Katya Stelmakh

Thanks to Katya and the team for my successful EB-1A approval! I chose Stelmakh and Associates after being referred by two friends who also had successful filings with them. I particularly appreciated the free 30-minute initial consultation; it provided the clear, confident roadmap I needed to finall...y take the plunge and file my petition. The paralegal assigned to my case, Maddalena, was a fantastic partner on this journey. She was highly collaborative and receptive to my suggestions and edits, which was a perfect match for my working style. I believe highly personalized filings like the EB-1A work best when petitioners take ownership of their profile details while the law firm provides the legal expertise and critical eye. That synergy definitely happened here. Maddalena was instrumental in drafting both the initial petition and the RFE response. I also appreciated Katya’s targeted suggestions during the RFE phase to streamline our response and her help reviewing my supporting documents. This would have been a 5-star review if not for the extremely stressful experience during the RFE submission period. The response was delayed to the point that it reached USCIS on the very last legally permissible day. This caused a great deal of needless anxiety and could have jeopardized the entire application in the event of a transit delay or clerical error. While I understand the firm is very busy, and while they did ultimately get the job done, I would expect more diligence and a safer buffer considering how life-altering these immigration deadlines are. Overall I am glad to have worked with them and would happily recommend them to others.

I have mixed opinions after working with the attorney and the staff on my eb1a case, which was ultimately approved. There are things they do very well. Namely, Katya is a very witty and strategic attorney. She knows how to craft the story of your case. She can read between the lines very well and kn...ow exactly what the case needs work on. That kind of intuition is developed through years of experience and a multitude of cases. The other positive is that the junior attorneys, --- I worked with Sanjana -- are very hard working and actually put a lot of work into writing the case. If given the right context and information, they will make a very strong case for you. You just need to work well with them, which they are open to. Ultimately, no one knows your background and experience as much as you. However, the concern expressed by other people regarding timelines and communication is real. They have a very rusty communication system. They fail to be transparent about when things are delayed, overpromise on deadlines, and agree to timelines they know they cant hit. This erodes the attorney client trust. I have had a long journey until my approval, and it took a huge toll on my mental health. Them being unresponsive, falling behind on attorney reviews of the petition, saying they will email me in 30 min and not doing it after repeated followups and silent treatments added to the stress significantly. Look, no attorney can promise you the success of your case. Katya is brilliant and she knows how to put your mind to rest and divise a clear plan. However, she is overworked and her team is not being managed to use a proper communication system in place. Something as simple as weekly progress updates, or case step tracking (that actually works), notifying on delays and being transparent about it, rather than ghosting people when they inquire on it --- is a very simple but highly impactful practice. Hire more people to do that. Just having someone managing client communication and updates so that clients are not probing and harassing junior attorneys while they work on the case -- would be life-changing.

I recommend Katia for anyone navigating the complex process of obtaining a green card. My husband and I recently worked with Stelmakh & Associates and we couldn't be more grateful for their expertise and guidance. They made the documentation process much easier than we expected, providing clear inst...ructions and prompt responses to our questions. Their professionalism, knowledge, and kindness made a significant difference in our experience. Thanks to Katia, my husband is now a green card holder! We deeply appreciate their help and would definitely recommend their services to anyone in need of an immigration attorney.