How To Choose The Right Deportation Attorney
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Individuals may come to the attention of immigration officials for a number of reasons, from simply being pulled over by law enforcement, being investigated for past criminal offences or simply through a random employee check. However you may have come to the attention of immigration officials, what matters now is finding trustworthy and reliable counsel to support you through the deportation process and help you fight should you need to.
Finding the best deportation attorney for your case will involve a number of considerations and factors, here are a few things to consider.
Find out your deportation attorney’s credentials
To begin your search for a competent and trustworthy deportation attorney you will want to start by checking their credentials to make sure that they are who they say they are and not someone looking to profit from the plight of people in need. Once you have established that they are indeed an attorney, If possible you may also want to try and find out if they have had any complaints made against them or if they have had to face any disciplinary action. You may also want to consider when the attorney received their license to give you an idea of how long they have been practising and their experience in their field.
Interview several candidates
The deportation process can be lengthy and you will be spending a lot of time working with your deportation lawyer to build your case, it’s therefore important that your deportation lawyer is someone who you get along with. The interview stage is also your chance to learn more about each attorney, ask them how many deportation cases they have handled and what the outcomes of those cases were, although they will not be able to divulge the specifics due to confidentiality agreements, they should be able to provide you with fairly accurate statistics. It’s important to find a deportation attorney who is experienced in deportation law as it is a particularly complex part of the court system.
Talk about costs
Although money should not be the only deciding consideration in your choice of attorney it is an important factor and for many people will strongly influence who they may end up hiring. Talk about costs clearly and don’t be afraid to ask about fees during the interview stage, it’s important to try and have evidence of your agreed fees in writing to avoid any surprises later down the line.
Ask for references
Most deportation attorneys should be able to provide you with at least a couple of references who will be able to speak with you about their own experience with their attorney. Although you may be tempted to rush into an agreement with your attorney, where possible don’t skip this stage as first-hand experiences can be very helpful in helping you to make your decision and find the right attorney for you. Ask these references questions such as, was the attorney easy to get ahold of? Did they respond to emails? Did they keep you informed of progress? As these are all things that will be very important later down the line and can avoid you a lot of frustration and stress.