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A few questions, then the door that fits.

Answer a few questions and this page names your next step, or gives you an honest no when another lawyer is the right call. It takes about a minute, the questions send nothing, and nothing is booked until you pick a time. Already know yours? The two doors are below.

Start here

Your answers stay in this browser

Your answers are not sent anywhere, stored under your name, or read by anyone at the firm, and they are gone when you close the tab. If you go on to book, or to send the email the result drafts for you, a two-character code goes along to the firm. It is not an answer, and none of your answers travel with it. A prospective client is owed confidentiality from the first question, so this is built not to collect anything in the first place.

Question 1 of 6

What are you trying to do?

Pick the closest one.

Booking does not create an attorney-client relationship.

The two doors, side by side

Whichever one the questions point at, this is what each door is, who you sit with, what it costs, and what happens before, during and after.

  • Intake

    My paralegal team, not me · 15 minutes

    Da Young Yu,Yasmin Majzoub

    Free

    Before

    Nothing is required. No documents, no resume, no plan. If you had those figured out, you would not need the intake.

    During

    They ask what is going on: your status now, the dates that matter, your employer if there is one, and what you have already tried. They write it down properly, so you never have to tell the story twice.

    After

    They tell you what a consultation with me would cover and whether it is worth booking yet. When the answer is not yet, they say not yet.

    What the intake is not

    This step is intake and scheduling. My paralegals do not give legal advice, do not tell you whether you qualify for anything, and do not recommend a visa category. That part is mine, and it happens in the attorney consultation.

    You pick a time on the intake calendar. Nothing is charged and nothing is committed by booking it.

    Booking does not create an attorney-client relationship.

  • Attorney consultation

    Joe Kwon, the attorney who would handle the case · 60 minutes

    $150

    If you go on to retain the firm for the matter the consultation covered, the fee is credited toward your fee for that case. The credit does not expire.

    Before

    Say what you want to ask about when you book, and send whatever record you have to the client portal that opens the moment you book. Start with your resume or CV. Naming the question is what lets me read your record beforehand, so the session starts at your answer rather than at the beginning.

    During

    You tell me what you have and what you are trying to do. I tell you what your record shows today, which categories it could support, which ones I would rule out and why, and what I would do next and in what order.

    After

    You leave with the next step named and its cost quoted. If that step is a Case Blueprint, I say so and why. If the honest next step is not me at all, I say that too.

    What you are paying for

    The legal read, not a sales call. Some of these end with me saying I would not take the case, or would not file it yet. That is a result of the session rather than a failure of it, and you leave knowing what would have to change.

    Booking asks you to write down what you want to ask about, and that question is required. It is what lets me read your record before we sit down, which is the part you are paying for.

    Booking does not create an attorney-client relationship.

    Consultation rescheduling, cancellation and refunds

Three rungs, in cost order. The first two are the doors above. The third is a written evaluation that follows a conversation rather than replacing one.

Intake Free
Attorney consultation $150
Case Blueprint $500

Questions people ask

What if the questions tell me this is not the right firm?

Then that is the answer, and you have saved yourself the intake. The page names what the firm does not do, rather than leaving you to guess, and points at a bar association directory you can search for someone who does that work. Nobody here will chase you about it afterward.

Is the free intake a consultation with you?

No. The free intake is with my paralegal team. They take the facts down, explain how the firm works and what things cost, and put you on the calendar when a consultation makes sense. The legal read is mine and it happens in the paid session. The firm does not advertise a free consultation with the attorney. If I ever offer one, it is my own decision in a particular case, not something you can book and not what most people get.

Why is the longer one paid?

Because it is the legal work rather than a pitch for the legal work. You are buying my read on your record: the categories it could support, the ones I would rule out, and the order I would do things in. Charging for it is also what keeps it honest. The session is paid work in its own right, so I have no reason to talk you into a case I do not believe in.

Does the consultation fee come off the case fee if I hire you?

Yes. If you go on to retain the firm for the matter the consultation covered, the fee is credited toward your fee for that case, and the credit does not expire. There is no deadline to decide by, because immigration timelines are often not yours to control and a clock would punish you for a delay you did not cause. The Case Blueprint credit is a separate thing with its own terms, and those are written on the Case Blueprint page.

Do I have to know what I want to ask before I book?

Yes, and that is the part that makes the session worth its fee. Booking asks you what you want to ask about, and I read that and whatever record you sent before we sit down. A booking that says "immigration options" buys you a session that starts with me learning your facts. A booking that names the question buys you a session that starts at the answer. If you cannot name a question yet, that is exactly what the free intake is for, and my team will tell you when it is worth booking me.

Other firms advertise a refund if the case is denied. Why don't you?

Because the thing you would get back is the wrong thing. In immigration the asset you are spending is time. A filing season. A status that runs out. The year a category was still open to you. If a case I should not have taken is denied, a refund returns the money and none of the years.

So I would rather give you the straight read before you pay me anything, including when the straight read is that I would not file this yet, or would not file it at all. No lawyer can guarantee an approval, because officers decide these and much of it is discretionary. A refund badge does not change that. It just moves the risk you can see onto the one you cannot.

What should I have ready?

For the consultation, whatever describes your record: a resume or CV, anything published about your work, and the dates. Entries into the United States, status changes, any prior filing and what came of it. It all goes in your client portal, which opens as soon as you book, and the resume is the one worth sending first.

Can we do this in Korean?

Yes. Both the intake and the consultation run in Korean or in English. My paralegal team includes a Korean speaker and I grew up speaking it. Tell us which you prefer when we first speak, and no one will hand you an interpreter you did not ask for.

What if I need to reschedule or cancel?

Use the links in your confirmation email. Rescheduling is free with at least 24 hours of notice, as many times as you need. The consultation fee is earned when you book, because the hour is held for you and the preparation begins then, so a cancellation is not refunded. Inside 24 hours, write to the team anyway and we will still try to move the session once. If you go on to hire the firm for the same matter, the consultation fee is credited toward your fee.

You do not have to use the questions.

If you would rather just write to someone, email the firm at staff@joekwonlaw.com and say what you are trying to do.

Back to the questions

Immigration benefits are decided by government officers who apply the law to the record in front of them, and many of them are discretionary. No attorney can promise you an approval, and anyone who does is telling you what you want to hear. What good lawyering controls is whether your case is complete, specific, and internally consistent, so that approving it is the officer's easiest path.

Viewing this website, using the chat, taking the eligibility questionnaire, or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. That relationship begins only when you and the firm sign a written engagement agreement and the first payment is made or the firm approves a payment arrangement.