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St. Louis Immigration Attorney Jim Hacking Explains Why Working with an Experienced Immigration Attorney Can Boost Your Chances of Success

People who are considering hiring an immigration attorney often ask us why they need an attorney.  Some people interview us and conclude that they can handle their immigration matter without an attorney.  And there are certainly some simple issues that people should feel comfortable handling themselves.

But obtaining lawful permanent resident status for a family member is probably not one of those “simple matters.”  Last month, we were contacted by a very intelligent, sophisticated client who had filed an I-130 family visa petition and I-485 green card application for his mother. This man had lived in the US for a very long time, was a US citizen and highly educated.  His mother’s case had been pending for 10 months – since November of 2012.

USCIS

The man had filled out all of the right forms; however, there were one or two small little errors on each of the forms.  Nothing fatal, nothing crucial – just enough to confuse the immigration officers at USCIS.  When the man came to see us, he brought a request for evidence that raised five serious questions about the application.  USCIS invited the man to provide answers to the questions and to submit an entire new, corrected application at no cost.  He had 30 days to do so. Wisely, this time, the man hired us to help him.

None of the issues raised were overly complex or difficult for us to deal with.  We file these family based applications routinely and it was relatively easy for us to clean things up.  We prepared all new forms and resubmitted them to USCIS.  The visa and green card applications were approved in 18 days.  Our client and his mother were very happy.

The lesson to be learned here is that while you can handle some things yourself at immigration, for most matters you are probably better off with an experienced immigration attorney.  This man and his mother had to “sweat it out” waiting for 10 months because of the little mistakes that they had made in the application.

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The only way that we have found to get USCIS moving on your case is to sue the agency in federal district court and ask a judge to compel USCIS to take action on your case.
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Sriram Devanathan

im is a great attorney who always has his human side “ON”. The clients come first to him. When approached for time sensitive issues, he was readily available and was prompt. I have had to reach out to him for myself & have recommended him to others. He always welcomed everyone and gave patient hearing. And he would not mind recommending other attorneys’ if he feels that they would better serve that particular case. Even if it means one less client for him. That sums up who Jim is. Thank you Jim!

Justin Charboneau

Jim and his team are extremely knowledgeable individuals. It is great to have someone like this on your side. I have and will continue to recommend Hacking Law Practice, LLC to anyone who needs legal advice on immigration issues.

Bouchra Aanouz

This firm was amazing helping me with my husband’s case. Jim and his team were very responsive to all my questions and concerns. i wish I had consulted them earlier as my husband’s case was stuck in Administrative Processing for over a year and a half. Two months after I gave my case to Jim, my husband was granted his visa. Would definitely recommend them and already have recommended them to my friends.

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