for Advance Parole, which is a travel permission that can often be obtained within 30-90 days.

Looking for an Immigration Attorney: Learn From Other People's Mistakes

Another incident involved a young married couple applying for student visas. In order to obtain a student visa, a person needs to prove to the USCIS (formerly INS) that they do not intend to immigrate, i.e. move here permanently. The USCIS wants to know that the individual has no such intention. To prove this, the aspiring student is asked to prove family ties and stability at home, in addition to having the financial means to support him or herself during the entire duration of their stay in the states.

Well, this couple mentioned to us in passing that their immigration attorney suggested they might want to live in the US permanently at a later date, applying for a green card based on extraordinary ability. To prepare for this goal, she advised them point blank to go ahead - while still in their home country - and gather some 60 letters of recommendation from teachers, employers and outstanding members of the community.

This was before they had even signed the papers for their student visas. Did she tell them to post date the letters, I asked? (I don't condone trying to trick the system, which is what post dating would attempt to do; I was just baffled.) By later presenting the USCIS with these 60 letters that were dated prior to applying for their student visas, these two would virtually be providing the USCIS with absolute proof that they had every intention of immigrating to the USA before they even became students. The immigration attorney had not only failed to advise them about the laws, but had even set them up to unwittingly break those laws and then get caught.
In another incident, a woman was married to an American citizen and the marriage fell apart before she received her green card. She had already established a life here and wanted to remain, but the only way for her to do so was through an H-1B working visa. While still in the US, she proceeded to find a job, hire an immigration attorney and apply for the visa. Now, although she was not illegal, she was no longer in a status that allowed her to apply for the visa from within the US. Had her attorney explained this, she would gladly have returned home to wait. Unfortunately, he did not, and she was denied precisely on those grounds, rendering $4,000 down the drain, not to mention the upsetting consequences of becoming an illegal alien.

In all of these cases, had the applicants been well informed, they would have been in a better position to interview for a savvy immigration attorney and also would have been more likely to catch any errors or omissions.

There are two ways to protect yourself:

1) Stay well informed and up-to-date by keeping up with the best available information on the Web.

2) When seeking an immigration attorney, make sure the one you hire is damn good.

Easier said than done you say? Well, we can't make any guarantees, but here are some guidelines for becoming a savvy shopper and greatly reducing your chances of unnecessary problems.

Looking for an Immigration Attorney: Finding Information

The Web is a place where anyone can be published. Fancy software can make a site look impressive while providing no other certainty that the information on it is correct. Of course, this is true for all subjects, but it can be a serious matter when it comes to issues affecting immigrants.
Pay attention to how often a site updates. Look for those that update daily or weekly and which provide or link to the most up-to-date USCIS processing times, waiting times and visa bulletins.

Find out who hosts the site, what their credentials are and what sources they use. Be wary of those who make wild promises and sound too good to be true. There are no magic fixes when it comes to being legally in the U.S. Under various circumstances, even marriage to a US citizen may not guarantee anything. Wild promises indicate a certain lack of responsibility and may even hint at fraud.

Once you've educated yourself in the basic legal ins and outs, and hopefully not before then, it's time to choose an immigration attorney, there are many things that you can use as an indicator.

"Help! Where and How Do I Find a Good Immigration Attorney?!"

Most cases can be handled from afar, says Greg Siskind.

"Only cases where an [USCIS (formerly INS) or court] appearance is necessary, really require a local immigration attorney," he points out. "Although travel expenses are usually not that high for most cases," the Tennessee attorney maintains, "we can either hand pick local counsel, or work in association with an attorney located in your area."
Located in Los Angeles, California, The Law Offices of Carl Shusterman also take many long-distance cases, says Shusterman, and he is very familiar with top immigration attorneys around the country that he can recommend.

Of course, taking a look at where the attorney went to law school, what associations he/she belongs to and other credentials is all important, says Siskind.

He stresses that first and foremost, an immigration attorney should be a member of the American Immigration Attorneys Association (AILA). "This shows the commitment of the attorney to this area of practice," he says. Also, "AILA provides an information Net forum containing many posts where immigration attorneys can discuss all kinds of difficult cases and ever-changing procedures. There is a daily library and annual seminars as well.

"Very true," says Shusterman, just don't let that be your only indicator. "AILA is not that selective," he explains. "Membership is acquired through payment of a fee, and they don't monitor how well the immigration attorney does his or her job. Use this as a mandatory prerequisite, but not the sole criteria."

Another great indicator can be a Web site, says Siskind. While some of the most outstanding immigration attorneys do not have a Web site, having one that provides good, consistent and accurate information can be a solid testament to how well-informed that attorney is. "If they don't have a Web site," he says, "figure out what the immigration attorney does do to stay in touch. Do they have a newsletter for clients? Do they initiate and answer e-mails quickly and readily?" And you can ask for a firm answer on how often they meet with clients.

If the immigration attorney does have back issues of a newsletter, Shusterman suggests that you do a little historical research to see how accurate some of their legal predictions were in terms of changing USCIS (formerly INS) policies and case outcomes.

This is a fluid and ever-changing sector, says Siskind. "Make sure the attorney you hire has several years of experience in immigration law and only immigration law. There is virtually no way that an immigration attorney can keep up with this area of law while practicing in other areas at the same time.

"You don't want to be someone's Guinea Pig," says Shusterman. If they are right out of law school, they may be inexpensive, but the risks are far greater unless you have an extremely simple case. One wrong answer on a form can lead to months of backlog and red tape. "It can be deceptively easy to 'just fill out a form,'" he warns.

Attorneys.com provides a listing of the Martindale- Hubbell ratings on attorneys, says Shusterman. Martindale-Hubbell is considered the single most reliable source for information on attorneys and can help you select one to meet your needs.

Find an Immigration Attorney by His Area of Specialization
Furthermore, in Texas, Florida and California, attorneys are classified by their area of specialization. While legal professionals in other states specialize without the benefit of this system, this official specification provides yet another means for doing a background check on your immigration attorney if he or she is in one of these states. According to Shusterman, the certification requires a listing of courses taken by the attorney, the passing of an exam, and a collection of professional recommendations.
Siskind points out that many immigration attorneys further specialize in particular areas within immigration law. If you have an amnesty case, search for an immigration attorney that specializes in that. In this kind of very specific specialization, having several specialties is fine, but you don't want to have an immigration attorney represent you on a deportation case, for example, unless he or she has experience in that area.

(So how does an attorney learn if they can never take a first case?" you ask? Well, they can work on a case with a senior attorney until they know the ropes well enough to work their own cases, but that shouldn't be your concern.)
In addition, it can be helpful to know that the immigration attorney in question has had extensive dealings with the USCIS, either as a previous employee or in other significant capacities.

Another good way to monitor an immigration attorney's professionalism is through reviewing the press they have received and taking note of how often those immigration attorneys are used as sources by major media, Siskind points out. Part of what information on the web has done, is to make both journalists and clients much more knowledgeable. A good immigration attorney should greet this pressure with relative ease and be able to rise to the occasion. "Interview your immigration attorney!" says Siskind. The Internet has made clients much more savvy and it's getting harder for lousy immigration attorneys to pull the wool over their eyes. If you are seeking an immigration attorney, you too should be one of those savvy interviewers.

Shusterman points out that being put on the spot for an immediate answer, i.e. by reporters on the phone, or in professional live chats, is definitely a good indicator of being on the ball. "Journalists don't keep calling you if you aren't providing legally accurate information," he points out. Look too at which publications are quoting the immigration attorney. How well known and prestigious are those publications? Do you trust them to identify top sources?

The Internet Changes Client/Immigration Attorney Dealings

The availability of information on the web will inevitably, to some extent, change the way things have been done. "You will start to see the unbundling of legal services," says Siskind, where clients fill out forms and the law firm checks them over, handles complications and oversees the case. This will enable those without financial means to reap the benefits of having an immigration attorney.

Another thing we will start to see more of is client-specific, password protected Web sites, says Siskind, who may implement this at some point. In other words, immigration attorneys will eventually set up pages where their clients can look at their own files right on line and perhaps view personal messages from their attorneys.

One firm, Frageman, already does this, says Shusterman. But it's a very large corporate firm that takes few if any individual cases and is not publicized for the general public. The firm is also responsible for some of the top immigration law books available to those practicing law.

These changes are a good indication of the trends toward a more client-friendly environment when it comes to immigration law. It used to be nearly impossible to find legal information unless you went to a law library, or subscribed to a prohibitively expensive online database for attorneys. Now, however, freedom of legal information on the Net means that you can be an educated consumer, and a cunning interviewer of your prospective immigration attorney. This may even be a pretty good situation for immigration attorneys, who, instead of spending time taking hundreds of phone calls about general laws or procedures, can spend most of their time learning about the ever-changing laws and procedures, and directly handling your case instead."

Answer 2

do it yourself, immigration lawers will not only screw you but also your entire case, trust me do not place your future in a person who achieved his diploma through a community college, there out to get your money and will use any means neccesary

Answer 3

call your local bar association or go to a lawyer you trust and ask for a referral