[ianhawes]

I work in the immigration industry. Not as a lawyer, but I own a business that is used extensively by both large and small immigration firms (ImmiTranslate).

I will say that some of your characterizations are accurate, and others are not. I've not worked with Peter before so I won't comment on him specifically, but your assertions about law vs. clerical work is spot on. I will add my own input as well.

Immigration attorneys in the US are similar to hacking groups, minus the illegality. Good hackers have their own 0day exploits. Good attorneys have their own techniques for obtaining legal status in the US. Dealing with USCIS/ICE/EOIR/State is akin to bureaucratic hacking. Anticipating what the Government agencies want to see and hear in your petition is their exploit. Finding the appropriate supplementary evidence is their payload.

I don't think your assertion of solo attys vs medium sized firms is accurate. In my experience, solo immigration attorneys focus on the easy to win cases (like K-1 visas and AOS). This segment of the market is diminishing because of the fact that it _is_ mostly clerical work.

Likewise, the big firms are simply too big and expensive to want to approach one-off cases. They deal with the FAANGs and Fortune 500 companies.

For those reading this, consider that everyone has exceptionally complex circumstances that surround their immigration status and legal options here in the US. Obviously Peter cannot comment on it and OP has not shared that much information.

[bootstrapper101]

Most people on this forum are asking about potentially EB-1, O1, E2, Entrepreneurship parole etc. These applications can get very complicated.

If it was a simple H1 application I think most solo practitioners would be fine.

I stand by my comment that you are better off with a mid size (4-10 lawyers) firm for more complicated cases.

Bigger firms are too bureaucratic and they want to make money with bulk H1 and L1 from bigger corps.

Single lawyer setups don't have strong processes and enough variety of expertise. Given that they are solo practitioners, there will be less checks and balances if the sole owner is giving bad or illegal advice.

In a 4-5 lawyer setup, everyone's skin is in the game. They are less likely to sell you snake oil.

In my case money was not an issue. Unfortunately I ended up choosing Peter because of YC's credibility ( he said that he is a YC advisor and their sole recommendation for immigration lawyers).

Many people here might wrongly believe that Peter is somehow a part of YC. So felt it might be a good idea to post my experience here!

[macksd]

> Dealing with USCIS/ICE/EOIR/State is akin to bureaucratic hacking. Anticipating what the Government agencies want to see and hear in your petition is their exploit.

Unfortunately this is very true of many other areas of the government. Reading through all of the paperwork and possessing all of the practical skills was insufficient for me to get approval to build a cabin. I couldn't figure out how to get anything past them. A couple of well-connected friends chimed in and boom - I got my permit.

[midnightclubbed]

This is a great insight. Thank you!

Most of the immigration process is simple paperwork as far as I can tell. Certainly simpler than filing US taxes. But as you note it is all in the details, and a good lawyer will know how to ensure applications are successful (and will tell you if you are unlikely to be successful).