GeoffM

Some of you may remember a few months ago I couldn't get a response from my British immigration attorney in LA. Well, since then he's been replying fairly quickly but... that's about it. No apparent progress on my case. Now, I know the last piece of evidence wasn't submitted until this week (waiting for a reference) but he already knew the content: we were just waiting for the signed copy. Once sent I asked for a progress report and a realistic date as to when he would be ready with the first draft of the I-140 for me to review. I got a reply within 24 hours but no progress report or date, just mention that it's Thanksgiving and he's going away for a week. Great. Another set of excuses, both valid, but frustrating nonetheless. Previous excuses have been too many cases and a move of both house and office - again, quite valid but is no good to me, the client.

I've checked again with the AILA and he is "of good standing". AIUI that simply means that no complaints have been filed and upheld. He's been practising for several years so I can't see how this could be a common trait, otherwise he wouldn't last long in business.

So where do I go from here? I don't want to piss him off because my future is in his hands. But I also don't suffer fools gladly. Plus I don't want to walk away and find another attorney - my money has gone regardless, and I'd be foolish to try to put the i-140 bundle together myself.

Therefore I'm considering the following wording in an email to him (I could phone but then there;s no formal paper trail):

Dear X,

Thank you for your previous reply. I am disappointed that you were unable to give me a progress report on my case, or that you were unable to commit to a date for completing the first draft of the I-140 bundle. It is unfortunately becoming apparent that there has been no real progress on my case since at least August. Even the I-140 form itself still has the same errors on it which I have asked twice by email, once by telephone, and had an email from yourselves stating it had been fixed - yet your own electronic filing system shows this is not the case,

Whilst my last piece of evidence only arrived this week, you were already familiar with its contents back in July so there would have been no reason to delay the rest of the bundle waitng for that single document.

I have offered you the chance to set a realistic date, however none was forthcoming. I am therefore going to suggest a date of four calendar weeks from now. If I do not see real, tangible and significant progress by that date then I will unfortunately have to consider formal avenues of action with the appropriate authorities.

It is disappointing that things have come to this, especially considering the additional work I have freely completed with you and your programmers on your website,

Yours (etc)

How is that? Too bolshy? Not strong enough? There is plenty more that could be said but I don't think it's appropriate at this stage.

Thanks for any advice.

tonrob

Tone seems fine I think. I would add in a sentence asking that he write back by return to confirm receipt of the letter and acknowledgment of its contents. You might not get that, but I think it's right to ask for it.

Cape Blue

Chill out - this isn't the UK you know, it's California. My experience when dealing with USCs is to never ask more than one question or deal with more than one issue in an email - if you ask 3 q's you will invariably find one or two do not get answered.

You sent him the evidence, he acknowledged receipt within 24hrs and said it was vacation - Thanksgiving is bigger than Xmas for many people over here.

Let him get back from vacation for a few days, then send him a single question - "what date can I have the I-140 pack to review".

I know its frustrating, however the renown "have a nice day y'all" American service does not always translate into professional services.

GeoffM

Thanks, good idea.

GeoffM

Three months *at least) of doing naff all is not acceptable anywhere in the world, period.

AdobePinon

Your letter is very indirect. If you want answers, just ask the questions.

Cape Blue

I used to live in Spain - that would have been a good gestor

I think you are conflating your earlier experience with this issue - your email says you sent him the evidence, he confirmed within 24 hrs and said he was on vacation for a week. I would let him get back from vacation and ask a single question regarding the completion date of the pack.

Yorkieabroad

I feel for you - I had a lot of trouble adjusting when we got here because I expected things to happen "properly"...ie - as I expected them to, rather than how the new environment actually operated. I guess I was less prepared for moving into this culture than I was for previous moves, and because I expected it to be an easier move and it didn't live up to those expectations, it actually became a much harder move than it probably should have been. My mistake - I thought I was moving to an environment fairly similar to my 'home' environment, and it's not.

And thats a long winded way of saying I'm kinda with Cape Blue on this one...I'd give him a chance to reply when he gets back from his break.

On the wording of the letter itself, I'd have a think about whether the tone is consistent with what you say in your post that you don't want to find a new attorney...the way I read it, it looked pretty much like a final shot before walking away....'formal avenues in 4 weeks' is a pretty well defined line.

Hope you get it sorted. It'll be good practice for dealing with house builders, pool companies, banks, accountants, yada yada yada when you get here!

GeoffM

Consistency is a problem. For the first couple of months everything happened fairly quickly - detailed responses to all my questions within days, review of evidence submitted with suggestions on how to improve it (showing reliable sources etc), case updated at least once a fortnight - all acceptable. Now I get scant responses with no real information.

You both say to wait, but how long is reasonable? Three months? A year? I will wait for him to return and will refrain from the earlier email unless things don't happen this side of 2011.

FWIW my wife is a Filipina, and they make the Spanish look efficient, so I'm well used to waiting. I sometimes have to go and shave again when getting ready to go out, waiting for her.

Rete

Hi

Just curious why you have a British immigration attorney who practices in Los Angeles do your US immigration work?

Yorkieabroad

He said he was going away for a week over Thanksgiving - I'd give him no more than a week to get his feet back under the table, then follow up. But if you do want to stick with this guy like you say, I'd avoid backing yourself into a corner with an ultimatum of "do it by X or I'm filing an official complaint". Ultimatums only work if you are prepared to go thru with the negative consequences.

fatbrit

The letters you are currently writing are going to be your main evidence when you file your complaint with the bar. Write accordingly.

It shouldn't take more than 30 days to prepare a petition once he has the documentation.

GeoffM

He claims to have EB1A experience (no way of knowing for sure but I would assume so); he was in good standing with the Bar/AILA, no adverse comments on Google; being British-born I thought he would be able to relste UK-US practices/differences better; and being in the US would give him a better perspective than being in the UK. Just my rationale, rational or not!

I don't make issuing deadlines (after all, I've already offered him the chance to do so himself) but if he doesn't do anything then I have to get another attorney anyway - there's no way I could attempt the petition myself. A week back in sounds good to me.

Thanks, useful to know.

GeoffM

Well, my submissions have been reviewed and all accepted except for one which I uploaded in error, so they certainly appear to have been checked. However, I only found out by randomly reviewing my online case status; I would have expected a heads-up that something was wrong,

I have said that I might be in LA early in the new year and would like to see him - this could go one of a few ways, either positive and negative for me.

No, I haven't sent anything else including the extract posted above, as things do seem to be happening. (Hi CMI Esq.).

GeoffM

Wow, just read the covering letter the attorney has produced for the I-140 and I don't recognize the person in it (but it's all true, of course)! This is finally starting to feel real now! Aiming to submit in January.