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LONG-DISTANCE LAWYERING
by Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq.
A lawyer can handle your case without "in-person"
meetings.
Unlike a doctor, who must see a patient in person
to properly diagnose the patient's illness, prescribe treatment,
or perform a surgery, a good attorney can "diagnose, prescribe,
and treat" people concerning their immigration problems without
necessarily seeing the person face to face. This can be called
"long-distance lawyering." Thus, a person's selection
of an attorney does not need to be limited to those attorneys
with an office near the client. An attorney can be far away, and
still be able to handle the client's case.
A good immigration lawyer can discuss a person's
immigration situation, and advise the client of the options, risks,
and advantages of such options through a telephone or (internet)
consultation. And through the modern means of communication
available to us in this age, immigration lawyers can gather documents,
communicate with clients and INS or Consulate officials, and do
basically every single step of the immigration process via long-distance
telephone, facsimile machines, one-day courier services, priority
mails, internet, and regular mail.
I have helped many clients from as far away as New
York, North Dakota, Florida, New Jersey, Philippines, and numerous
other places, obtain green cards and other visas without the client
ever having to come to my office for an in person consultation,
and without me or any of my staff having to see the client. I
have done this even in emergency cases.
There was, for example, a case of a child whose
parents live in the Bay Area in Northern California. The child
was turning 21, and something had to be done immediately to get
him a green card and bring him into the United States before he
turned 21, or else he would have to wait from 10 to 20 more years
before he could rejoin his parents. The parents had approached
several attorneys in the Bay Area, but all of them said the case
was impossible to handle, or there was no hope, because there
wasn't enough time. One of the lawyers told him about my law office,
and the parents decided to take his advice.
But since the Bay Area was about 400 miles away,
they called my office via telephone for consultation. As with
all my clients, I listened to the problem, discussed the advantages
and disadvantages of each option, and agreed immediately to handle
the case.
Soon, I was burning the wires between Los Angeles,
the Bay Area, the National Visa Center in New Hampshire, and Embassy
in Manila, faxing documents and letters, and personally following
up the case. My office also used courier and postal services extensively
to receive and send the original copies of mail and documents.
This is one of the reasons I opened a liaison office in Makati,
Philippines -- to serve as a communication center for clients
in the Philippines.
The youngster arrived in the United States -- a
green card holder -- just four days before his 21st birthday.
The father called it "one of the best things I've done for
my son," by giving him the opportunity of life in America.
But, the point was that everything was done via
long distance -- by phone, by fax, by mail, and by courier service.
This case proves that even in urgent cases, long distance lawyering
is possible. In this age of high-tech communications, everything
is within reach: the Bay Area, where the petitioner lives; Manila,
where the child lived and where the interview and processing was
to be done at the U.S. Embassy; and New Hampshire, where the National
Visa Center is located.
There is also the case of a Filipino doctor who
lived in North Dakota. I was able to get approval of his application
for legal permanent residence as an alien of "exceptional
ability." Without having to go to North Dakota, nor having
to ask the client to come to Los Angeles, I was able to help him
solve his immigration problem.
There are many similar cases, which I handled successfully
without in-person meetings.
Many people choose attorneys on the basis of location,
thinking it's necessary to always see the attorney in person.
Proximity is not an important factor in determining which lawyer
to retain. The important thing is to choose the lawyer with a
"track record of success." The person really does not
have to go to a law office to solve one's immigration problem.
One only has to pick up the phone or "log on" to take
the first step to legalize one's immigration status.
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