Should I hire an immigration lawyer?

[TX3511]

I am a US Citizen trying to claim a direct family member who is a Cuban Citizen living in Cuba. I have already started the claim process but I wanted to know what an immigration lawyer could do to help me with this process including;

1- roughly how much it would cost?
2- what exactly the firm would be responsible for?
3- what would I be responsible for?

I have reached out to 5-6 immigration lawyers already but they want to charge for just telling me what they can do to help. Any information about what immigration lawyers do to manage an application would be appreciated.

 

[FlyingRon]

Direct family member is not defined in immigration law. What is this person's relationship to you?
Generally, a law firm should be able to quote a price to prepare the basic applications and affidavits for your signature and take care of filing them.
If there is a request for further information or the petition is denied, there will be additional fees (typically paid by the hour, this part wont often be able to be predicted as to its extent).

 

[TX3511]

The family member is my Mother.

 

[FlyingRon]

OK, that should be straight-forward (if you're at least 21 years old). Keep calling attorneys until you get an answer. Be sure to state you are a US citizen petitioning for your mother. You need to execute an I-130 and I-864. You will need to show you have enough income/assets to provide your parent so they do not end up on public assistance. Your mother will need to execute the I-485.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

I use a consultation fee to screen out people who are just looking for free advice. Invariably, when I give someone a price without a thorough intake, things turn up that throw the process off the rails. When that happens, either the client is angry because I'm charging more than the estimate/quote, or I end up doing the additional work for free.

 

[Ohiogal]

I use a consultation fee to screen out people who are just looking for free advice. Invariably, when I give someone a price without a thorough intake, things turn up that throw the process off the rails. When that happens, either the client is angry because I'm charging more than the estimate/quote, or I end up doing the additional work for free.

I never quote an entire fee. Because you can never know what a client has "forgotten" to tell you.

 

[NeilTheCop]

Start here:
https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/bringing-parents-live-united-states-permanent-residents
If you find any of the forms difficult to understand, pay the money for an attorney.