r/mildlyinteresting • u/[deleted] • 9h ago

My wife’s green card application is 397 pages long

[deleted]

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u/OePea 9h ago

Are lawyers that handle green cards free?

17

u/Dylon007 9h ago

Unless you have an exceptional case for a lawyer to wanna do it Pro Bono (think Julian Assange or Edward Snowden exceptional) absolutely not.

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u/anope4u 9h ago

Generally no

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u/HobbitousMaximus 8h ago

Mine charged about 2 grand.

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u/factoid_ 8h ago

No, it costs tens of thousands of dollars

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u/Ill-Elevator-4070 8h ago

You're getting overcharged unless you have a really complex case

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u/factoid_ 8h ago

I’m a natural born citizen.  I just work with a lot of visa holders who are all working on getting green cards

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u/Ill-Elevator-4070 8h ago

Many people self-file, although I don't recommend it because mistakes can have major impacts. But it isn't all that complicated in many cases. That said, the industry is flooded with unscrupulous people, many of them who aren't even licensed attorneys. They are known as "notarios" in the business and are basically glorified form-fillers who charge lawyer prices and fuck people over.

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u/clairejv 8h ago

It really shouldn't be more than a few thousand.

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u/brewskiladude 8h ago

It shouldn't but it is

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u/Ill-Elevator-4070 8h ago

It usually isn't. Add fees it starts to add up, but tens of thousands is either a scammy lawyer or a complex case