filing 485 and 140 wihtout an attorney

T

tingoat999

Registered Users (C)
Hi,
I hired an attorney for my green card processing. My labor has been approved. Now, my attorney is asking for more money, than agreed, to file my 140 and 485. I would like to apply it myself as I cannot afford to pay for that. Did anyone applied it themselves.

The company is processing the application for my future employment. I work for a different employer now.


Any risks involved in filing it on my own? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.


Thanks
 
Originally posted by tingoat999
I hired an attorney for my green card processing. My labor has been approved. Now, my attorney is asking for more money, than agreed, to file my 140 and 485. I would like to apply it myself as I cannot afford to pay for that. Did anyone applied it themselves.
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While it is possible to file the I-140/I-485 without an attorney, it's not always advisable, in case you make a mistake. If the attorney's fees are excessive, perhaps you should ask an attorney to review your filing for a small fee? I think that some attorneys will do this for a nominal fee of $150-$300.

That seems like good insurance to me. If I ever needed to go through this process again, I'd do the filings myself, but pay for attorney review.
 
This is a presentation game

Play it if you are good at it. From what I have seen of my attorneys paperwork it is the way they present certain things. While you may save money you may not create the file as effectively as a good attorney. My gut feeling is also that the more reputed attorney you hire the less the chances of an RFE. It may not be the best situation but it is what it is.

In the larger scheme of things can you afford to waste time learning the ropes rather than just pay up and let a professional do their job. Here I am assuming that you have the good luck of appointing a competent attorney.

I would apply for EAD/AP renewal on my own though.
 
I agree with the above. Also, it is really an insurance policy since if you file on your own and receive an RFE, and then contact an attorney, the fee for answering the RFE may be higher than the fee would have been for the entire filing from the beginning.

Review prior to filing is a tricky area since if I look over something that you file prior to filing, and there are problems, you may later contact me and want me to reimburse you for the error. Since the attorney's office did not do the work, the malpractice insurance carrier may not want to cover.
 
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