Marina Shepelsky

Review of Law Offices of Marina Shepelsky, P.C. We reached out to Marina Shepelsky for legal assistance and paid for a consultation. Our main concern was clarifying the status of U4U and TPS, since my fiancé had to travel to Europe due to health issues. In the USCIS system, U4U was still shown as ...active, and we needed clear advice on whether TPS was still valid and if any action was required. To make the consultation effective, her office asked us to send all our questions in advance, which we did — we prepared a detailed document describing our situation and listing every question. On the day of the consultation, Marina arrived 15 minutes late. We understood this and didn’t mind. However, what surprised us was that she had not reviewed our document at all. She was unfamiliar with our case and gave very superficial answers, showing little interest in understanding the details of our situation. It felt like she just wanted to finish quickly. The advice she gave turned out to be inaccurate and harmful. For example: She advised us to file late registration for TPS. Following her advice, we contacted a specialist who informed us that such a filing was not only unnecessary but could actually cancel the existing TPS status. When we went back to Marina with this, she admitted that was indeed the case. She also told us that if my fiancé were on an H1B visa, his spouse could work. Later, during a consultation with another attorney, we learned that this was incorrect — the spouse of an H1B holder cannot work without independent work authorization. Because of these mistakes, we wasted time, money, and experienced unnecessary stress. Based on our experience, we strongly do not recommend working with Marina Shepelsky. The consultation was not worth the money, and instead of clarity, we received misleading advice that could have harmed our immigration situation.

We are a couple from Russia, preparing to seek asylum in the U.S. We turned to Shipelsky Law, signed a contract with Marina, and paid part of the fee while still in Russia. We were promised assistance, even in the event of detention at the border. During the 8 months we spent waiting in Mexico, co...ntact with the attorneys was minimal. The consultation kept getting postponed. A detailed consultation was given only a week before crossing the border — we were assured there would be no detention and that we didn’t need to prepare for such a scenario. Yet all immigrant groups were saying the opposite. In the end, both of us were detained and placed in immigration detention, where we went through fear interviews. We were unable to reach the attorneys during the first two weeks — they didn’t respond to calls or messages from our relatives. When we finally made contact, we were told that the firm does not provide assistance in such situations and that the ENTIRE team was going on vacation at once. Support was cut off, and a refund was denied. As a result, we were left without legal help at the most critical moment. Similar situations happened to other clients of this firm. We are deeply disappointed and strongly advise you to avoid Marina and this company.

I hired Marina to handle my I751 waiver case, and I wish I went with another lawyer. I never felt like she cared about my case, her main concern being the money she charges her clients. Overall the office/appointment etiquette was poor: on a couple of occasions I would take off work to make it to the... appointment with her (I work far away), - only to get a call mid-way saying that she had to leave the office due to some circumstances. When in office, I had to wait for an hour or so for her to be done with her other appointments. Oftentimes, I would be waiting, while she would take care of her personal matters or plans for the evening. During a couple of my appointments, she would get interrupted by a personal call, or text and she would stop our conversation to respond to it. Her etiquette overall is poor, and I always felt like she is doing me a favor during the appointments, even though I was the one paying for the services. For my case, she did not explain to me all the consequences that could occur if my case was denied. I think she should have done a better job explaining all the pros and cons of my situation to me. Once I got a letter to go to an interview, - again, it took the office about 2 weeks just to set up an appointment with me (the interview was to be in a month), and during that time she rescheduled once on me. When I finally had an appointment with her, she spent with me 30 minutes at most and very high level went over the questions that they may ask during the interview. In my initial contract she cited a certain price that she would eventually charge if I had to go to an interview, - however when we discussed the price a year from then, she cited a much higher rate, explaining it by saying that she needs to study the case (the case that she was very familiar with). I ended up picking a different lawyer last minute, since I was not comfortable she would do a good job representing me.

M.s Shepelsky represented me for both immigration and divorce. I was a victim of domestic violence. She took my case immediately and helped me over a period of 2 years to get my green card. She was always on time with submitting all the documents to the government, did not over charge me, and replie...d to all my emails and calls. She was extremely kind and I recommend her to all individuals waiting for good legal help.