Last week my lawyer informed me that USCIS TSC has sent one RFE asking for more evidences. Now he is asking for $2000 more to answer the RFE. I really wonder if he deliberately messed up my case. One of my colleague who works in the same field and has less number of papers then me got his self filed application approved last month without any RFE. Please advise what to do. I have Ph.D. in biochemistry, have 6 published papers in international journal, 8 in conference proceedings, 1 US patent pending. What are my chances after RFE? Should I file a new petition under some other category.
Niw Rfe/ Tsc
- Thread starter jelly
- Start date
Jelly, it is really ridiculous but most of the attorneys do this. They want to make as much money as possible so they use all kind of tricks. In NIW and EB1 cases it is always better to do self petition. Nobody can make a better petition than the applicant himself. Furthermore even if you hire an attorney, it does not mean that you don't have to do anything and attorney will take care of every thing. As a matter of fact still you have to do most of the things.
GCChaahiye
Registered Users (C)
You can never predict your own case and compare it with others'.
One of the factors probably depends on the Officer who handles your case.
One of the factors probably depends on the Officer who handles your case.
subhap said:
What does your retainer agreement say? This should all be spelled out in a written retainer agreement. If it is not, the attorney may have difficulty in billing for it.
It would have to be one hell of an RFE to bill $2000 for. That's 10 hours or so of work.
This is preposterous. Every single attorney I know is a decent honest person. There're some, of course, who are real scum, but it's one's own responsibility to do the research.alex2 said:
Of all the people I know only one got in serious trouble with his petition. Coincidentally he's the only one who self-petitioned. And that was before NYSDOT, at the time when NIW's were pretty much rubber-stamped.
Of course. The case is about you so you'd be the best person to take care of the background information.
I am not arguing that everyone must hire an attorney, but this sort of bashing is simply silly, unless you see yourself running on Republican ticket in the future.
Have you signed a contract? Have you read it?jelly said:
Number of papers does not translate into easier approval. Obviously you understand that one paper in Nature with 200-300 citations is worth more that 10 papers in Biochemistry with 20-30 citations between them? Also he may have additional evidence, that you don't.
Frankly, I don't why this sort of evidence alone wouldn't warrant an RFE.
Lamonte, I totally disagree with you. I know several cases where attorneys have spoiled even very strong cases. Jelly's case has once again compelled us to think whether one should hire an attorney or should do things himself/herself.
You have asked some questions in your previous message regarding number of papers and quality of journals etc, those are really very important points. But don't you think that these things should have already been taken care by Jelly's attorney. Most of the applicants who go for NIW or EB1 categories, are highly knowlegable and have better writing skills than the normal attorneys. Normally attorneys do not do anything rather most of the things are done by their paralegals who hardly have any knowledge or interest, probably because they are paid very little maybe $8-10/hr(
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You have asked some questions in your previous message regarding number of papers and quality of journals etc, those are really very important points. But don't you think that these things should have already been taken care by Jelly's attorney. Most of the applicants who go for NIW or EB1 categories, are highly knowlegable and have better writing skills than the normal attorneys. Normally attorneys do not do anything rather most of the things are done by their paralegals who hardly have any knowledge or interest, probably because they are paid very little maybe $8-10/hr(
)Perhaps, you're correct although as far as objective strength of these cases goes I have to rely on your word here. But I have to bring again the point I made earlier. It is one's own responsibility to make sure he chooses good attorney. Lawyers are not made equal - some are good and some are hacks. If one did not retain a good one - whose fault is it?alex2 said:
How so? I think it is premature do discuss the merits of Jelly's case without hearing all the details. So far I have not seen anything that would indicate the RFE was unwarranted.
Uh, no. To gauge these things one needs access to specialized databases such as SciFinder and ISI. Some knowledge of the field too. I'm surprised that you would think that one won't have to participate in his own case. Remember, as far as legal services go these fees are not high. I imagine that the whole thing is about 20 billable hours.
I beg to differ. This board is full of request for reference letters often written by people whose grasp of English is eh, rudimentary.
In NIW and EB-1 cases, I always work closely with the client. I do not have the skills and knowledge of the technical field to pick out the significance of certain publications, research and ideas. Without the assistance of the client, the petition will necessarily be much weaker than it could otherwise be. I have seen dozen of cases that have been mishandled, both by pro se aliens and by other attorneys. I always charge much more for such cases and sometimes the errors are impossible to overcome once they have been made. I handled a case involving an extremely bright medical doctor. He was in a residency program and was getting a divorce from his USC wife who sponsored his GC. He did not retain an attorney and signed annullment papers that basically admitted fraud. This was a catastrophic error that he has spent the last 4 years fighting the resulting deportation proceedings. He has also spent well over $20,000 in attorney fees. Had he discussed this with an attorney prior to signing that paper, he would not be in the position that he is currently in.
The man is much more intelligent than I am but that does not mean he understands immigration law (or any law for that matter) as well. I hope he doesnt, after all I've spent the last 10 years doing almost nothing else.
The man is much more intelligent than I am but that does not mean he understands immigration law (or any law for that matter) as well. I hope he doesnt, after all I've spent the last 10 years doing almost nothing else.
topew said:
That's ok topew, not a too bad strategy, prepare petiotion yourself and then just show to some attorney. Some of my friends have done this also, it costs much less, around $800-1000. But quite interestingly in all those cases attorneys said, "great! wonderful!! you have done excellent job!!! go ahead" and very happily took money without doing anything.
So still it is always preferable to go through the literature and do things yourself. Excellent literature about NIW and EB1 categories is easily available in the internet. Even the attorneys and their paralegals take help from this literature. Actually attorneys task is limited upto trapping clients and after that everthing is done by their paralegals
. People who have seen the movie "Green Card Fever" can easily understand this. Those who have not seen this should definitely see this movie.topew,
I am against hiring attorney because it costs really a lot. If you want to hire a good attorney it will easily cost $8000-10000, on the other hand if you hire a medium kind of attorney then it may cost less but you have the danger of getting trapped with some crook. They may mess up your case so that RFE comes and they take more money from you. Basically dealing with attorneys is a much more complicated issue which is totally unnecessary and avoidable in most of the cases. But, yes in certain complicated cases it may be useful to hire an attorney. In this kind of situation one should go for a well known attorney like Rajiv Khanna or Murty only.
I am against hiring attorney because it costs really a lot. If you want to hire a good attorney it will easily cost $8000-10000, on the other hand if you hire a medium kind of attorney then it may cost less but you have the danger of getting trapped with some crook. They may mess up your case so that RFE comes and they take more money from you. Basically dealing with attorneys is a much more complicated issue which is totally unnecessary and avoidable in most of the cases. But, yes in certain complicated cases it may be useful to hire an attorney. In this kind of situation one should go for a well known attorney like Rajiv Khanna or Murty only.
Where did you get this kind of numbers? My attorney cost less then $3k and did a great job. I know a bunch of people who used him and they all got approved. I'm not saying everyone got through - I know he had some rejections as well, but that's hardly the point. And he's not the only guy on the block.
Consequently, getting an approved I-140 allowed me to take an industrial position which pays more a month than I spent on GC application. If one is not complacent and actually reads the contract he will make sure that RFE handling is included. Hence, no stimulus to bungle a case. As to Murthy - you don't really think she herself is involved in cases do you? It's a law firm with a bunch of associates doing the grunt work. Also, with all due respect to the practitioners you mentioned we have no idea how good they actually are. What we know is that they go to great lenghts to advertise and promote their services. I'm not even sure that knowing their success rate would do us any good - it's exceptionally easy to pad the score by taking only sure cases. I don't see how being known translates into being good. I mean Tonya Harding is a known figure skater.
I'm not saying there aren't valid reasons to not hire a lawyer, but the cost is not one of them. First of all, it is recouped very quickly by way of additional job opportunities. Second, it is still way cheaper than being as they put it "removed". I've seen people on this board who most probably make 3-5 times more than I did at the moment of application and still complain they have no money.
A special note about DIY kits. You realize that the people who sell them got their approvals by hiring attorneys, right?
Consequently, getting an approved I-140 allowed me to take an industrial position which pays more a month than I spent on GC application. If one is not complacent and actually reads the contract he will make sure that RFE handling is included. Hence, no stimulus to bungle a case. As to Murthy - you don't really think she herself is involved in cases do you? It's a law firm with a bunch of associates doing the grunt work. Also, with all due respect to the practitioners you mentioned we have no idea how good they actually are. What we know is that they go to great lenghts to advertise and promote their services. I'm not even sure that knowing their success rate would do us any good - it's exceptionally easy to pad the score by taking only sure cases. I don't see how being known translates into being good. I mean Tonya Harding is a known figure skater.
I'm not saying there aren't valid reasons to not hire a lawyer, but the cost is not one of them. First of all, it is recouped very quickly by way of additional job opportunities. Second, it is still way cheaper than being as they put it "removed". I've seen people on this board who most probably make 3-5 times more than I did at the moment of application and still complain they have no money.
A special note about DIY kits. You realize that the people who sell them got their approvals by hiring attorneys, right?
Wow! you are really lucky. Everything done in just less than $3K. It may partly be beacuse of your excellent publicity services Anyways who was your attorney? You don't agree with my views regarding Rajiv and Murty. But what about Jim? He must be very good! What do you say?lamonte said:
What have you been doing in this forumlamonte said:
? Why do you want our hard earned money to go to the pockets of attorneys? We are earning money for our family, parents, spouse, kids and definitely not for wasting. How wise it is to buy almost nothing by paying so much money? However, if somebody can get an attorney like you got, (ofcourse with similar kind of arrangementlamonte said:
)then it is really worth.I was not singling out Rajiv or Murthy really. Come to think, there's no such thing as good or bad attorney attorney, (s)he's only as good as the service provided. Does that sound reasonable?alex2 said:
I think you misunderstand me. I do not care what you do. I'm just trying to make this thread not as opinionated.
It is a decision everyone has to make himself. For me it was worth every penny.
Alex, I think you misunderstood lamnote. What I understand from his messages is that it is not necessary that an expensive attorney will definitely be a good one. You have to do lot of search to find a good attorney. In other words no matter whether you file yourself or hire an attorney, you have to do most of the technical things. But for this you need information about USCIS rules, regulations and procedures. Even to find a good attorney you need to have proper knowledge about the procedure. You can find excellent information about NIW and extraordinary cases from the DIY kits provided by www.greencardforyou.com . You can go through this, after going through if you feel comfortable and confident, file yourself otherwise hire an attorney. You can also find very useful information from another source: http://qunsoft.50megs.com/immgration/USA/index.html
Since most of the applicants in these categories are highly skilled, so after going through the DIY kits they usually find it very easy to file themselves.
Since most of the applicants in these categories are highly skilled, so after going through the DIY kits they usually find it very easy to file themselves.