Vano I. Haroutunian

Read carefully before hiring --> What if I told you there had been no rating on this lawyer on Avvo before I posted a first one around a year ago, even though they had been practicing for decades, however now there's 10 same "good" vague reviews with only a few days apart? And mine gets recently dele...ted..isn't it suspicious? Before, on Google Maps, you could find their office "Ballon Stoll" with honest reviews - and they were, for the most part, very bad. Now they seem to even have deleted their NYC office location off the Maps, so that no one would read their clients' complaints. Well, after "someone" reported my previous review and got it deleted "because it lacked details", here you go: I consulted Vano Haroutunian from Ballon&Stoll for the first time on 07/11/23 to discuss my immigration visa possibility. I was told that since I am a physician, a researcher with an experience, EB-2NIW the best for me. I signed papers with them on 9/12/23. Since then, my case has been neglected, Vano and his team repeatedly and consistently failed to communicate with me regarding the process of my case. I did not receive any feedback, NOT EVEN regarding my INITIAL documents, including my visa, I-94 form, and the form that I filled out and saved on their Immigration Portal in September, that was necessary to initiate my case (fun fact - they removed it from the portal shortly after speaking to me on the phone 12/15/23, however, I have screenshots proving that i submitted it in SEPTEMBER for the 1st time). I was sent the link to the same form AGAIN in November "TO INITIATE MY CASE", which was obviously ALSO not reviewed, as I did not receive any feedback after the second time. Meanwhile, I sent all the necessary docs to apply. I was ensured that my case would be applied on time and BEFORE the expiration of my visa (Alla Velychko, paralegal, pointed it out in her letter on 11/11/23). My visa and I-94 were FIRST noticed by them only on 12/15/23, on 10th day AFTER my visa EXPIRATION, when I received a call from Alla Velychko. After that, she sent me a text including the link to the SAME form, asking me to fill it out AGAIN (for the THIRD time "TO INITIATE MY CASE"). Aleksandr Derevyanko via phone call on 12/15/23 advised me wrongly saying that EB-2 WOULD NOT give me a legal status ANYWAYS but EB-1 DEFINITELY WOULD, despite the fact that I had NO STATUS AT ALL at that particular moment. On 12/17/23 via Zoom Vano himself stated that with EB-1 case was the ONLY available option for me. I said I didn’t want to apply for talent visa, I don’t qualify for it. They said “oh it’s ok, we’ll just come up with something” and that I just had to PAY $2k MORE (making it a total of $15k). By then I already paid $6k out of $13k according to our contract. THE PROBLEM IS, one cannot apply for any immigration case unless they are in legal status (it is crystal clear on USCIS website). Once you go out of status - you need to either marry a citizen, file an asylum case, or leave the country. As a consequence of Mr. Haroutunian's incompetence and negligence I have been out of status since 12/5/23. Because of the stress that this situation caused me, I was having an exacerbation of my asthma and bronchitis, and I was going through the treatment process that caused me extra charges and even more stress. Hence, in my e-mail I terminated our relationship and hired a professional lawyer. When my new lawyer asked Vano for my immigration file be sent to him, they never did, because THERE WAS NO ANY FILE of me for 3 months working on my case. I requested a refund of MY money in the amount of $6k, because THERE WAS NO ANY SERVICE PROVIDED. I have not received ANY reply to this day. They continue to ignore me and my letters, I am pretty sure they have added me (and many other suffered people) to their blacklist. DO NOT HIRE them AT ALL COSTS, unless you want to lose your immigration status, money and health.