How much does an NIW lawyer cost?
NIW is the most cost-friendly employment-based green card path. Legal fees run ~$5,000 at published-price boutiques and $10,000–$15,000 at full-service firms, plus a $1,015 USCIS filing fee.
NIW allows self-petitioning under the Matter of Dhanasar framework — endeavor of substantial merit and national importance, applicant well-positioned to advance it, and a balance-of-factors argument for waiving the labor certification. Many petitioners draft the packet themselves and pay a lawyer only for final review. Compare firms below and pick a path — self-file, attorney review, or full-service.
| HQ · offices | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Alma New wave Technology-enabled immigration service for individuals and businesses. Legal services are provided by Alma Legal Services, P.C. | Palo Alto, CA 545 Bryant St, Palo Alto, CA 94301 | O-1 $8,000 · EB-1A / NIW $10,000 Published price | |
Berry Appleman & Leiden Big firm · Est. 1980 Global corporate immigration; standard practice is employer-billed matters. | Dallas, TX 13 US offices · 170+ countries | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
Boundless New wave Immigration platform with independent attorney support. Family-service entry prices are not comparable with O-1 or EB-1A engagements. | Seattle, WA | O-1 quote required · EB-1A pricing varies Partial / tiered | |
Bryant Immigration Law P.C. Boutique firm Specializes in corporate immigration, work visas, green cards, and founder/entrepreneur visas. Focuses on startups and growing companies. | San Diego, CA San Diego, CA | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Casium New wave Business immigration platform with attorney-led services for organizations and individuals, including O-1, EB-1A and NIW. | Seattle, WA | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners Boutique firm Respected NYC business-immigration boutique; equal corporate and individual work. | New York, NY | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Ellis Porter Boutique firm · Est. 2003 High-skilled-immigration boutique with tiered fees for RFE / consult / full case. | Troy, MI Ann Arbor · Detroit · Reading, UK | NIW from $6,500 · other routes: confirm Partial / tiered | |
Envoy Global Big firm · Est. 1998 Corporate immigration platform + affiliated law firm; sales-quoted pricing. | Chicago, IL US · India · London · Hong Kong | Subscription + legal · custom Quote only | |
Erickson Immigration Group Big firm High-touch corporate immigration firm; Fortune-50s to startups. | Arlington, VA San Francisco · Dublin · London · Singapore | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
Fakhoury Global Immigration Boutique firm Award-winning boutique firm focused on business immigration in over 180 countries, offering U.S., Canada, and global services with technology-driven solutions. | Troy, MI | Competitive flat rates Quote only | |
Formally New wave Global-mobility platform, B2B + individual. | San Francisco, CA | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Foster LLP Boutique firm · Est. 1973 Immigration-only firm; most board-certified immigration attorneys in Texas. | Houston, TX Austin · Dallas | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Founder Law (formerly Alcorn Immigration Law) Boutique firm · Est. 2007 Formerly Alcorn Immigration Law. Advises founders, startups, companies and individuals on extraordinary-ability and employment immigration. | Palo Alto, CA Palo Alto, CA; New York, NY | Consultation-based Quote only | |
Fragomen Big firm · Est. 1951 World's largest immigration firm; enterprise engagements, no public rate. | New York, NY ~60 offices · 170+ countries | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty Big firm Full-service firm with a well-regarded corporate immigration group. | New York, NY San Francisco | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Green & Spiegel (US) Big firm · Est. 1962 US arm of a 60+-year cross-border immigration firm. | Philadelphia, PA Providence · Vail · Orlando (+ Toronto) | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Greenberg Traurig Big firm AmLaw top-10 firm; 150+ immigration professionals. | Miami, FL 51 offices worldwide | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
GreenCardLink Boutique firm EB-1/NIW boutique with an approval-or-no-fee guarantee; dollar figure not posted. | Palo Alto, CA | Approval-or-no-fee guarantee Quote only | |
HSF Kramer Big firm Ex-Kramer Levin; large, well-regarded US immigration group post-merger. | New York, NY 26 offices · US: NYC · DC · Silicon Valley | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
Jackson Lewis Big firm National labor & employment firm; immigration is a dedicated practice group. | White Plains, NY ~61 offices | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
Klasko Immigration Law Partners Boutique firm Dedicated EB-1 team and technical writers; works with universities, hospitals, research institutions and individual applicants. | Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia, PA; New York, NY; Washington, DC | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
LegalOS New wave Immigration service platform offering work-visa and employment-green-card support through independent immigration attorneys. LegalOS Inc. is not a law firm. | Remote | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Lighthouse New wave Immigration platform working with independent licensed attorneys; serves individuals and employers, including technology companies. | San Francisco, CA | O-1 $10,000 · EB-1A / NIW $15,000 Published price | |
Littler Mendelson Big firm · Est. 1942 World's largest labor & employment firm; immigration & global-mobility group. | San Francisco, CA ~100 offices · 28 countries | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
Locke Immigration Law Boutique firm Founder is a former Foreign Service visa officer; senior-counsel handling. | Atlanta, GA 750 Piedmont Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30308 | Flat fee · quote required Quote only | |
Maggio Kattar Boutique firm DC's largest immigration-only firm; dedicated O-1 / EB-1A / NIW pages. | Washington, DC CA · OH · TX | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Manifest Law New wave O-1 practice covering software engineering, product, design, leadership and the arts, with published service tiers. | Remote (US) | O-1 $6,999–$12,500 · tiered plans Partial / tiered | |
Murthy Law Firm Boutique firm Well-known specialty immigration firm; individuals through Fortune 500. | Owings Mills, MD | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Ogletree Deakins Big firm · Est. 1977 Am Law 100 labor & employment firm with a full immigration practice. | Greenville, SC ~60 offices | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
Plymouth Street New wave Immigration service for technologists, founders and researchers. Publishes customer examples in AI and scientific research. | New York, NY | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
ResearcherGreenCard Boutique firm · Est. 2013 Getson & Schatz practice focused on scientific researchers, with published I-140 fees and conditional refund arrangements. | Philadelphia, PA 230 South Broad Street, Suite 1001, Philadelphia, PA 19102 | EB-1A / EB-1B / NIW $5,500 legal fee Published price | |
Seyfarth Shaw Big firm Am Law full-service firm with a dedicated EB-1 team. | Chicago, IL ~17 offices | Employer-billed · custom quote Quote only | |
Stelmakh & Associates, LLC Boutique firm · Est. 2006 Boutique business-immigration firm founded in Silicon Valley and based in Seattle, focused on O-1, EB-1A and EB-2 NIW cases for tech and startup professionals. | Seattle, WA | Quote-only (estimate at consultation) Quote only | |
Vanguard Visa Law Boutique firm Business immigration practice with specific EB-1A and NIW services for technology professionals and immigration strategies for founders and startups. | Silicon Valley, CA Silicon Valley; Chicago; DC metro | Quote-only Quote only | |
WeGreened / Chen Boutique firm · Est. 2004 NIW and EB-1 petition practice offering several service and conditional refund/refiling arrangements. | Vienna, VA Nationwide · multiple US offices | Case-specific fee · conditional refund options Quote only | |
WR Immigration Boutique firm Wolfsdorf Rosenthal; 40+ attorneys across corporate and individual practices. | Santa Monica, CA LA · SF · Oakland · San Diego · Boston · NYC · Shanghai | Custom · quote-only Quote only | |
Zhang & Associates Boutique firm High-volume EB-1/NIW firm (hooyou.com); thousands of approvals claimed. | Houston, TX Seattle · SF · San Jose · LA · Chicago | Custom · quote-only Quote only |
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