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Recommendations on Immigration Attorneys

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darkelf

Registered Users (C)
I am currently in the United States on an F1 visa and might potentially be doing an Adjustment of Status. I want to be safe rather than sorry and hire someone well versed in matters of Green Card based immigration. I have tons of recommendations from folks who have done the more traditional employment based/family based green cards. However, I am not able to find enough information about attorneys who have dealt with a bunch of green card based immigration cases. Can previous winners maybe talk a bit about their experiences with attorneys and maybe recommend some one?

Thanks in advance!
 
darkelf said:
I am currently in the United States on an F1 visa and might potentially be doing an Adjustment of Status. I want to be safe rather than sorry and hire someone well versed in matters of Green Card based immigration. I have tons of recommendations from folks who have done the more traditional employment based/family based green cards. However, I am not able to find enough information about attorneys who have dealt with a bunch of green card based immigration cases. Can previous winners maybe talk a bit about their experiences with attorneys and maybe recommend some one?

Thanks in advance!
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You have to have a basis for an Immigrant Visa. (Adjustment of status is a domestic process for an Immigrant Visa--both result in a "greencard".)

What would be the basis for your immigration status? Did you "win" the DV lottery?

explore your options: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
 
BigJoe5 said:
You have to have a basis for an Immigrant Visa. (Adjustment of status is a domestic process for an Immigrant Visa--both result in a "greencard".)

What would be the basis for your immigration status? Did you "win" the DV lottery?

explore
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Having put in most of the information, I completely forgot the most basic information: I just "won the DV 2013. (Yes, it is legit through the .gov site). The situation (illustrated in more detail in another thread) is rather complicated because I am claiming chargeability based on birth in Ethiopia and I am currently a citizen of India with most documentation (education etc) produced in India and last but not the least, I am currently in the U.S. on an F1 Visa.
 
darkelf said:
I am currently in the United States on an F1 visa and might potentially be doing an Adjustment of Status. I want to be safe rather than sorry and hire someone well versed in matters of Green Card based immigration. I have tons of recommendations from folks who have done the more traditional employment based/family based green cards. However, I am not able to find enough information about attorneys who have dealt with a bunch of green card based immigration cases. Can previous winners maybe talk a bit about their experiences with attorneys and maybe recommend some one?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Do not hire an immigration lawyer for a DV AOS case. Most immigration lawyers are not familiar with the DV program. Many winners from 2011 and 2010 who were in the US hired lawyers for their AOS applications and the lawyers did them more harm than good. If you have never worked illegally, never been out of status, you do NOT need a lawyer. Your AOS application will go very smoothly. And actually, even if you worked in the US illegally and been out of status at one point, an immigration lawyer cannot help you anyways. So do not waste your time and money on a lawyer.

Since you're an F-1 student, you're probably very well-educated and you can do this whole thing by yourself. Even if you do not know the details, you can read around this forum and follow the instructions on the USCIS website. This forum is a very good resource. I was an F-1 student myself, and I was in your shoe exactly a year ago. I read a lot and educated myself about the process, and finally in October 2012 I was ready to officially start the process. In less than 3 months, I received my green card. It is a very easy process. Just read around and do NOT hire a lawyer, because you probably know more than him when it comes to the DV program.

Good luck.
 
Wildcatter said:
Do not hire an immigration lawyer for a DV AOS case. Most immigration lawyers are not familiar with the DV program. Many winners from 2011 and 2010 who were in the US hired lawyers for their AOS applications and the lawyers did them more harm than good. If you have never worked illegally, never been out of status, you do NOT need a lawyer. Your AOS application will go very smoothly. And actually, even if you worked in the US illegally and been out of status at one point, an immigration lawyer cannot help you anyways. So do not waste your time and money on a lawyer.

Since you're an F-1 student, you're probably very well-educated and you can do this whole thing by yourself. Even if you do not know the details, you can read around this forum and follow the instructions on the USCIS website. This forum is a very good resource. I was an F-1 student myself, and I was in your shoe exactly a year ago. I read a lot and educated myself about the process, and finally in October 2012 I was ready to officially start the process. In less than 3 months, I received my green card. It is a very easy process. Just read around and do NOT hire a lawyer, because you probably know more than him when it comes to the DV program.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the encouraging reply. If you look at the other post that I made (which I can't link to because of the forum limit), you will realize that my situation is rather un straightforward. While it is true that I could probably do most of the stuff on my own, which is essentially what I did during the rather gruesome F1 visa process. My main worry is not about getting the diversity visa, (I would most probably start filing for an employment based EB2 in the next nine months). Rather, I worry that if something goes wrong with the application that the AoS gets denied, USCIS will feel that the act of me applying for AoS means intent to immigrate and they would screw my F1 process.
 
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