Immigration.
Immigration is federal — not state — and the right attorney depends on the specific posture: family petition, employment-based, asylum, removal defense, or naturalization. We match you to an attorney whose case history fits your situation, with the caveat that the hardest deadlines (the one-year asylum bar, master-calendar hearings, RFE response windows) don't wait for anyone.
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Sub-specialties within this area.
Family-based petitions
I-130 petitions, I-485 adjustment of status, I-751 conditional-resident removal, fiancé(e) K-1 visas, spouse and parent petitions, consular processing abroad. Marriage-based green-card timelines depend heavily on whether the foreign spouse entered with inspection and whether they're inside or outside the U.S.
Employment-based immigration
H-1B, L-1, O-1, EB-1/2/3, PERM labor certification, and employer-sponsored adjustment of status. These cases are driven by USCIS and DOL timelines — H-1B caps, PERM prevailing wage processing, priority dates — that the employer and worker have to coordinate.
Asylum, refugee, TPS & DACA
Humanitarian relief — affirmative or defensive asylum, withholding of removal, Convention Against Torture, Temporary Protected Status, DACA initial and renewal. The one-year asylum filing bar runs from your last entry to the U.S. and is enforced strictly; missing it pushes asylum into a defensive posture in immigration court.
Removal defense
Cases in immigration court — Notice to Appear served, master-calendar hearings, ICE detention, bond hearings, cancellation of removal, BIA appeals, motions to reopen. If you've been served an NTA or are in detention, the case is on a clock and an attorney with EOIR practice is the right fit.
VAWA, U-visa & T-visa
Survivor-based relief — VAWA self-petitions for spouses, children, and parents of abusive USCs or LPRs; U-visas for crime victims who cooperated with law enforcement; T-visas for human-trafficking survivors. These options exist independently of any family or employment petition and can run alongside other relief.
Naturalization (N-400)
Citizenship applications — eligibility review, the 90-day early-filing window before the LPR anniversary, good-moral-character review, the civics and English test, and the oath. Any criminal history (even dismissed or expunged) and any prior immigration violations need to be reviewed before filing.
Waivers & complex inadmissibility
I-601 and I-601A provisional waivers for unlawful presence or certain criminal grounds; 212(d)(3) nonimmigrant waivers; fraud waivers; criminal-related inadmissibility analysis. Waiver work is built on "extreme hardship" evidence and is its own sub-specialty.
Three steps to the right specialist.
Tell us what happened
A careful AI conversation walks through the facts. Country of birth and country of citizenship, current immigration status, manner and date of last entry, any prior filings or denials, any time outside the U.S., criminal history (any arrest, anywhere, ever — including dismissed or expunged), and your goal. If you have an A-number or USCIS/EOIR receipt numbers, those help the attorney pull the file before the call.
We identify the sub-specialty
Not just "immigration" — family petition, employment-based, asylum, removal defense, VAWA/U/T-visa, naturalization, waiver work. An H-1B attorney is a different fit than a removal-defense attorney, and a notario or an attorney without immigration-court bar admission is the wrong fit for an EOIR case.
Warm introduction to the right firm
We match you to the firm whose case history fits your sub-type. You're introduced, not handed off. The firm knows about your case before they call — and they know if there's an asylum bar, hearing date, or RFE deadline running.
What we'll ask about.
- Your current immigration status — USC, LPR, conditional resident, asylee, TPS, DACA, parolee, visa holder, overstay, EWI, in removal, or ordered removed. Status drives every option.
- Manner and date of your last entry — with inspection, without inspection, parole, or advance parole. Entry posture controls which adjustment paths are available.
- Any time outside the U.S. since entry — unlawful presence accrual triggers 3-year and 10-year bars on re-entry. Even a brief absence after accruing unlawful presence can be costly.
- Criminal history — every arrest, anywhere, ever, including dismissed, expunged, or sealed. Immigration sees them all. Certified court dispositions are usually required.
- Any prior immigration filings or removal orders — prior I-130s, prior I-485s, prior asylum applications, voluntary departure, prior removals, prior NTA. Each leaves a record USCIS and EOIR can see.
- Family ties — USC or LPR spouse, parents, children, siblings, and their ages and statuses. Many forms of relief turn on qualifying family.
Deadlines to know.
Immigration deadlines are some of the strictest in any practice area. The one-year asylum filing bar runs from your last entry to the U.S. — miss it and asylum is generally lost as an affirmative option, surviving only as a defensive claim in immigration court with a higher burden. ICE detention or a scheduled ICE check-in needs a same-day response; an A-number, the facility, and the online locator are the first things an attorney will need. Master-calendar and merits hearings in immigration court typically issue 30 to 60 days out, sometimes less, and missing one risks an in-absentia removal order. USCIS RFEs and NOIDs have response windows that usually run 30 to 87 days; missing them ends the case. Conditional residents face a 90-day I-751 filing window before the second anniversary of the green card. N-400 has its own 90-day early-filing window before the LPR anniversary. If you've received a Notice to Appear, the EOIR clock starts immediately, and stop-time rules for cancellation of removal are triggered by NTA service.
What people ask.
Most immigration attorneys quote flat fees by case type. Family-based green-card cases typically run $3,000–$6,000 in attorney fees (USCIS filing fees are separate and add roughly $1,500–$3,000). Asylum, removal defense, and waivers run higher. There's no fee for talking to us or for the introduction.
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