There’s no situation which absolutely requires a personal immigration lawyer. Be cautious not to misread that. I didn’t say that immigration lawyers aren’t valuable; they just aren’t required.
Truth be told that hiring an Immigration lawyers Winnipeg is really a matter of preference. As an immigration attorney myself, I can safely say that some immigration matters probably do not require the eye of an immigration attorney. If an individual needs to renew her green card, there is a form for that that will easily be found on USCIS’s web site, and she can fill it out herself and pay the fee. It’s that simple. Don’t waste your money on an immigration attorney to do this for you.
Other immigration matters, while seemingly straightforward to the untrained eye, can develop into an immigrant’s worst nightmare if she omits something in her paperwork or admits something which gets her into immigration trouble that she wouldn’t have otherwise been in. Like, an individual with a criminal record (such as a conviction based upon shoplifting a bunch of gum five years back!) who applies for naturalization could possibly be placed into removal proceedings. Please don’t allow that eventually you.
Then there are the incredibly difficult immigration matters that individuals will often have absolutely no idea how to deal with, such as for example submitting complicated waiver applications, navigating all the different types of employment-based visa categories, or (heaven forbid) being put in removal proceedings which necessitates at least several hearings in Immigration Court.
That being said, there are several great reasons why people hire immigration lawyers:
(1) Immigration law is complex. In 2005, the Congressional Research Service reported: “The statutory scheme defining and delimiting the rights of aliens is exceedingly complex. Courts and commentators have stated that the Immigration and Nationality Act resembles’King Mino’s labyrinth in ancient Crete,’ and is’second simply to the Internal Revenue Code in complexity.’
Finding someone who is able to navigate the complicated immigration laws can mean the difference between to be able to live and work in the U.S. and having to leave. Legacy INS Spokesperson Karen Kraushaar stated that “immigration law is a mystery and a mastery of obfuscation, and the lawyers who is able to figure it out are worth their weight in gold.”
You will find, however, some immigration attorneys who either cannot or at least have not even figured it out. In a law review article compiled by Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Northwestern University Law Professor Albert Yoon, it’s noted that a panel of judges were asked which area of what the law states had the best quality lawyers. The judges “agreed that immigration law was the location by which the quality of representation was lowest.”
The lesson from all this? Yes, immigration law is complex, however it is essential to find an immigration attorney who is able to figure it out.
(2) Immigration lawyers can fend off future immigration problems. Due to the complexity of immigration law, it’s difficult for individuals attempting to deal with an immigration case independently to obtain up to date on the immigration laws. This is especially important if time is running against you, which it typically is in immigration matters. Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has stated in the context of detained immigrants that “the need for legal representation for immigrants has grown so acute and the consequences so drastic that something must certanly be done.” If immigration attorneys are useless, then the U.S. Supreme Court Justice would not have made such a remark.
People sometimes think they do not need an immigration attorney because they don’t have any immigration problems. For a lot of people, that may be true. But for a few people, it’s not that they don’t have immigration problems, but it’s that they don’t know that they have immigration problems. “Oh? You signify if I leave the U.S. today I won’t be able to come back for 10 years?” Yes, I am sorry. If that individual had seen an immigration attorney this past year, there may have been something the attorney could have advised in order to prevent her current immigration predicament. Not seeing an attorney when in doubt can result in a lot of “could have, could have, should have” statements.
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