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DV 2015 AOS Only

FYDVCloser said:
I spoke with the lawyer and he wants $3,200 upfront and $1,800 after my case gets approved. He has assured to get me the interview prior to Sept 30th and his law firm is one of the top immigration law firm in the nation with a great track record.
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If he's so sure he shouldn't mind the bulk of that coming after he does what he says. Does he have a guarantee of performance written into the retainer agreement? Just sayin'. This forum is littered with tales of people who've paid thousands to attorneys with no result. You should have been on the phone to your congressman ( for free) already.
 
Thank you Susie. I will check with the lawyer to make sure he has a guarantee of performance written into the retainer agreement. I will also contact my congressman tomorrow.
 
Dear mom,

Again, I am very apologetic about the delayed response. I did reply to your original questions on the post from July. I truly hope you can still consider helping me.
Thank you!
 
After a long wait I just received my IL. KCC took more than a month after my case has been request mom. But I am worried though. My interview is on September 23th (I guess there is 0% chance for my wife's FTJ now?)... 7 days before the end of the FY. Do you think I am going to be able to complete it an have my GC before it ends? Should I make an INFOPASS an show up with my IL and explain?
 
Hi,
KCC sent the file two days ago (so it took nearly 3 weeks) and yesterday my status was updated to new card being produced and a few hours later the status changed to welcome notice was mailed!!
It is a huge relief. Thank you so much everybody for your help during this so stressing journey.
 
I confirmed with the lawyer to make sure he has a guarantee of performance written into the retainer agreement and he also showed it to me. He said contacting my my congressman will slow the process at this time and I may end up not getting the interview prior to Sept 30th. Should I cut the check for him?
 
I also checked the "DV 2015 AOS Timelines" spreadsheet and it has 4 people who are also doing their AOS via the same FO as I am and from the spreadsheet they have not received their ILs too. Looks like this is an issue with my FO as they are not prioritizing DV cases which they are supposed to.
 
Svitlana said:
Dear mom,

Again, I am very apologetic about the delayed response. I did reply to your original questions on the post from July. I truly hope you can still consider helping me.
Thank you!
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Apology accepted. I will take a look shortly and respond as best as I can.
 
Fabrice said:
After a long wait I just received my IL. KCC took more than a month after my case has been request mom. But I am worried though. My interview is on September 23th (I guess there is 0% chance for my wife's FTJ now?)... 7 days before the end of the FY. Do you think I am going to be able to complete it an have my GC before it ends? Should I make an INFOPASS an show up with my IL and explain?
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Unfortunately it doesn't look like your wife's FTJ will make it through. However you can still bring it up at the end of your own interview to see if there's any way the IO could facilitate a very fast case file transfer and coordinate things with your wife's home embassy. As for you personally, I think you will be fine. You can try the INFOPASS, no harm in trying.
 
FYDVCloser said:
I confirmed with the lawyer to make sure he has a guarantee of performance written into the retainer agreement and he also showed it to me. He said contacting my my congressman will slow the process at this time and I may end up not getting the interview prior to Sept 30th. Should I cut the check for him?
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The claim about using the congressman's help slowing down the case at this time is simply not true. However it's your call.
 
FYDVCloser said:
I confirmed with the lawyer to make sure he has a guarantee of performance written into the retainer agreement and he also showed it to me. He said contacting my my congressman will slow the process at this time and I may end up not getting the interview prior to Sept 30th. Should I cut the check for him?
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Contacting your congressman will slow the process? Huh? Why will yours slow it when they expedite it for everyone else? Did he explain why or just worried he won't get his $5k?
Well clearly you trust the guy, go ahead. Might be worth asking another lawyer what your remedy is if he doesn't meet the guarantee. at least you have other cases to judge by if he will have been worth it in the end.
 
FYDVCloser said:
I also checked the "DV 2015 AOS Timelines" spreadsheet and it has 4 people who are also doing their AOS via the same FO as I am and from the spreadsheet they have not received their ILs too. Looks like this is an issue with my FO as they are not prioritizing DV cases which they are supposed to.
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Well then, it's another indication to me that there's really nothing extraordinary this lawyer can do about your case. He can't threaten to sue them, if he does they will simply say bring it on knowing fully well by the time the case makes its way to the courts, the FY would long be over and nothing else can be done after that.

Back in 2014, Simon's FO did something similar, they left most of their DV cases till Sept. You can schedule another INFOPASS though.
 
Thank you Mom and Sussie for your responses. I was able to schedule an InfoPass for Sept 10th as that was the earliest date. I also just got off the phone with USCIS Level 2 Officer and he advised to setup InfoPass apt and go at the FO so that they can setup the appointment since he could not do it. In the meantime, I will contact my congressman. Do you have specific questions I should ask him? Also, if the Congressman is not present/available during my call should I leave the message with his secretary or it's better to call back and speak to him directly when he is available?
 
FYDVCloser said:
I confirmed with the lawyer to make sure he has a guarantee of performance written into the retainer agreement and he also showed it to me. He said contacting my my congressman will slow the process at this time and I may end up not getting the interview prior to Sept 30th. Should I cut the check for him?
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Ugh, you're running out of time, so I don't blame you wanting to get a lawyer's help - but as mentioned, the experience of many here (mine included) is that lawyers aren't very well acquainted with the AOS/DV process and haven't really helped in these situations - and in addition to being expensive. have even been detrimental in some cases. And the sizable upfront payment when he's supposedly confident about the outcome is a red flag as well. On the other hand, if he does come through for you, this will be the best 5k you'll ever spend, so there's that.

Even if you do go that route, definitely don't fully count on him. Schedule INFOPASS appointments, try to talk to supervisors when you get there, call your congressman - basically explore every avenue you can. You're down do ~15 working days till the hard Sept. 30 deadline, so you need to do everything you can to get your case approved.
 
FYDVCloser said:
Thank you Mom and Sussie for your responses. I was able to schedule an InfoPass for Sept 10th as that was the earliest date. I also just got off the phone with USCIS Level 2 Officer and he advised to setup InfoPass apt and go at the FO so that they can setup the appointment since he could not do it. In the meantime, I will contact my congressman. Do you have specific questions I should ask him? Also, if the Congressman is not present/available during my call should I leave the message with his secretary or it's better to call back and speak to him directly when he is available?
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The congressman should have something called an immigration liaison officer or something like that, that's the person in the office you need to talk to. They deal with DHS/USCIS all the time.
 
I'm just more skeptical because of the "don't call the congressman" thing. If I was an attorney truly worried about my client and not just my check, I'd encourage him to use all possible avenues to success.
 
Sm1smom said:
Unfortunately it doesn't look like your wife's FTJ will make it through. However you can still bring it up at the end of your own interview to see if there's any way the IO could facilitate a very fast case file transfer and coordinate things with your wife's home embassy. As for you personally, I think you will be fine. You can try the INFOPASS, no harm in trying.
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Suppose my case is approved on Sept 23th, does it mean I am safe even though it'll probably take more than 7 days (FY end) to get the welcome letter and the GC?
Okay, I hope the Officer will accept and try a fast transfer because the embassy told my wife to do her medical and fill some paper so that after they get an email about my approval they can make her a special interview and process her case.
I am so stressed about all this.
 
Fabrice said:
Suppose my case is approved on Sept 23th, does it mean I am safe even though it'll probably take more than 7 days (FY end) to get the welcome letter and the GC?
Okay, I hope the Officer will accept and try a fast transfer because the embassy told my wife to do her medical and fill some paper so that after they get an email about my approval they can make her a special interview and process her case.
I am so stressed about all this.
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It's awesome that the embassy is so willing to help expedite, I truly hope it's a good sign and that you manage to get it all done in time!
 
Thank you Sussie for your great response. I am about to get on the phone with the Immigration liason at the Congressman's office but I just want to check on one more thing. In an earlier post, Mom indicated that Simon had a similar case in 2014. Do you know how Simon resolved his case in 2014?
 
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