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home | immigration & visas | using u-m retained immigration attorneys | process for using retained immigration counsel
Process for Using Retained Immigration Counsel
- Department decides to hire a foreign national.
- Department downloads the Request for Retained Immigration Counsel Form (Authorized Use Only).
- Department completes the form and selects the attorney it would like to work with from the approved Listing of U-M Retained Immigration Counsel or leaves this line blank if it would like the U-M International Center to select an attorney from the list for this case.
- Department faxes form to the U-M International Center at 734.615.2200.
- U-M International Center reviews the request to verify that the case is not the type of case the U-M International Center handles and to ensure that the case looks appropriate (i.e. the position is permanent, the person listed as the authorized signatory is a dean, director, or department chair). The U-M International Center also selects an attorney for this case if the department has left that line blank.
- U-M International Center faxes approved Request for Retained Immigration Counsel Form to the selected attorney and sends confirmation e-mail to the department contact.
- Using the information on the form, the attorney contacts the designated contact person in the department to schedule an intake meeting with the department contact, immediate supervisor and foreign national beneficiary.
- If the attorney is interested in accepting the case, the attorney should conduct a meeting with the department contact person, immediate supervisor and the employee to outline the process, responsibilities, and time commitments. The attorneys should advise departments that their offices, not the U-M International Center, will act as the primary contacts for cases.
- Attorney decides whether to accept the case. If the attorney accepts the case, he or she fills out the bottom portion of the Request for Retained Immigration Counsel Form. The attorney faxes the form back to the U-M International Center at 734.615.2200 within three business days of his or her meeting with the department contact, immediate supervisor and the employee.
- Departments communicate information about the case directly with attorney. The U-M International Center, however, will serve as a point of contact for attorney questions about U-M and for department questions about general immigration information.
- When the case is ready for filing, the authorized signatory (i.e., dean, director, or department chair) signs all appropriate paperwork.
- Attorney informs departments of the case status. When U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issues an approval, denial, or Request for Further Evidence (RFE), the attorney also faxes or mails a copy to the U-M International Center within 10 calendar days of the date it arrives in his or her office.
- If the case is a permanent residency case, the attorney mails an audit file containing all documents on the audit file checklist to the U-M International Center within 30 days of the date the attorney receives the approval notice. The U-M International Center maintains all audit files.
Last reviewed: 6/07 |
