Thursday, August 14, 2008

Immigration lawyers - are they really helpful?

Today I would like to share with you another personal observation. I meet a lot of immigrants and I went through the immigration process myself and I know that out of all organizations there is only one with which an immigrant deals most closely and sometimes for a very long period of time, not just months but years - this is the office of their immigration lawyer. Since every immigrant spends so much time (and money) dealing with an immigration lawyer from the point of view of the former the latter is considered to be an expert on a wide variety of issues related to immigration and generally life in the U.S. Immigrants seek advice from their immigration lawyers beyond their visa or green card but how willing are they to help? - Not very much.

When "The Legal Alien's Guide" was published I sent an official letter and press release to all immigration lawyers in Chicagoand that I could find in an official legal directory on the Internet. I believed that they should see the value of it and make sure each there client knows about it and may be have access to it in their office if the need be. Not a single lawyer responded! Not one wanted to learn more information to provide their clients better service and help them with a friendly advice on life after green card. Nobody wanted to deal with something they are not paid for.

The only immigration lawyer that expressed interest and understood the value of the guide was Tony Kim whom I met at one of the networking events and now his profile is featured on "Best of Chicago" page on the "Legal Alien's Guide" website http://www.legalaliensguide.com/BestChic I guess he was the only one interested because he really new what hardships immigrants endure since his parent immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea.

So I would challenge every immigration lawyer (and you can challenge yours too) to open their minds beyond legal matters and not do their job with just with one goal of making money but with a goal of helping people they bring into this country as much as they can.

I would qualify every immigration lawyer working in Chicagoland according the following grade system:
Grade 1: he/she heard about "The Legal Alien's Guide" and can give some advice on life after green card
Grade 2: he/she has a copy of "The Legal Alien's Guide" in their office so that a client can have a look at it and find the information he needs
Grade 3: he/she presents each client with "The Legal Alien's Guide" for FREE as a "thank you" for spending thousands of dollars in THEIR legal office. This to me would be the highest level of customer service.

So ask your lawyer and see where he/she stands. I think lawyers became too money focused and would not move their finger for anything you have not covered by your check and I believe it's time to do something to make them become more customer-focused.

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Most helpful Chicago Guide
http://www.legalaliensguide.com

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