tsunami

- 2000: I came to US with F1 visa. Involved in a fraud marriage. Turned out this was a scam ring, they took my money without helping me to get a green card. I was caught at the USCIS office by the Immigration and Customs Enforment officers. They asked for my help to catch the ring leader.

- 2004: I got a job, applied for H1B as usual. The H1B classification was approved. USCIS asked me to go back to my home coutry to get the H1B visa. But the ICE guy asked me to stay because the criminal case was still going. So I stayed in the US. They gave me a work permit. Two months after that, my F1 status expired. I currently have no immigration status beside the Work Permit.

- 2007: The criminal case ended. The ICE guy don't need me anymore. But I am still legally in the US because I still have the Work Permit until the end of this year.

- Now I want to ask my company to apply for H1B again. This time I will go back to my home country to interview. The ICE guy told me to be prepared to apply for 212(d)(3) waiver, but he didn't tell me the details.

- I called my attorney for a quote. He said H1B attorney fee is $2000. Waiver attorney fee is $2500. This attorney is old, but he is very cranky. Every time I asked a question, he just yelled at me. So Im not comfortable hiring him. But my company wants me to use him for H1B.



My questions are:


2/ Is the quote he gave me reasonable? Can I prepare 212(d)(3) on my own?

3/ When do we submit the waiver? After my consulate interview fails or before it starts or it is up to the consulate officer to decide whether he will request a waiver for me and he will prepare all the docs?

4/ How long does it take to get the result of the waiver for a nonimmigrant visa?

5/ Although I commited fraud, I wasn't convicted or deported. The ICE guy just let me go on my own way with the Work Permit. The ICE guy did say the Consulate will see the fraud in my record. Should I wait to see if the interview fails before I hire an attorney to prepare the waiver supporting docs?

6/ Does anyone know a good attorney for 212(d)(3) waiver in the US?




Thank you in advance. Please tell me in details.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You do need an attorney, for sure. I don't think you will find all that many experienced in 212(d)(3) waivers. I've been at this for over 30 years now and I've done a big fat two of them and I'm batting 50%.

You need a lot of legal advice and to be honest, an internet forum is NOT the place to get it.

Good luck.

tsunami

If you have been through this, do you know any good attorney in Los Angeles? Is $2500 reasonable for this?

I have talked to 3 experienced and old attorneys. They are all very cranky and mean. They don't explain anything. The younger attorneys that I talked to seemed nicer. But the younger ones may not have experience about this at all.

scrubbedexpat099

Go to his web site, in his signature.

As posted on another site, ben out of staus since last summer and now on the verge of a 3 year ban, working illegally for employer who is lookin to sponsor and does not know about the illegal status/waiver requirements.

Mega problems.

Expensive problems.

tsunami

Someone sent me some private messages. I cannot check the message box for some reason.
Please email me at [email protected]
Thanks.

Noorah101

You can probably check them now. You needed three posts in order to activate private messaging, and now you've got three.

Rene