Hey friends.
It's Saturday.
I just wrapped up some consultations, and I was in the middle of filming some videos
when I bumped into Shanique's question that I'm going to answer in this format because
it's shorter.
It's easier to just get in front of you and just tell you what the answer is.
I'm standing right by the window here at my office, so loud cars are out there on the
streets, so just ignore that.
Shanique asked me a question about filing fees, and the question is about the and the
I-130 and the I-485, which her attorney told her that it's $1,780, is what she put in her
post.
$1,780 for those two, plus his attorney fees or her attorney fees is $4,000.
She wants me to tell her what do I think about that.
So firstly what I would say, Shanique, is thank you for the question.
You can easily find the answer about filing fees on uscis.gov website.
Super easy.
Just go into their search function, type in the form number, and then the filing fee will
be on that page.
That's what I'm going to do right now.
I just pulled up the I-485 application fee.
By the way, the I-130 is $535 and everyone has to pay that unless you get your proof
of fee waiver.
Now with respect to the I-485 Green Card Application, if you're between the ages of 14 and 78, the
fee is $1,140.
The biometrics fingerprints is $85.
So in total $1,225 for the Green Card Application.
If you're over 79, which I don't believe you are Shanique, but if you are or anyone else,
there's no biometrics fee and it's only 1,140.
Now, so that's what it is.
Very easy.
Check that out for yourself.
Now about the attorney fees.
You're in Dallas.
You said that you're in the Dallas area, Fort worth area, and so I think that's reasonable.
I think that's reasonable.
Why?
Because adjustment of status is a process now that involves a lot of stuff.
If it's a marriage-based petition, then you've got to prove bonafide marriage, and it's not
just your attorney filling out a bunch of forms and then the government is going to
believe that the marriage is bonafide.
No, you really have to do some storytelling in a very effective and strategic way to help
the government understand that the marriage is bonafide.
Because they will not just think it's bonafide because you say that it's bonafide.
No, you've got to really do it right.
If this attorney knows what he or she is doing and their fee is 4,000, then I say that's
reasonable in my opinion.
Now I'm here in New York.
I'm in the New York area, and again, I think that is reasonable if that's what he or she
is charging you.
Can you get this done cheaper?
Absolutely.
But you've got to be careful with that.
You've got to think about what is the reputation of this lawyer.
Do you trust him?
Do you hear good things about him or her?
Do you feel good on the inside?
Does he or she has a good track record of helping people to get their green card and
a number of things you've got to think about when you are thinking about hiring a lawyer.
Also, let's see.
Be careful that you don't go to some accountant or someone like that.
Can they do it?
Yes.
Will they charge you less money?
Absolutely.
But when things come up along the way and it gets complicated or the government has
questions about this or that, is your accountant going to really be able to take you all the
way through?
I don't know.
I don't think so.
So then you may need to then go pay a lawyer to help you clean some things up and get things
back on track.
Then you're going to end up paying more than $4,000 in that instance.
So that's all I'm going to share with you.
I'm going to get back to the work that I'm here doing.
Guys, I have a webinar coming out that I'm doing this Wednesday as a matter of fact.
A webinar for those of you who are out there preparing for your Embassy interview for the
immigrant visa.
Super important that you get some real tools under your belt to prepare for that.
Can't just walk in, slide your paper underneath the window and you're asked a couple of questions
and you get through.
You got to really prepare yourself.
I'm going to talk about some of the questions that people are being asked around public
charge these days, which is why public charge denials are up.
Over 12,000 people were denied last year on public charge.
So we're going to talk about that.
Then we're also going to talk about mindset, body language and also bonus topic is going
to be part of it as well.
What am I going to do bonus wise?
Bonus wise, we're going to talk about what should you do if you are denied for administrative
processing.
So, that's what we're going to do.
Register.
I'm going to put a link to this, my registration page ,in this video.
Register.
By the way, every Wednesday, I'm going to be doing webinar Wednesdays, so stay tuned
for the next topic and then the next topic and just register and learn some things.
All right.
So friends, I'm going to get back to work.
Have a great weekend.
Bye.