NOTE: Many,
many people call us or email our offices with a single, simplistic question:
"how much does it cost for you to get my (fill in the blank) into the U.S."?
This type of question is impossible to answer until the attorney has learned
something about your case, the goals you want to achieve and any potential
problems or difficulties that may arise in the case. Therefore, we simply do
not respond to this sort of "how much does X cost question" when that is the
only question asked and no further information is provided.
After our
attorneys have sufficient information about your case, they may advise you
that you need no legal representation at all, they may advise you that you need limited
representation only for certain potential rough spots in your case, or they
may advise that you need full representation. Only with sufficient information about your case can an
attorney advise you as to your available options and potential costs. We
believe in full and open communication about fees and costs.
We genuinely welcome questions regarding fees and costs when the client or
potential client has given us enough information on which to advise
them. For additional information on attorney's fees and costs, please see
our more detailed information page on fees and
costs.
If the initial consultation involves a simple matter or simple question(s) that the attorney believes can be handled or answered by the attorney in a brief period of time (i.e., less than 10 minutes) there is no charge. However, if the attorney believes that the initial consultation will take considerably more time, there is an initial consultation fee of $100 USD (or 4500 Thai Baht + 7%VAT at our Bangkok office) for consultations of up to one hour. After one hour, there is an additional charge of $25 USD (or 1125 Thai Baht + 7%VAT at our Bangkok office) for each additional 15 minute period. Normally, it is only a very unusual, difficult or complex case which requires more than a 1-1 ½ hour initial consultation, unless the client has an unusually large number of questions, unusual factual circumstances in his/her case, or wishes to obtain very detailed, technical legal information from the attorney. After the initial consultation, if the client wishes to retain our offices to represent him and, if we agree to accept the case, the client is provided with a written fee agreement specifically stating the services to be performed by the attorney, the flat fee or case fee to be paid for those services and the attorney's best estimate of projected third party costs. The consultation fee is required to be paid prior to, or at the consultation. Our offices accept payment by cash, cashier's check, international money order, credit card or wire transfer. Please note that for all services performed at our Asia office, the Thai government requires that a 7% Value Added Tax (VAT) be added to any service bill. Remittances to our North American office may be made in U.S. Dollars. Remittances to our Asia office may be made in U.S. Dollars or Thai Baht.
In many cases, all necessary communication in a case can be handled by telephone, email, fax or regular mail. We also conduct initial consultations via video-cam conference through the net for those clients equipped to do so. However, in some cases, face to face meetings are not only desirable, they are mandatory. We are always happy to meet personally with any of our clients at our offices, or at other locations in the United States and abroad if the client wishes to do so. If we feel that a personal meeting is absolutely essential to your case, we will advise you of the reasons why it is necessary and the costs before the meeting is arranged. We have successfully handled many cases for clients with whom our only contact was by phone, fax, mail and email. It is an unusual feature of Immigration Law practice that this method of representation is not only possible, it is quite common and works efficiently and well.
If you would like one of our attorneys to make a preliminary evaluation of your case, and respond to your inquiry, please click below to open and complete an online form providing as much of the information as possible. The more information we have, the better we can evaluate your case.
**Under all circumstances, the information which you provide will be kept strictly confidential in conformity with the requirements of the professional canons of the U.S. legal profession. If you do not use a forms capable, or Netscape secure web browser, or have specific security concerns regarding net transmission of your information, you may print this form and mail or fax to us at the addresses or facsimile numbers set forth on the home page. Clients located in North America, Central America, South America and Western Europe may forward to our U.S. office. All others, please forward to our Asia office.
