7 Tips for Choosing an Immigration Attorney

Choosing an immigration officer can be a difficult job as you will need to make sure everything goes well before you step into a new state. You will need an attorney who makes sure everything goes well. Before you decide on an attorney, you will need to make a list of attorneys and interview them to find the one which suits your demands. As you evaluate each attorney, here are the things that you need to keep in mind.

Do not bargain

There are plenty of immigration attorneys out there. But in the search for a good attorney, you will come across many bad options. Some attorneys can have a lot of cases to handle to dedicate quality time for you, while others may not have enough experience in a specific area of immigration law. Do not end up making a bargain on a bad choice to avoid any legal issues in the future.

Get referred

Ask your friends and family members about any attorney that they have taken help of or check out the websites of attorney’s and find out how they got reviewed by their previous clients. A good attorney should not suffer from a shortage of happily satisfied clients.

Negotiate fees

When we said do not bargain, we did not mean that you cannot negotiate the fees. Good attorneys never forget to demand fees that can be a little too extra for your pocket. Immigration law firms generally charge by the hour while some law firms have a fixed fee for handling your entire case. If you are opting for the hour basis, ask for an estimated time that they will take to work on your case. Otherwise, you can always choose the fixed fee firms. This will give you an idea of how much you will have to spend so you can handle your money properly.

Save your documents

You can pay for cloud storage or use free ones like Google Drive to save your documents. Keep a soft copy of all your signed documents. This will keep your documents easily accessible whenever you want them. Ask the attorney if they provide the service of managing electronically signed documents.

Hire an attorney who speaks your language

It will be better to find an attorney who speaks your language so that you can communicate everything properly. This will make sure that you and attorney are always on the same page to understand the legal works. The lawyer should also make sure that you get all your documents written and translated in both English and your native language.

Build a relationship with your attorney

You need to get your visa done to before you step out of the airport of any country. When you get your VISA, other things can get smoothly. You will have to stay for a few months or years before you can apply for immigration, which is why you will need to build a good relationship with your attorney so that you can manage your documents and VISA renewal later in the future as well.

Everything You Need to Know About Becoming an Immigration Lawyer

If you want to make a career which allows you to work for human rights, gives you an opportunity to interact with people from different countries and cultures and the authority to practice all kinds of rights, immigration lawyer might be the one which will suit you. If you become an immigration lawyer, you can represent the people who suffer from immigration matters, but it also allows you to help the court of justice to decide the judgement on those who break the law.

The role of an immigration lawyer

Immigration has always been a controversial topic in many countries. Many developed countries like the United States and the UK, experience a lot of immigration cases from the developing nations. It is necessary to maintain a secure gateway for preventing any criminal or illegal immigration process. Immigration lawyers represent the immigrating people in the courts and help them to get the right judgement according to their immigrating rights and obligations. They also suggest courses of actions at the court for the illegal immigrants according to their knowledge of immigration law.  Immigration lawyers can be found in different settings from helping individuals to government as well as big organizations. Some immigration lawyers also provide assistance to non-profit organisations. They may also meed the government officials, make presentations, advise the staff and support volunteers in public welfare as part of their duties. In the future of their career, they can also opt for teaching immigration law at law schools, or become an immigration judge, or become a legislative aid for the government. It is a career meant for those who are interested in knowing human rights and international law.

How to become an immigration lawyer

The first thing you will need to become an immigration lawyer is a bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor(JD) degree. A law school will have a separate department for specialization in immigration law which provides you with the expertise. One can also start with the legal internships offered by the law school, clerkships, pro bono activities, and the law school course work. The qualities demanded from a student in the field of immigration law are a good interpersonal and intrapersonal skill, good reading and writing capability, the ability to understand the situations and come up with rational solutions. You will also need to learn to communicate your case properly with the right research and presentation skills.

What do you need to do

If you are planning to join a law school, it is recommended that you start way ahead of time as it has a vast syllabus, and the better you know about each and every law, the better you will be able to help your clients as well as the court to pass judgement on the case. The fact about the law is that it is abstract, and once you start learning it you can pick out the similarities, differences, and loopholes in the law which you can use to present your cases.    

How to Get a US Student Visa

To study in the US without citizenship, you will need a student visa for the time of your stay. Applying for a student visa is a long process, so you will have to start preparing for it ahead of time. There are several steps involved in applying for a US visa, so you will need at least three to five months before your course starts. Consult a good attorney to get the right instructions when you are applying. There are five stages in the process of applying for a US student visa.

Apply to a SEVP-approved institution

Make sure that the university you are applying for has the accreditation of the US government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program(SEVP). Accreditation will ensure that your degree is recognized by other universities, professional associations, employers, and government ministries around the globe. The universities having SEVP accreditation even provide the necessary documents to get the US student visa.

Pay the SEVIS fee

You will have to pay the SEVIS fee at least three days prior to submitting your application for a US visa. You can pay the fees through a paper form or use the online portal of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) SEVP website. Avoid any mistakes to input the required details exactly as they appear on your I-20 or DS-2019 form. Once you are done with the process and making the payment, you will get a confirmation from the website. Save the confirmation note as you will need it at the time of your US student visa interview.

Complete a US student visa application

After paying your SEVIS fee, you will need to make an appointment with a US consulate or embassy in your country. Apply for the US student visa form. It is best to apply as early as possible to make you can join your classes from the first day. Issuing your visa can take up to 120 days. Different countries have their own application forms and may require a lot of documents along with your application form. Make sure you have everything before you go to the embassy with your application.

Pay the VISA application fee

 The Machine Readable Visa Fee(MRV fee) or visa application fee form is paid at the embassy or at the website provided by them. This will be a non-refundable, non-transferrable visa application fee. You can pay this either at an approved bank or by phone or online. You will be asked for your MRV fee receipt when you visit the embassy for your visa interview.

Schedule and attend a US student visa interview

The last and final step is to attend a visa interview. It can be done online or on a phone call with your nearest US embassy or consulate. Keep your documents ready, as you will have to tell your fee receipt numbers even on your phone call. Your visa application cannot be completed until you appear for the interview. Make sure to give your interview with all the necessary details. All the best!