Mercy Josepha Sequeira

I hired Mercy to obtain my Citizenship and later also to process my son Green Card application. Mercy was very detailed oriented, answered all my emails and assured me that the whole process would run smoothly. I obtained my citizenship in 5 month and after that I my son got his Green Card in 6 month.... It was not the cheapest but I was very pleased and happy with my experience, so I would recommend Mercy to anyone who requires legal advice and visa applications.

Overall I was happy that we hired Mercy Sequeira to help with our Adjustment of Status case based on marriage after entry on a K-1 visa. We were referred to her by my employer, and my legal insurance plan paid her fees for the paperwork preparation. (We didn't ask her to come to the AOS interview, be...cause she let us know the fee wasn't covered by my insurance, and we didn't have any problems at all -- the interview was pleasant.) There were a few minor issues in the paperwork process, but in general things went smoothly and the application was approved (hooray!) Good points: * We had some complicated issues due to a long last name after marriage, and Mercy helped us make a plan of action for dealing with the long name. This was the primary reason we wanted legal help. * Mercy always emailed us promptly with status updates. Sometimes she would receive a status update from immigration before we did, and it was nice knowing we had a reliable backup in case we misplaced the mail! * Mercy was available on email, which I appreciate, and we also had a couple long phone consultations. Overall the process was speedy. * There were a few typos that Mercy spotted on our paperwork and corrected before submitting to USCIS. Points for improvement: * There was one point where Mercy asked us to do an additional medical exam that wasn't necessary, because of how our particular case had progressed. I read the USCIS information carefully to determine we were ok without the extra exam, and Mercy agreed after some discussion. This was slightly frustrating, but I understand that the USCIS instructions are often confusing and even inconsistent, as far as I can tell. My recommendation is to double-check and discuss with your lawyer when questions like this come up. It's probably better to treat your legal help as a knowledgeable partner instead of a perfect oracle :) * While preparing the paperwork and sending documents over, there was one time when Mercy couldn't find a document I sent; I simply forwarded my previous email to her when she said she hadn't received it. Not a huge deal, but probably there is room for some process improvement to streamline such things. I should point out that our case was rather easy, and I feel like we would have been fine without legal help, aside from the confusion about the long name. However, it gave us peace of mind and sped up the process to have Mercy's help -- especially with the long name issue -- so I'm happy we had her assistance.

I have been working with the offices of Mercy Sequeira for over ten years. I first had contact with her offices when my employer filed my H-1 B visa on my behalf. at that time I lived outside the country. Mercy was very detailed oriented, answered all my emails and assured me that the whole process w...ould run smoothly. I lived outside the country at the time my H-1B petition was filed. Mercy Sequeira was always available by email to answer all my questions and help myself and my family procure our H-1B visas to enter the United States. Over the years she represented me on my H-1B extensions and then for my green card, the whole green card process took several years as a result of the backlogs. I finally was able to file my adjustment of status. She represented my wife and children in their adjustment of status as well and thanks to her hard work, my whole family including myself became permanent residents. We eventually applied to become U.S, citizens and she represented us during the process. I can proudly say my whole family are U.S. citizens now thanks to her hard work. We couldn't be happier with her service and are grateful for her kindness and compassion during this very long and stressful process. We are all now proud U.S. Citizens and highly recommend her to others. She always gave us her time, put our minds at ease and was very reasonable with her fees.

Here it the detailed run down: Lack of Thoroughness: Attorney asked for the same paperwork (the G28 form) 3 times via email even though I attached it each time and explained so in the body of the email.  By the third email she asked me to mail it in because she needed original signatures.  If tha...t was the case initially it would've been more efficient to ask for this at the first email.  It was also clear from the interaction that she did not read our emails thoroughly.  Unprofessional Communication: Attorney S did not disclose her fees in the beginning. We assumed that the rate was $70/h based on the rates given to us by LegalAccess. After she has already finished a draft of a letter she was to send for us did she disclose that her fees were fixed at $350 for any interaction at all and $750 for the interview.  I then asked her to take no further action until I have cleared with LegalAccess.  After I cleared with LegalAccess, I decided against continuing with her services given the cost compared to the quality of service thus far. Unbeknownst to me however, she has already mailed in the letter without informing me.  That's fine, I thought, I would call her to settle the matter.   When I called Attorney S to initiate a dialog, she yelled at me for 10 min for refusing to pay her fees.  I have not done so, I was still trying to explain how the situation looked from my perspective.  The phone call ended with her hanging up on me.  I think I said ~35 words in our 10 min phone call mainly asking if she wanted to hear my side.  I'm not sure she heard any of them though, though my ears are burning on this side. I'll spare you the details of what I heard.

I was referred to Mercy by a friend and noticed she was well rated by her clients in Avvo.com. It was a status adjustment case and and I explained my situation through email. She got back to me quickly. We had a few back and forth emails, and one in person meeting. Mercy was very clear about what doc...uments were necessary for my application. She also had a reasonable attorney fees. My case got through quickly and doing business with Mercy was a nice experience. After going through the process, I realize why her clients give her high rating consistently.