Benefits of Hiring an Immigration Lawyer to Represent You
As anyone that’s gone through the process will tell you, navigating any area of immigration law is not an endeavor you’d want to go through alone. There is an extensive paperwork process that goes along with immigration that even natural-born U.S. citizens would struggle with, let alone immigrants from other countries for whom English is not their first language.
The truth about U.S. immigration is that many potential immigrants are not clear about everything required of them during the process, and this lack of information becomes a barrier from get into the country and staying there legally. Don’t let poor or insufficient legal representation be the reason you or your loved ones have to be uprooted from their homes. Here are a ways you can benefit from hiring an immigration lawyer to represent you throughout this complicated arm of the legal system:
A Good Immigration Lawyer Avoids Mistakes
Filing the correct paperwork is an important part of the processes of acquiring a visa, getting a loved on residence in the United States, and finalizing your marriage to an immigrant, among other procedures. This paperwork is usually extensive and complicated, and without the help of an expert, there are lots of opportunities to make mistakes that sink your entire application permanently.
An experienced immigration attorney can walk you through the correct steps to apply for work permits, marriage licenses and citizenship, without allowing mistakes that derail your chance to get these crucial documents authorized by the proper parties.
When Can An Immigration Lawyer Help?
An individual will certainly want an immigration lawyer if they are in removal proceedings in front of an immigration judge. However, in many cases an immigration attorney is also necessary when an individual is not in removal proceedings at all. Our firm gets a lot of cases in which people thought they were submitting an application that was straightforward and didn’t anticipate problems, but after doing the initial filing on their own they received a denial or a request for evidence from USCIS. Attorneys can step in at that point, once things become more complicated.
Sometimes an individual will already be aware that they have a complicated immigration path, and they want to ensure that moving forward they are taking all possible steps to do avoid problems. Also, in many cases you may have people who have been living undocumented in the United States for many years, and want to evaluate whether or not there is some sort of legal option that they may have overlooked.
A PROFESSIONAL IMMIGRATION LAWYER PREVENTS MISTAKES
Such a lawyer can assist with filling in the paperwork correctly, obtaining a Visa, assist with helping a loved one getting residence in the US as well as finalizing a marriage to an immigrant, and more. The paperwork is generally comprehensive and complicated. Without the knowledge of a professional, there are plenty of opportunities for mistakes to be made that can result in an application being denied. An experienced lawyer can help with applying for work permits, getting marriage licenses as well as citizenship.
Your Immigration Attorney Can Help You as a Permanent Resident
You immigration law issues may continue after you have successfully obtained your status as a lawful permanent resident. There are specific laws that apply to permanent residents, and breaking these laws may result in deportation orders or deportation. Your lawyer can help you understand these laws and defend yourself if necessary.
Your Immigration Lawyer Can Help You Find Legal Work
Finding a job is stressful enough, but it can be even more difficult as an immigrant. Finding a job with a competitive salary is important, and your lawyer can help you apply for jobs, interact with human relations personnel, and find employment opportunities. Your attorney will be familiar with all the tools available to help you find work.
Professionalism
Like all lawyers, immigration lawyers must meet minimum levels of professionalism, and must attend continuing legal education (CLE) classes. Specialist immigration lawyers may also undertake specialist accreditation,through specialist accreditation programmes, which have been established by the Law Society of NSW and the Law Institute of Victoria. These programmes have been running for some years and have proved very successful in raising the level of professionalism.
This is in addition to meeting the requirements set forth by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) for continuing professional development (CPD), although there have been moves recently to allow immigration lawyers cross credit CPD and CLE courses.
Immigration lawyers must adhere to the ethical and professional standards, under the State regulated Legal Profession Acts,which regulate legal practice in Australia, in addition to the provisions set out in MARA’s code of conduct
This dual regulatory structure ,although onerous at times, ensures that the standard of professionalism among immigration lawyers is very high, allowing them to deliver high quality services to clients in an often-confusing area of the legal system.
It is hoped that the establishment of the ILAA will add to the opportunities that immigration lawyers have for professional development within their field, whilst also encouraging a new area of practice for young lawyers.