US Visa Thailand - Why hire a US immigration lawyer?
US
visa applications and immigration matters involves many detailed laws,
regulations, procedures and practices from several different US
government agencies including US Embassies, US Citizenship &
Immigration Services (USCIS), US Department of State, US Department of
Labor and other agencies.
Persons filing a US visa or immigration
application often handle the work themselves because they believe the
work is simply "form filing". However, persons filing their applications
by themselves often make mistakes in answering questions on the forms
and answering questions during interviews by US government officers.
Further, they often fail to provide adequate supporting documents and do
not correctly follow procedures. Such mistakes often lead to a denied
or significantly delayed application.
As a general rule,
government agencies involved in the visa and immigration process see
their role as enforcing the law and normally will not provide advice to
potential applicants.
Our licensed US immigration lawyer will
provide free initial analysis of your individual case before you decide
to use our service, which in cases that will obviously be denied can
save you significant time, money and disappointment. Further, our
licensed US immigration lawyer will also work with you to properly
prepare and present your case within the facts and the law, so that at
least you know that you have presented your best case possible.
Please
be aware that using an immigration lawyer is not a magic solution to a
denied application and does not influence government officers to approve
an application.
Beware of unlicensed visa consultants that
guarantee visas or offer money back guarantees because no one including
government officers can guarantee approval of your application if you do
not qualify to begin with. Notaries, consultants, service bureaus,
travel agents, connected insiders and foreign lawyers who do not know US
laws are all examples of persons who should be avoided in assisting you
with your US visa and immigration applications.
If you are not
sure whether the person offering you visa or immigration services is a
licensed lawyer, ask to see their state lawyer registration number and
state bar admission certificate.
Click here for detailed information about our "licensed" US immigration lawyers.
US Visa Thailand - Service
Our service is provided in English & Thai languages via scanned document attachments, email correspondence, phone consultations, chat and / or in person meetings. Clients must be able to read, write and
understand basic English or have someone assist them who can.
We do have our Thai / English speaking staff with a bachelor's degree English that can assist Thai only speakers upon request. Please note that we may require an additional fee in such cases due to the additional time required and administrative burden in translating the necessary communications from English to Thai and Thai to English.
Generally, US immigration laws are uniformly applied in each individual
country. Thus, our services can be
effectively provided from our office in Bangkok, Thailand to anywhere in the world if
the client has access to internet / telephone and can read, write and understand basic
English.
Most of our clients are corporate expatriates based in Asia that do not have time to dedicate to researching and properly preparing a US visa application. We also get many clients who are good decent people, but have been caught up in the very strict / complicated US immigration system and treated unfairly.
We also get a lot of fiancee and marriage visa clients in Thailand as a result of polite and social nature of the Thai people. The polite and social nature of the Thai people tends to be just the opposite of the forward and individual nature of American people. As they say...opposites do attract and thus, we get a lot of both American men and American women marrying Thais to start their new lives together in the US. However, we strictly want to avoid US visa cases involving prostitutes and would kindly request that we not be contacted in such cases.
Our clients
can be confident and trust in our service because it is provided by a
professional licensed New York lawyer, which can be held accountable
for misconduct with the New York Bar Association Discipline &
Grievance Committee.
Our service generally consists of the following:
- Provide free initial written opinion on applicant's chance for approval for the specific visa including an "estimated" % chance of approval, the strengths of the applicant and the weaknesses of the applicant;
- Collect and review background information prior to starting work or accepting the fee payment from the client;
- Provide fee payment options by bank transfer or online credit / debit card via Paypal;
- Schedule interview with US Embassy, USCIS, Department of Labor or other government agency after receiving initial deposit;
- Provide standard list of supporting documents in English specific to your case;
- Review the background of your case and request additional documents specific to your background;
- Consulting in regards to answering questions on applications forms and in regards to the necessary supporting documents;
- Application forms will be prepared by a licensed US attorney (New York #8014339);
- Prepare necessary supporting letters, documents and/or evidence, but in some cases an additional fee will be required;
- Meetings, telephone conferences and email correspondences to review supporting documents;
- Provide simplified written filing instructions to the client to reduce mailing time from days to weeks;
- Prepare client to answer potential interview questions at US Embassy or USCIS when applicable; and
- Assistance preparing 2nd application if 1st application is denied free of charge should the attorney and client agree that such 2nd application would be in the the client's best interest.
- Translation of foreign language documents to English because most required documents are simple 1 page translations and thus it is easier and more efficient for the client to prepare such Thai-English translations themselves. However, we can provide Thai-English translation services, but we require additional fees for such work.
- Accompanying applicant to US Embassy, USCIS or other government agency. Generally, the US Embassy and USCIS takes the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" approach to attorneys representing clients at the US Embassy and USCIS. This means that the US Embassy and USCIS does not mind if an attorney prepares a US visa application, but after it is filed they prefer the attorneys to back off and allow them to do their jobs. Further, the US Embassy and USCIS know that attorneys are familiar with US immigration laws and know how to answer the questions correctly, so they often try to remove the attorneys from the equation. Thus attorneys in most countries are not allowed to accompany applicants into the US Embassy before or during the interview except in limited circumstances when necessary and approved in advance.