I need help urgently

[sghaly2003]

Dear friends,
Actually this is my first visit here and i have some troubles which made me so sad. I am a dermatologist from Egypt. I went to the states in 2001 for my phd. Of course you understand like any one comming from developing countries how it differes there and you start have only one dream which to live in US for your life. Any how, i was on j1 visa and funded by my government so the only way was to leave after visa expires for two years and then try to be back. While i was in sates, i decided to go through the labor certificate and then to leave back home and aply for I-140. I chose a lawyer and started the process, they filed my labor certificate on october 2003. They asked for 3000 which i paid at once. I got the aproval on october 2005. Now comes the troubles, first, the attorny i already hired almost disappered and most the follow up was made by paralegals in same office. They asked for 1500$ to start I-140. i paid the money at once and started calling my employer to sign the forms and send them financial reports and tax return. You can understand how hard it was for me to follow up while i am here in Egypt and most of times no body cares unless i keep calling and calling and sending hundreds of emails. One week ago the paralegal sent me a letter telling me that everything is ready for filling and waiting for revision by the head of office(another lawyer whom i never had contact with him before) then she returned to me and told me that he needs another 1700$ to file. I started sending him more than ten email convincing him that that is not what we had agreement upon and i can not pay all that money now for something i am not sure of. He told me in few words that he will file nothing unless i pay the money. Now i need to ask, can i ask him to return my last payment and all the original documents including my labor certificate? What if he refused to give me the labor certificate? can i or my employer get another original on? Also can i and my employer file I-140 without his help?
Sameh Ghaly

[luminita]

I was reading several times your message and still not sure I completely understand. You cannot have a labor certificate before you’ve filed an I140 petition! I had to pay 3.000$ up front (an attorney) and this is for all the process from the beginning till you get the green card. First is the think with the 60 days of advertising the job you are applying for and if the Department of Labor can find an US citizen which can fill this job than your employer will have to take him instead of taking anybody else. But anyway, after that the Dept. of labor will approve his request for taking a foreign citizen as an employee (takes like 3-4 month). In this moment you attorney AS WELL your future employer will receive a notification by mail with the case number and so on. So even if the attorney will not give you the papers you still have the notification that your employer received. You can than file for I140 on your own just need this and the I140. Than the rest is as you know!
I don't think you will get a cent back from him but you have to move forward...
Just don't forget to apply in this coming October for a green card lottery it is free www.dvlottery.state.gov you never know ... Four of my best friends won. Just file at this site not the others. Mean time, you can make o fortune working as a doctor (generalist) on the cruise ships. I am just coming form there.
Sometimes the answer is not really the one you thought it will be!
File I 140 at www.foreignlaborcertificate.doleta.gov Good luck and I hope one day I will get to visit the pyramids! I've already spend so much money trying to get to live in US, that I don't konw why! cause I will always be an "english man in NY"! ...

[curiousone]

Dear friends,
Actually this is my first visit here and i have some troubles which made me so sad. I am a dermatologist from Egypt. I went to the states in 2001 for my phd. Of course you understand like any one comming from developing countries how it differes there and you start have only one dream which to live in US for your life. Any how, i was on j1 visa and funded by my government so the only way was to leave after visa expires for two years and then try to be back. While i was in sates, i decided to go through the labor certificate and then to leave back home and aply for I-140. I chose a lawyer and started the process, they filed my labor certificate on october 2003. They asked for 3000 which i paid at once. I got the aproval on october 2005. Now comes the troubles, first, the attorny i already hired almost disappered and most the follow up was made by paralegals in same office. They asked for 1500$ to start I-140. i paid the money at once and started calling my employer to sign the forms and send them financial reports and tax return. You can understand how hard it was for me to follow up while i am here in Egypt and most of times no body cares unless i keep calling and calling and sending hundreds of emails. One week ago the paralegal sent me a letter telling me that everything is ready for filling and waiting for revision by the head of office(another lawyer whom i never had contact with him before) then she returned to me and told me that he needs another 1700$ to file. I started sending him more than ten email convincing him that that is not what we had agreement upon and i can not pay all that money now for something i am not sure of. He told me in few words that he will file nothing unless i pay the money. Now i need to ask, can i ask him to return my last payment and all the original documents including my labor certificate? What if he refused to give me the labor certificate? can i or my employer get another original on? Also can i and my employer file I-140 without his help?
Sameh Ghaly

If you believe that your attorney is changing the agreement on you mid way just to get more money out of you, you can always make a written complaint to the BAR of whichever state he lives in. Don't you have a written retainer which spells out in detail what processes are covered ?............You can always change attorneys at any stage, even if you owe them money. The rules of professional conduct forbids them from holding on to your documentation and would have to sue you civilly for any money.

On another matter though, I dont think you have a good grasp of how an attorney's office functions. Lawyers simply cannot do every piece of work , and give personal attention to every clients case from beginning to end. The same way a nurse in your office does some of the preparatory work before you see the patient, the same way an attorney's office functions. Thats why they hire paralegals and especially when its just form completion, its perfectly acceptable to have the paralegals do it. As a client also, you cannot become so unreasonable in your fears that you become a pest to the office, hundreds of email sounds very unusual and it will affect how they view you and ultimately the attitude to your case, I'm sure. Youre an educated person, why not read up on the USCIS website how the process works....its a lengthy process and if you believe that the office is cheating you , then chnage attorneys and report that one to the BAR