Do Immigration Lawyers Offer Payment Plans?

Some do, some do not. This article will shed light on immigration lawyer billing practices so you can find an attorney who fits your needs.

Why Some Immigration Lawyers Do Not Offer Payment Plans

Partial Payment or Monthly Billing Is Complex and Error-Prone

A typical payment plan for a $5,000 immigration case might look like an initial payment of $1,000 and then $500 per month for eight months until the remaining $4,000 balance is paid. On the client end, what happens if they miss a payment? Attorneys are unlikely to want to assess penalties, but what can happen is the bookkeeping for the payment plan can become inaccurate, and the client can be over- or under-billed, or the attorney can stop working on your case. It’s unlikely for an attorney’s office to have a trained bookkeeper in-house to manage only payment plan clients, so it becomes a part-time task for someone doing a different primary job at the firm.

Immigration Lawyers Don’t Want To Behave Like Loan Sharks

Another reason some attorneys dislike payment plans is simply that they don’t like “being a bank”. Their job and primary function is to do legal work, not chase after people for payments, and some have learned from experience that it’s not worth it. No immigration lawyer went to law school and dreamed about hassling someone for a payment if they’re two weeks late - they need the money to complete the case, but it doesn’t feel good to them to do that. So they forego offering payment plans.

Why Some Immigration Lawyers Offer Payment Plans

Some Immigration Matters Are Expensive, and People Cannot Pay All At Once

Some cases are expensive, time-consuming for the lawyer and client and it’s unreasonable to expect that client to pay as a lump sum, or even in two halves, but the work needs to be performed. This is more applicable to a detained deportation case with multiple court appearances, but can apply to marriage green cards or any other case type depending on your financial situation. So it would be impossible for an attorney to charge a fair price and stay in business if they didn’t offer payment plans.

Consumer Preference

Some people prefer paying all at once, and others constitutionally prefer to pay over time, and that’s totally fine! If you don’t offer payment plans, you lose the second group, which isn’t great for a law practice.

What We Do At Our Firm, The Law Offices of Susanna Litwack

We split the difference.

All of Our Cases Are Flat-Fee Billing

Clients hate being billed hourly, so we don’t do it. In a consultation, Attorney Litwack will analyze the specifics of your case, arrive at a flat fee price, and that is all you pay, except for any government fees that are paid directly to the US Government.

We Bill Based On Milestones

We always collect payment in at least two halves: at the start of the case, and before the case is filed with the government or the court. If it’s a simpler, shorter-duration case, those are the two milestones. However, if the case is more complex and will last a year, sometimes the appropriate number of milestones is four or even eight, tied to work done and events in your case that make sense.

We Are Flexible About Payment Type

We accept checks, e-checks, and credit cards, which allow you to pay on your own schedule. We have also recently added a new payment type: Affirm.

We Accept Affirm

If you haven’t heard of it, Affirm is a Buy Now, Pay Later financial platform that allows our clients to choose a payment schedule that works for them, and then receive a loan for that amount if they qualify on the platform. Interest is charged, but there are no fees outside of that. If you qualify, our office is paid upfront for the full amount of your case, and then the payment plan is between you and Affirm, who are wholly separate from us.

From our perspective, Affirm is a fair and trustworthy third party platform that is qualified to professionally manage payment plans, and we want to offer the option of many different flexible payment plan terms if our standard billing milestones are not workable for a potential client.

If You Have An Immigration Case, Get in Touch

We are here to help. Fill out the form below or call us at (818) 860-1123 and an intake specialist will get in touch with you right away.