Emily Gail Sumner

My husband and I met Emily on June 16th, 2014 for consultation because I had a J1 Visa expiring on January 2015. Emily was very sincere and straight forward concerning our options and she told us exactly what to expect. We decided to start the marriage-based I-130 and I-485 application. She gave us a...ll the information as well as a list of documents we needed to send to her office for them to fill the corresponding USCIS forms. Emily and her team replied promptly to all our questions and concerns. All phone calls and emails were promptly returned even at non-working hours and holydays!!. We had meetings at her office for her to coach us before important events like the fingerprints appointment and the interview with the immigration officers. She was there for us during all the process. I received my Green Card on March 30th, 2015 and I must say It should have come long time before that but because personal situations my husband and I were not able to provide earlier all the documents to Emily. She was all the time pendant of us and offering us her advices and help to successfully complete this process. For me is very important to say to my fellow immigrants that going through this immigration process has to be taken seriously and it is worth to get a professional, responsible, experienced, knowledgeable, trustworthy and for me personally, genuinely caring and committed attorney, and that's exactly what Emily is. She loves what she does and that makes the difference. I'm very glad we found her and I would definitely recommend her to anyone with immigration issues. For my future immigration issues for sure I will hire her again.

Let me start by saying I've heard of people filing their own immigration paperwork with disastrous results. If you have an immigration matter pending, lawyer up. plain and simple. (You wouldn't perform open heart surgery on yourself would you? So why gamble with your future?). I was an H4 visa h...older and my spouse an H-1B at the time I decided to hire Mrs. Sumner. We were expecting our priority date for adjustment of status (greencard) to become current in 2015 or 2016, and all of a sudden in September 2013 we realized against all odds, our priority date had become current and we needed to apply for adjustment of status immediately. We had previously been working with another lawyer who although did produce results had 2 very unappealing characteristics: He always took forever to respond to my emails or to call me back, and his fees were really high, so I decided It was time for a change. I found Emily Sumner and her firm Sumner Immigration Law through avvo.com. I live in the middle of nowhere. There are no immigration lawyers here, let alone good ones. So I needed a lawyer that could handle my case exclusively via email. I searched avvo.com for lawyers in the general Maryland / Virginia / D.C. area and something caught my eye about Mrs. Sumner: Even thou all their reviewers praised her and gave her nothing but high marks and 5 stars all the way, her avvo score at the time was 8.8 instead of 10. It was then that I understood that even if a lawyer gets 5 stars in all his/her reviews, avvo won't give them a 10 most of the time because they factor in some other internal scores of theirs like industry recognition. It was then when I realized for all intents and purposes, I was looking at a 10 out of 10 lawyer and probably one I was not gonna have to pay and arm and a leg to hire. Just a knowledgeable lawyer, with an outstanding track record to work on my case. Exactly what I needed. So I gave her a call, and left a message with her paralegal. To my surprise, she personally called me back within the hour. Every question I asked her (out of a gazillion questions I had, mind you) she answered with the same level of professionalism and enthusiasm for the law that she answered the first. She also assured me she was used to handling cases via email and that not only she had customers in the Maryland / Virginia area but all over the country. Finally came time to talk about money. Have in mind, I was not expecting any of this to take place until 2015 at the earliest so when all of a sudden I'm told I have to pay uncle Sam over 2 grand just in filing fees and on top of that, pay my lawyer, to say I was put in a tight spot would be an understatement. Mrs. Sumner's fee structure was very reasonable. Her fees were fair, and when I explained my situation, she graciously offered me the option to pay her fee in 3 installments and I could even use my credit card. I was sold. The process from the get go was extremely fluid. Every email I wrote was answered almost immediately and she kept me in the loop every step of the way. Every payment I made to her firm was made through Google wallet which was super quick and easy and you don't even have to share your credit card number with anybody. They just send you an email with a link and you enter your credit card information on a secure website yourself. I even received a dreaded request for evidence from USCIS in the middle of the process due to an error on USCIS part and Mrs. Sumner handled it like a champ, resubmitting the necessary documents in less than 24 hours. Exactly 2 months after I first contacted and hired Mrs. Sumner, I had my greencard in my hands. Of course, your particular case might differ, some greencards take up to a year depending on the particulars and nature of every individual case (family based greencards vs. employer sponsored ones, etc) so your mileage might definitely vary, but what I can assure you is hiring Mrs. Sumner will be one of the best decisions you ever make.

Emily is one of the best lawyer in town. We filed for my wife I-485 based on marriage as I already have my GC. It took less than 3 months for the whole process...starting from sending our documents to USCIS till my wife got her GC. I panicked so many times during this process, but Emily was always th...ere for us to calm us down and give us the positive vibes. One of the example when the interviewer didn't ask any question such as where you meet? how you meet? Nothing. The interviewer told us she will review our case. That's it.So we were confused and scared at the same time even though there was nothing to hide as our marriage is genuine. She helped us prepare for the interview, pointed out our weak points and how we can improve it and make it our strength. I can't stress this enough, but if you are looking for a lawyer who is knowledgeable and help you in your GC processing, she is the one.

I have worked with a lot of immigration attorneys in the past for various needs for family and friends. I have not had to find a new attorney since I got in touch with Emily. I have known her since her early days as an attorney and she was the best one at her job in that office. It was only natura...l that with continued success with DHS and USCIS, and recommendations from all her clients, that she started her own firm. The best part of it is that she is even more accessible now and with her expertise in the immigration field, she is able to help out quicker than ever. She worked with me and helped customize my solution to my issues ( as all of you know, immigration rules are the same, but each situation is different). She is very approachable and quick to follow up. You can rely on her advice and she will do everything within the rules of the law to help you succeed. Apart from being good with what she does, she is a good human being and a delight to deal with. I wish her all the success in helping others figure out this complex immigration system.

Emily Sumner has been my legal counsel since 2006 when she handled a somewhat complicated turn of events related to my change of status from HOB-J1. This was a matter in which we had hours to act rather than days, in order for me to avoid having to leave and reenter the country and Emily’s competen...ce and professionalism saved the day for me something that I remember to this day. Emily ensured that my application material was prepared and dispatched the very same day which was no mean task considering it was a late on a Friday afternoon about one hour before closing. She clearly knew her trade well and was acutely aware of my needs and urgency/time lines involved even before I had a chance to explain everything to her. Her timely intervention was critical in me maintaining legal status during the status transfer period and obtaining the J1 visa with no further delays/ issues. Since then I have relied on Emily's expertise for all my visa related issues, including removal of my 2 year home residence for the federal Govt J1 visa in 2008, Green card Application in 2010 and issues related to removal of the provisional status on the GC in 2011. I have a continuing legal relationship sometimes seeking advice in an informal manner. Inspite of her busy schedule she has always been very responsive, detailed and through in her replies. It is an asset to have a competent, experienced and trustworthy legal counsel who you can rely on and I remain deeply indebted and extremely grateful to Emily for all her support and help. Indeed, I have had no hesitation in recommending Emily to close friends for their legal needs and am not surprised that they have gone on to build their own strong legal relationship with her. I wish Emily the very best as she branches out with her own firm and am sure with her indebt knowledge, competence and winning attitude, she will continue to be a successful attorney and asset to all her clients