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Green Card Approved in 3 Days Following Writ of Mandamus Filing
(07/13/2009)
At the most recent National AILA Conference in Las Vegas, it was noted that a large number of cases have been held in the USCIS system for unreasonable lengths of time. While the FBI and the USCIS have worked together to speed up the background checks often causing the delays in adjudication, there are some cases that need an extra push. For those immigrants who are experiencing undue delay or inaction for adjustment of status and citizenship applications, a Writ of Mandamus (WOM) could be the defining factor in your case. YXZ (XYZ - I have deleted the initials and name of the law firm and any further references to law firm are edited and changed to XYZ).
For example, Dr. ****** contacted XYZ inquiring on our expertise for help in resolving an excessive USCIS delay in processing his application for adjustment of status to permanent resident.
December 2008: Co-Managing Attorney ********* met with Dr. ***** for a free evaluation. Since WOMs are very fact specific, Attorney ***** went through the facts of Dr. *******’s case very carefully and suggested that he had a very good cause for a WOM.
December 2008: Dr. ******* retained our services. His case was immediately assigned to Attorney ******** ******.
Dec. 2008 – May 2009
Over the course of the next 5 months, Attorney diligently used her resources to assist Dr. ******** in exhausting all of his administrative remedies to build up a strong case for his WOM. This included the following:
1. Exhausting all Administrative Remedies: Contacting USCIS, FBI, AILA, making InfoPass appointments for Dr.******* and contacting local US representatives and the US President to enlist their help.
2. Drafting a Court Brief: This includes research on case law for Dr. ******* regarding favorable courts for his specific case.
3. Sending a Demand Letter to necessary defendants allowing for a 30 day response time: It is vital at this point to list the proper defendants to the case, which include but are not limited to the US Attorney General, the FBI, the Director of the USCIS, the Secretary of the Department of State, etc…
May 1, 2009:
Attorney sent out the demand letter with a copy of her drafted court brief to all defendants;
June 1, 2009: Since no response was received, Attorney ******** filed a WOM for Dr. ******** in the relevant federal district court sympathetic to his case.
June 4, 2009
Only 3 days after filing the WOM, Attorney ********** received a phone call from both the US Department of State and the local USCIS field office informing her that Dr. ******** and his wife’s I-485 was approved and that the printing of their green cards had been requested.
June 24, 2009
Dr. ******* and his wife received their green cards in the mail.
This outcome was very fortunate as it has now enabled Dr. ******* to accept job offers that had been pending due to the delay in his green card adjudication. Our offices were extremely happy to have been able to help Dr. ******* and his wife achieve a positive result with speed. In her experience, Attorney ********** has noticed that often times the matter of delay is resolved before a full trial is entered into. As is evidenced with Dr. *******'s case, there are times where an excessive delay has left you little choice but to push the USCIS with a WOM. We encourage those of you who may be facing similar situations and who are interested in exploring possible solutions to contact us for a free evaluation.

Tang v Chertoff
http://pacer.mad.uscourts.gov/dc/cgi-bin/recentops.pl?filename=gertner/pdf/tangmtd.pdf
This is the case that was decided by Federal Judge Judge Gertner of MA.
In words of the Judge who granted petition in favor of Plaintiffs:
"I cannot accept the argument that, simply because adjustment of
status is a form of discretionary relief, there is no limit to
the length of time the USCIS may take processing applications.
The duty to act is no duty at all if the deadline is eternity."
There, you have it. Anyone with AOS pending beyond posted processing times, you don't have to wait for eternity to have your case adjudicated.
It is worth noting that back in the days (prior to 2008 USCIS memo) majority of delays were very extensive (beyond years) due to name cheks and background checks carried out by FBI (ISIS and FBI FP check gives instant results but name checks used to take much longer if there was any "hit", because a human personnel had to be assigned to the task of viewing the pertinent file and , moreover, because the task was under the control of a separate agency (Federal Bureau of Investigations) USCIS used to take a position that it had no control over it and it couldn't act unless it got clearance from relevant agency.
Now FBI cleared all backlogs per USCIS Congressional testimony (following the 2008 memo).
They also added staff to review relevant cases expeditiously (one of the reasons cited was National Security, to make sure that ineligible people don't enjoy prolonged stay , EAD and other benefits associated with pending AOS status).
Finally, in a very rare instances where FBI check for any reason is not cleared in 6 months USCIS is now told to make a decision and approve a petition when no adverse factors other than pending name check exist, with the reservation that if anything negative later turns up the benefit can be immediately revoked and individual apprehended.
Unlike N-400 case where a lengthy denationalization process must be undertaken if error made, LPR can be revoked relatively easy, therefore it is still mandatory for USCIS to wait for name check results in N-400 cases as opposed to AOS cases.
What this means for current AOS applicants?
First, you need not wait years to file a WOM. If your case pending past the deadline chances are that it is pending simply because the assigned IO is not working on your file. May be they process a hundred files a day but dropped yours behind the desk and never bother to look over, all the while they tell you with an air of importance that some serious work is being done in your case and you must wait.
Or it could be that your case is being delayed for no good reasons at all (somebody, may be a new hired officer , shipped your file to a different department within USCIS with a "gut feeling suspicion" that you are a ineligible for a benefit, and since you are neither and no data exists to support the "suspicion" nobody is willing to decide your case.
WOM will be of great help to you is above the case because the Court will ask USCIS to justify the reason why your case is still pending (in case if there is any legitimate reason, an increasing level of authority within USCIS must authorize delays in 6 months increments and it can only be authorized if there are valid grounds and this is the only valid reason government can present to court to refuse making a decision on your case.
In most of the cases it will not even reach a Court. You or your attorney can call US Attorney for the district where your petition will be filed and give the said Attorney a week to look into your case and make a decision or you tell them you will file WOM.
A week later if you get no response you do the actual filing. I will share here instructions on how to go about it.
Once filed Government will have 60 days to either make a decision or justify why it should be allowed not to decide your case yet. It must be legitimate , VALID reason, not just "We will work on it whenever".
In some cases Government Attorney will file affidavit to dismiss your WOM petition (need more time, to do specific tasks and etc).
You have to carefully read the government's request to see if the reason they provide is valid.
Remember: A complaint is subject to dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) only
if“it is clear that no relief could be granted under any set of
facts that could be proved consistent with the allegations.”Gorski v. New Hampshire Dep’t of Corrections, 290 F.3d 466, 473
(1st Cir. 2002) (quoting Hishon v. King & Spaulding, 467 U.S. 69,
73 (1984)). The allegations in the complaint should be accepted
as true, and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in favor of
the plaintiff. Moss v. Camp Pemigewassett, Inc., 312 F.3d 503,
506 (1st Cir. 2002). ( see http://pacer.mad.uscourts.gov/dc/cgi-bin/recentops.pl?filename=gertner/pdf/tangmtd.pdf )
The plaintiffs in Tang v Chertoff named 3 statutory bases for
jurisdiction:
The Mandamus statute (28 U.S.C. § 1361),
the Declaratory Judgment Act (28 U.S.C. § 2201 et seq.),
and the federal question statute (28 U.S.C. § 1331)
in combination with the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”).
You should read carefully and do as much research as you can before filing or submitting anything to court. If you can afford it you would be better of to hire an attorney, but be very careful and thorough picking one if you end up hiring one.
Defendants in above case pointed to INA § 242 (8 U.S.C. §
1252(a)(2)), "which bars judicial review of certain actions on
which the Attorney General is given discretion under the INA."
You can counter that "while the final decision as to
adjustment of status is within the Attorney General’s discretion,
aspects of the process, such as the timing of these decisions,
are not".
Tang further argued that the Administrative Procedures Act
(specifically 5 U.S.C. § 555(b)) imposes a non-discretionary duty
to adjudicate applications in a reasonable time, and that review
of this duty is not barred by the INA’s jurisdiction-stripping
provision." ( http://pacer.mad.uscourts.gov/dc/cgi-bin/recentops.pl?filename=gertner/pdf/tangmtd.pdf )
What follows is the thorough analysis of relevant cases and jurisdictions of Courts vs AG in making a decision on a benefit granted on discretionary basis.
If you read the part VII. WHETHER THE DELAY IN THIS CASE IS UNREASONABLE, it looks like Judges decision may have influenced the 2008 memo (particularly about plaintiffs already living and working in US, the statutory provisions of law allowing for revocation of LPR and initiation of removal if necessary as a result of BG check results under U.S.C. §§ 1227(a)(1)(A) & 1256(a)., as well as "scarcity of resources" defense not being acceptable when coming from defendants as opposed to plaintiffs , all this that you can read in the ruling of Judge Gertner may have influenced the 2008 USCIS memo which effectively eliminated all FBI related backlogs.
I have not read all pages of the decision yet but will later (I just printed it out in its' entirety).
Another case referring to Tang v Chertoff (also involving the pending AOS case and reference to Tang v Chertoff) can be fond here: http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=21052340-1a3d-4973-98e5-ae0993ec5bd2
It's titled Mohamoud Abdi v Chertoff, Civil Action No. 08-11302-JLT
I will search more cases, particularly I will try to find newer AOS related WOM cases and see how these played out in post 2008 USCIS memo environment.
Hope many of you will find information posted here helpful and even useful if you plan to bring or just learned about possibility of bringing WOM for your pending AOS cases.
If enough of us bring and successfully argue such cases then chances are great that with more court rulings and precedents set the Government will address the issues that cause undue delays (comparing the costs of going to court and loosing the cases vs better training some of the lagging employees and making them feel more responsibility towards discharging their duties codified in law).
To be continued.

Found on internet (may be very helpful for all those got stuck due to incompetence, stupidity, laziness or prejudice of an under-trained, underpaid , uneducated USCIS IO).
Steps to take to file a lawsuit:
1. Contact your Federal District Court and ask for a Civil Case Pro Se package.
2. Read it and follow the instructions.
3. Prepare a lawsuit on Microsoft word. Print it and sign it.
4. Get a Civil Cover sheet and fill it out.
5. Call the court and ask to speak to the clerk...explain your situation and listen for advice.
6. Either mail in or drop off the papers [complaint (with exhibits if any) + cover sheet]
7. The court will send you a summons with your case number.
8. Make copies of the summons and your complaint. (one for each defendant and an extra copy for the US attorney in your district)
9. Put the case # on all copies.
10. Serve the complaint + summons + exhibits if any via CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED on all defendants and the US atty office. Call the US ATTORNEY and get their address and the right department you should send your complaint to.
11. Wait for the return receipt. The 60-day count starts from the date shown on the receipt received from the US atty.
12. File the return receipt with the court, and send a copy to the US atty office.
13. From here, everytime you file something with the court, send a copy to the US attorney and file a Certificate of service with the court.
14. 2 weeks before the expiration of the deadline, call the US atty, introduce yourself, and ask about your case.
15. Hopefully they will take action on your case and most desirably approve it.
When you file a lawsuit, with your complaint, you have to introduce a Civil Cover Sheet, Basically this allows the court's clerk to classify your case in the system. All immigration lawsuits are filed under code 890 for Nature of Suit. Make sure you use your district court's cover sheet. You may download it online.

From the internet (a post of successful applicant who sued USCIS in US Federal Court):
On **/**,****, I filed a Lawsuit against United States Government "Writ of Mandamus" in Federal District Court for delayed processing of my Green Card Application. I sued the following agencies and their officers:
1. Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
2. Emilio T. Gonzalez, Director of USCIS
3. ROBERT S. MULLER III, Director of FBI
4. GREGORY W. CHRISTIAN, Director of Nebraska Service Center
5. Alberto R. Gonzales, United States Attorney General
Quite frankly it was a very bold move on my part. But I was so frustrated and agitated that I thought it must be do or die time. When I went to the court house, the court clerk looked at the Lawsuit and then asked me if I was sure I want to sue so many Government officials. And I said with a big grin: “Yes I do”
Today on XX/XX/XXXX, I have received an email 3 times that a welcome notice was mailed….
I am not just happy for having my application approved as it was long due anyway, but the thing that gives me a real high is to take up a fight for my rights with whoever it is; even if it means a formidable Government agency. I think this country is all about justice and making sure that you get your rights. Therefore I would encourage anyone, who thinks that his/her rights are being violated, to speak up. Because your silence will not give you any benefit.

I am from former Soviet Union. Nearly 99% of all immigrants from Soviet Union who immigrated to the US prior to 1989-1990 and who were of adult, professional age at the time of entry were the lifelong members of the Communist Party in USSR. Only exceptionally strong, diamond hard core individuals like my dad were capable of not joining the Communist party yet still able to pursue professional career and provide decent living for their children (am so proud of my dad!).
All those coming from former USSR were admitted, even handed a Green Card almost 6 months after entry to the US. None of them would be barred for membership in Communist party. I am not sure about China, but INA has special provision that states if you are coming from certain country your membership in Communist Party does not disqualify you from admission. You should check with a practicing attorney.

I am from former Soviet Union. Nearly 99% of all immigrants from Soviet Union who immigrated to the US prior to 1989-1990 and who were of adult, professional age at the time of entry were the lifelong members of the Communist Party in USSR. Only exceptionally strong, diamond hard core individuals like my dad were capable of not joining the Communist party yet still able to pursue professional career and provide decent living for their children (am so proud of my dad!).
All those coming from former USSR were admitted, even handed a Green Card almost 6 months after entry to the US. None of them would be barred for membership in Communist party. I am not sure about China, but INA has special provision that states if you are coming from certain country your membership in Communist Party does not disqualify you from admission. You should check with a practicing attorney.

Mariana, you must contact the jurisdiction where you were cited for infraction. Find out if its minor violation or misdemeanor. In CA red light violation is misdemeanor. Misdemeanor is a crime and doesn't fall under minor traffic violations. If you had what is considered a mere traffic violation then answer is No and you don't have to submit any extra evidence. If your red light violation is misdemeanor and thus a crime then you must bring all relevant documents and answer YES on i485. This my subjective opinion. I am not a lawyer and this is not a legal advise. Contact a lawyer for expert advise. Good luck.

Lawyer is not there to really help you. He is there to look out and make sure you don't get rolled over.
I had a mediocre lawyer (who didn't even go to interview with me). He made mistakes in the paperwork (errors not relevant to me or the case outcome but enough to cause RFE and delays) and during the interview I had a newly hired officer who wrongly changed my answer on I-485 ( he asked if i ever was cited, I said no, except non-criminal traffic violation. He then changed my answer to YES and I was required to submit printout of a satisfied traffic ticket from motor vehicle agency).
As a result my case was decided at least 2.5-3.5 months later than the actual average [at the time] for the jurisdiction I reside and it took Congressional intervention as well as hiring a new council (Top AV rated immigration attorney in my area) with the intent of filing WOM.
Had a hired a competent attorney from the beginning , I am sure my case would be decided in half the time with no nonsense RFE's.
So, my answer is: good lawyer may be a great asset (even if he sits there mum, he can still intervene and correct if an inexperienced officer makes an obvious error during the interview) , but beware of mediocre lawyers. You are better off alone than with incompetent or careless council.
Good luck.

This is a criminal, not a lawyer.
I know many lawyers do this, but only because most immigrants don't know the US laws, are too intimidated and afraid (because of status issues and fear of drawing attention of USCIS or God forbid ICE and etc.). In the end it works against immigrants and more crooked lawyers abuse and victimize other immigrants.
Remember, all lawyers must pass vigorous bar exams and must pledge to abide by code of ethics before they are allowed to practice a law. Breach of the code of ethics can lead to loss of license to practice.
A few things you can do to remedy your situation of you have been victimized by criminal lawyer:
1. Send polite emails/letters to a lawyer asking for amicable solution. make sure to keep all copies for your record. Wait for lawyers response.
2. When it is clear that lawyer has charged you while knowing you were not eligible for benefit sought send a polite letter/email requesting a refund. Again, document and copy it all.
3. If steps #1 and #2 fail contact the bar association where one is admitted to practice the law.
Read their respective code of ethics for lawyers and specifically search for "attorney client dispute resolution" under the jurisdiction where your lawyer has been admitted to practice the law.
4. Make final warning to your lawyer, once again ask them to come to reasonable, agreeable solution. Make a reasonable compromise if necessary.
5. If step 4 fails it's time to file a formal complaint with the bar.
At the same time see if there is also another venue for arbitration of fee dispute (this is separate from code of ethics dispute).
6. Do not forget to also go to EOIR page and print out the lawyer complaint form and submit to EOIR the copy of complaint you filed with the bar (once bar makes a ruling, such as reprimand and so on) you can send the copies to EOIR as well, as an additional evidence of wrongdoing on part of a lawyer.
If you do everything right chances are the lawyer will be disciplined, your fees may be fully refunded to you (particularly if more than $5000 was paid, as this is considered a relatively large sum) and EOIR will have a record of ineffective assistance of counsel.
At the very least lawyer will feel a burden and think twice before victimizing another unsuspecting immigrant. Also, it will stay as a permanent record of ineffective assistance of counsel which, in some cases, may prevent the worst possible outcome for you.
Do not expect any lawyer help you with any of these steps. Almost all lawyers will refuse to side with a client against another lawyer , because lawyers think of it as a bad karma to gang against another lawyer.
But regardless of difficulties, you must do what you must do or else live with the fact that you paid someone thousands of dollars to screw you for the rest of your life. I would find it very difficult to just go along with it without putting up some serious and fierce legal battle.
Good luck.

The answer to your question is YES and NO.
Yes, hire an attorney and No, do not hire an attorney.
Let me go over pros and cons.
On Pro side:
the real purpose of attorney is to protect your rights and make sure no error is made that leads to
denial of benefit you are statutorily eligible for.
I am currently on the last stage of my AOS and instead of approval I got RFE (after approval of I-130).
The main reason, as I see it, is that I didn't have an attorney during the interview.
And here is what happened:
I was NEVER in my life arrested or charged with any crime, anywhere. No DUI/DWI , nothing at all , nothing but very minor traffic tickets ( I didn't even get points on DL record for it!).
And I-485 unlike N-400 specifically says "excluding traffic violations".
Since I NEVER was arrested or charged of crime I NEVER admitted to the same and answered NO to relevant
application question.
However, during the interview I had an officer who specifically asked me "Not even a traffic ticket?" (after I answered NO to original question on i-485),to which I answered "I had traffic tickets".
He then went on to change my answer to YES , added in hand writing "traffic violation" and asked me to place initials
next to it.
A month later, instead of an approval I got the RFE saying "in your app and during the interview you admitted to have been arrested ... now submit an original letter of arrest disposition".
So, I had to hire an attorney (and I found a good one) to file a response who submitted the RFE reply.
Weeks later there is not even acknowledgment of RFE response receipt on USCIS.GOV page.
Had I had a competent attorney who went to interview with me he could have intervened and advised me not to place initials to YES and he would correct the newly hired USCIS officer that proper answer to this question should be NO since I have NEVER been arrested in my life or charged with any criminal violation.
So, this is just one example of when attorney can be helpful even if your case is million percent straightforward.
But here are the Cons to consider:
First, most attorneys charge obscenely huge amounts for nothing.
For example they will charge you some $2500 to $3500 and then make you
to do all the work (fill out all the forms) and after you fill everything out they will say
"now sign here and there" and then they will mail the package to USCIS.
If you paid a Kinkos employee to do all the copies of documents for you , you would end up with
$5-$10 bill. Since you yourself have to fill out forms, you could pay zero for it and, to be on safe side,
you could ask couple of your relatives or friends with good comprehension of English to go over and make sure
there are no typos or errors in your application.
Another $18 you would pay to send your package via USPS Express-next day delivery and , having spent $30 or so
you would have submitted exactly the same package as $3500 attorney would.
This ,of course, does not apply to good attorneys who may spend time with you , really analyzing your case and giving you advise, spending hours to fill out forms, but such attorneys are extreme rarity and most attorneys see their profession as a treadmill where fools are coming to pay them money in exchange for doing nothing.
Another big problem, again due to lack of ethical standards , is that in many cases attorneys will actually
damage your straightforward case.
Not only they don't do anything on your case while charging you for over 10 hrs of hourly rate to submit
your application, but on top of that they often hire poorly educated and low paid paralegals who , since they get paid little more than a cashier in Wallmart, populate your application with errors and some may turn to be very very costly to fix down the road.
So, hiring an attorney you risk to end up with insult and injury, not a best thing you can buy out there for 3 grands.
Now you have to consider all the pros and cons and make your own decision.
If I were you I would fill out all forms and submit by myself (just pay great deal of attention
to all and every single line and avoid by all means any typos and errors, even keep your application for days
before mailing, read and review it over and over during various times of the day as you get a chance and correct any and all typos/errors you may find. Ask someone to review and make sure all your answers are correct, have then read all questions to you and answer them and make sure all your answers are correct).
Make 2 copies of all forms submitted and put in a safe place your copies.
Once done with paperwork mail it to USCIS via FedEx or USPS Express, save the receipt.
Next you will be fingerprinted , issued EAD/TD and appointment letter for interview (assuming you fill out your paperwork with no errors and submit all the initial evidence to establish your eligibility).
When your interview nears then make a decision if you need an attorney.
If you decide to hire one make a very thorough research, make sure you are hiring a competent one. Do as much googling on a firm/attorney as you can. Get a list of few selected attorneys who have: good record, lots of presence on net, published , written books,attended seminars, praised by peers (check Martindale-Hubbel rating. The highest is AV) and etc.
Then pick up the phone and call to see attorney in person or talk over the phone.
If they say "Pay $XXX or WE WON'T TALK" then hang up immediately. May be it's a great attorney but you don't want to spend $200-$400 to just find out if he or she is.
Interview them as you would a plumber or a building contractor - you will be paying , they will be working for you and you should make sure they are truly competent , not just in paper but in real life too.
Ask pointed questions (not necessarily related to your case but find something relatively obscure to test how current the attorney is on current laws/rulings/case precedents).
This will help you to make a better judgment instead of blindly assuming that they are proficient.
If all checks and they agree to charge reasonable fee (interview lasts only 30-45 mins and you wait another hour or so to be called in) then you may pay relatively small fee in exchange for professional representation and to avoid situation like one I got myself into.
Tell your attorney NOT TO INTERFERE unless USCIS officer makes an obvious error or asks totally irrelevant to AOS forms questions.
If your attorney interferes , interrupts the officer and keeps telling you what to answer then the officer may grow suspicious that there is something wrong and this will cause major hurdles in processing of your case.
If you are lucky and the USCIS officer is experienced and knows his job well then you may not need any attorney at all. Google and find out if the local office had recently hired a lot of new officers. Older and more experienced the officers - higher chances you will pass the interview and be approved on the spot (assuming your case is straightforward and you submit all evidence needed with your application).
Good luck to you and all the best.

The answer to your question is YES and NO.
Yes, hire an attorney and No, do not hire an attorney.
Let me go over pros and cons.
On Pro side:
the real purpose of attorney is to protect your rights and make sure no error is made that leads to
denial of benefit you are statutorily eligible for.
I am currently on the last stage of my AOS and instead of approval I got RFE (after approval of I-130).
The main reason, as I see it, is that I didn't have an attorney during the interview.
And here is what happened:
I was NEVER in my life arrested or charged with any crime, anywhere. No DUI/DWI , nothing at all , nothing but very minor traffic tickets ( I didn't even get points on DL record for it!).
And I-485 unlike N-400 specifically says "excluding traffic violations".
Since I NEVER was arrested or charged of crime I NEVER admitted to the same and answered NO to relevant
application question.
However, during the interview I had an officer who specifically asked me "Not even a traffic ticket?" (after I answered NO to original question on i-485),to which I answered "I had traffic tickets".
He then went on to change my answer to YES , added in hand writing "traffic violation" and asked me to place initials
next to it.
A month later, instead of an approval I got the RFE saying "in your app and during the interview you admitted to have been arrested ... now submit an original letter of arrest disposition".
So, I had to hire an attorney (and I found a good one) to file a response who submitted the RFE reply.
Weeks later there is not even acknowledgment of RFE response receipt on USCIS.GOV page.
Had I had a competent attorney who went to interview with me he could have intervened and advised me not to place initials to YES and he would correct the newly hired USCIS officer that proper answer to this question should be NO since I have NEVER been arrested in my life or charged with any criminal violation.
So, this is just one example of when attorney can be helpful even if your case is million percent straightforward.
But here are the Cons to consider:
First, most attorneys charge obscenely huge amounts for nothing.
For example they will charge you some $2500 to $3500 and then make you
to do all the work (fill out all the forms) and after you fill everything out they will say
"now sign here and there" and then they will mail the package to USCIS.
If you paid a Kinkos employee to do all the copies of documents for you , you would end up with
$5-$10 bill. Since you yourself have to fill out forms, you could pay zero for it and, to be on safe side,
you could ask couple of your relatives or friends with good comprehension of English to go over and make sure
there are no typos or errors in your application.
Another $18 you would pay to send your package via USPS Express-next day delivery and , having spent $30 or so
you would have submitted exactly the same package as $3500 attorney would.
This ,of course, does not apply to good attorneys who may spend time with you , really analyzing your case and giving you advise, spending hours to fill out forms, but such attorneys are extreme rarity and most attorneys see their profession as a treadmill where fools are coming to pay them money in exchange for doing nothing.
Another big problem, again due to lack of ethical standards , is that in many cases attorneys will actually
damage your straightforward case.
Not only they don't do anything on your case while charging you for over 10 hrs of hourly rate to submit
your application, but on top of that they often hire poorly educated and low paid paralegals who , since they get paid little more than a cashier in Wallmart, populate your application with errors and some may turn to be very very costly to fix down the road.
So, hiring an attorney you risk to end up with insult and injury, not a best thing you can buy out there for 3 grands.
Now you have to consider all the pros and cons and make your own decision.
If I were you I would fill out all forms and submit by myself (just pay great deal of attention
to all and every single line and avoid by all means any typos and errors, even keep your application for days
before mailing, read and review it over and over during various times of the day as you get a chance and correct any and all typos/errors you may find. Ask someone to review and make sure all your answers are correct, have then read all questions to you and answer them and make sure all your answers are correct).
Make 2 copies of all forms submitted and put in a safe place your copies.
Once done with paperwork mail it to USCIS via FedEx or USPS Express, save the receipt.
Next you will be fingerprinted , issued EAD/TD and appointment letter for interview (assuming you fill out your paperwork with no errors and submit all the initial evidence to establish your eligibility).
When your interview nears then make a decision if you need an attorney.
If you decide to hire one make a very thorough research, make sure you are hiring a competent one. Do as much googling on a firm/attorney as you can. Get a list of few selected attorneys who have: good record, lots of presence on net, published , written books,attended seminars, praised by peers (check Martindale-Hubbel rating. The highest is AV) and etc.
Then pick up the phone and call to see attorney in person or talk over the phone.
If they say "Pay $XXX or WE WON'T TALK" then hang up immediately. May be it's a great attorney but you don't want to spend $200-$400 to just find out if he or she is.
Interview them as you would a plumber or a building contractor - you will be paying , they will be working for you and you should make sure they are truly competent , not just in paper but in real life too.
Ask pointed questions (not necessarily related to your case but find something relatively obscure to test how current the attorney is on current laws/rulings/case precedents).
This will help you to make a better judgment instead of blindly assuming that they are proficient.
If all checks and they agree to charge reasonable fee (interview lasts only 30-45 mins and you wait another hour or so to be called in) then you may pay relatively small fee in exchange for professional representation and to avoid situation like one I got myself into.
Tell your attorney NOT TO INTERFERE unless USCIS officer makes an obvious error or asks totally irrelevant to AOS forms questions.
If your attorney interferes , interrupts the officer and keeps telling you what to answer then the officer may grow suspicious that there is something wrong and this will cause major hurdles in processing of your case.
If you are lucky and the USCIS officer is experienced and knows his job well then you may not need any attorney at all. Google and find out if the local office had recently hired a lot of new officers. Older and more experienced the officers - higher chances you will pass the interview and be approved on the spot (assuming your case is straightforward and you submit all evidence needed with your application).
Good luck to you and all the best.