A new G-28 replaces the old representative. Getting the file is a separate step, and deadlines do not pause while you switch.
Reviewed by Ekaterina Fitenko, Esq. — Florida Bar #1064536. With 20+ years of experience in the legal field, she advises Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking clients on immigration filings and case strategy, in English and Russian.
Representation before the immigration agencies is established by Form G-28, and it is changed the same way: the new attorney files a G-28, which supersedes the previous representative's appearance for that matter. You do not need the former lawyer's permission, and the agency does not arbitrate the reason.
Notify the former firm in writing regardless. It is the cleanest record of when responsibility passed, and that date matters if something is missed in the gap.
Ask for the client file: copies of everything filed on your behalf, receipts and notices, correspondence with the agency, and the documents you provided. Request it in writing and specify a date.
Not everything in a lawyer's folder is the client file — internal analysis and drafts may be treated as the firm's work product — but the filings, the notices and your own documents are what a new lawyer needs, and those are precisely what should be produced.
This is the part that causes damage. A response deadline, a hearing date or an expiring status does not pause while you change representatives. When a switch happens under time pressure, the first task is to establish the next date in the case, before any discussion of strategy.
If you do not know what is pending, that is itself the emergency: the receipts and notices tell you, which is another reason to obtain the file quickly.
A disagreement about fees with a former lawyer is resolved through the fee dispute mechanisms of the relevant bar, not by withholding the file or by delaying the case. Keeping the two questions apart protects the case, which is the thing with deadlines attached.
Bring the filings, the receipts, every notice with its date, any refusal with its stated grounds, and a chronology. A new lawyer cannot assess what they cannot see, and reconstructing a case from memory costs more than the consultation it replaces.
No. The new attorney files Form G-28, which supersedes the previous appearance for that matter. Notify the former firm in writing to record when responsibility passed.
The client file — filings made on your behalf, receipts, notices, correspondence and the documents you provided — should be produced on request. Internal drafts and analysis may be treated as the firm's work product.
It still applies. Deadlines and hearing dates do not pause for a change of representative, so establishing the next date in the case is the first task, ahead of any strategy discussion.
It should not. Fee disputes are handled through the relevant bar's mechanisms and kept separate from the case, which is the part carrying deadlines.
Everything filed, every receipt and notice with dates, any refusal with its grounds, and a written chronology. Without those a new lawyer is assessing a description rather than a case.
$200 for 30 minutes, in English or Russian. Call (305) 315-3425 or email fitenkolaw@gmail.com to schedule, or start with the intake form.
This article is informational only and is not legal advice. Immigration rules, fees and processing times change; confirm current requirements with the agency or with counsel before relying on anything here.
Fitenko Law PLLC, 11555 Heron Bay Blvd, Suite 277, Coral Springs, FL 33076 (main office); 600 Three Islands Blvd, Hallandale Beach, FL 33009 (by appointment only). Phone: (305) 315-3425. Email: fitenkolaw@gmail.com