Introduction to How Much Lawyers Charge for an I-601A Waiver

Generally speaking, lawyers charge for I601A waivers based on an hourly rate. Most immigration lawyers will charge a flat fee where they estimate the number of hours that they will spend on the case and then calculate the fee to charge for the case. The benefit of this approach is that the client will know ahead of time how much their case will cost. Why is this important to you? This means that the fee a lawyer charges for an I-601A waiver will reflect how much time the lawyer expects to spend preparing the waiver application.

What does this really mean? Take a look at the following two examples:

Example 1. Lawyer A charges $300 an hour when he bills on an hourly basis. For the convenience of his clients, he decides to charge his I601A waiver clients a flat fee of $2,100 so that his clients know how much they will need to pay for their case. This suggests that the lawyer expects to spend approximately 7 hours working on the case (2100/300 = 7). If this fee includes the hourly rate of a paralegal or legal assistant, the lawyer may actually be estimating that he will spend less than 7 hours working on the case.

Example 2. Lawyer B charges $300 an hour when she bills on an hourly basis. For the convenience of her clients, she decides to charge her I601A waiver clients a flat fee of $6,000 so that her clients know how much they will need to pay for their case. This suggests that the lawyer expects to spend approximately 20 hours working on the case (6000/300 = 20). If this fee includes the hourly rate of a paralegal or legal assistant, the lawyer may actually be estimating that she will spend less than 20 hours working on the case.

Which lawyer do you want to work on your case? The one who plans to spend around 7 hours on your case or the one who plans to spend around 20 hours on your case? How much time do you want your lawyer to spend on your case?

Other Factors In How Much Lawyers Charge for an I601A Waiver

As indicated above, there may be other factors that lawyers consider when calculating a flat fee for an I601A waiver case. For example, the lawyer may plan to have a junior attorney or a paralegal help with preparing the waiver package. The time that a junior attorney or paralegal spends on the case may be at a lower rate. Let’s take a look at what this could mean in the first example above:

Example 1 with Junior Lawyer Assistant. Lawyer A charges $300 for the time he spends on a case, but only charges $100 an hour for the time that his junior lawyer spends on the case. If he expects to spend 2 hours on the case and expects that his junior lawyer will spend 15 hours on the case, the total fee would be the same $2,100.

Other factors that could impact how a lawyer calculates a flat fee for an I-601A waiver case include:

• Does the flat fee include the government filing fees? Most immigration lawyers do not include the government filing fees in the flat fees that they charge for the case, but you should confirm what the flat fee includes.
• Does the flat fee include postage, printing and phone costs or will those costs be billed separately?
• Does the flat fee include the costs associated with conducting any legal research that may be needed for your case?

In addition, some lawyers may discount their legal fees at times if they are trying to expand into a new market or see other business benefits to offering a reduced fee in certain cases.

Comparing the Amount Lawyers Charge for I-601A Waivers

I encourage you to not compare lawyer fees for I601A waivers without considering the value offered by each lawyer. Questions you should ask to help you understand the value of the lawyer’s services include:

• Have you prepared a successful immigration waiver application in the past?
• What education or training do you do to stay up-to-date on immigration waiver law?
• Who will work on my case? Will you work on my case or will an assistant work on my case?
• How much time will you spend with me identifying the hardship factors in my case?
• What extra costs and fees should I expect in addition to the flat lawyer fee?
• Who will be my primary point of contact at the law firm if I have any questions about my case?
• Will I be able to schedule phone and Skype calls with my lawyer? Will I be able to schedule in-office meetings with my lawyer without paying an additional fee?
• Will I be charged additional monthly communication fees while I wait for a decision on my case? Or will I pay one fee for the entire case, even if there is a delay in receiving a decision from USCIS?
• Does the fee include assistance with the I-130 petition, National Visa Center processing and the immigrant visa interview?

How much do you charge for an I601A waiver?

If you’ve read this far, you may be wondering about my lawyer charge for an I601A waiver. I won’t be able to quote you an exact fee until after we talk and I learn more about the complexity of the legal issues in your case. For most cases, my fee will be between $4,000 and $9,000. If you’d like to set up a time to talk to me on the phone about your case, I encourage you to fill out the contact form so that we can schedule a good time to talk.

You may also want to learn more on the USCIS website about the requirements for an I-601A waiver so you can better understand the value of the lawyer charge for an I601A waiver.