Caro Kinsella

IR1/CR1 Visa application: This was one of the worst experiences my wife and I have had. In summary our application was neglected for 5 months with no contact at all during which time we assumed it was being worked on but this was not the case. We were patient and understanding in the face of COVID de...lays but there are no excuses for the level of service we received. There were positives, we had no denials and the USCIS stage was approved within 8 months which was good. The level of service disintegrated once we had paid over all of the instalments. We had to chase them on EVERY single email for a response, it took them months to upload a simple few documents. We paid all NVC processing fees immediately and responded to all requests for information from their office within a few hours. We had no contact from their office from June 1st 2020 to October 24th prompted by a mail from us on October 15th. They say there is a ’45-60 Business day’ timeline which is misleading. This timeline begins when they have all of your documents and information. It took from June 1st to December 17th for their office to request all of the required documentation, and it was well into February 2021 before they were uploaded. We had to constantly chase them to upload our documents, we provided everything very quickly to them and had to follow up almost every time for fear of not getting a response at all. It would not be uncommon for a week to go by with no response to an email. They didn’t take any phone calls during COVID which was a farce and left us feeling in the dark the entire time. We were consistently told that the delay was the fault of the National Visa Centre but this was never the case, the CEAC portal which an applicant/petitioner/attorney uses to upload documents was always operational. I was advised I needed to get all US vaccinations despite a quick search on travel.state.gov showing I only needed one. We were never informed of the need for the police report until the last minute. Forms were sent to us for review which were populated based on the info we provided and had inaccuracies. One form uploaded to the CEAC portal was uploaded in the wrong place inexplicably and was thus rejected. We needlessly required a co-sponsor due to us never being informed by their office that we could upload additional financial documentation to accompany the I-864, which resulted in us being charged an additional fee. These issues and more delayed our move to the US significantly. I can totally understand the US embassy in Dublin having interviews delayed due to the public health advice, but this was not the cause of our delay. We weren’t even at a point where the NVC could review our documents and thus were not in the queue at all. We feel there was a lack of empathy and understanding for what is a very stressful process. One would hire an office like this to take away some of the stress and provide a modicum of peace of mind, with no guarantees of success but at least a certain duty of care and efficiency. This is too important an application to risk the level of service we received. The only remedy we were offered was ‘an excellent level of service’ by a different member of the team to take over our case personally. This level of service is what we expected from the outset, not as a last resort. We were originally advised that we would be updated on progress and guided through the process, but this never happened. I would urge anyone thinking of starting the IR1/CR1 process, do not hire this office.

By far, Caro is the best lawyer with whom my husband and I have ever worked with. From the moment we began communicating with her, we knew we were in good hands. She was sincerely concerned with every detail of our case and made us feel like we were the only clients she had, which is not an easy task.... Her attention to each and every detail and the prep session she provided us helped a lot in us gaining confidence when we went for our immigration interview.

Emailed them to request more information on assistance with securing a k-1 visa. I specifically requested information on retainer fee pricing and if I could ask questions. Was booked for a 10 minute call where I thought i would be speaking to an attorney. Turns out it was an assistant who only blurte...d out that you would need to first book a consultation appt for the following week and pay $225 before she would agree to take any questions. She had zero empathy and acted as though she was telemarketing a service, very unprofessional. They operate mostly out of Ireland and give the impression that they are desperate for business. I got a bad feeling from them and ended the call. Would not recommend them! No lawyer will take a call from you, just random office secretaries, not even a paralegal. It’s too bad, they are recommended as a top LGBT issues attorney office but operate like a payday loan company.