Amparo Alevante Law Firm — Attraction in Albuquerque

READ!! fully please. They are just a poor choice. They have lots of "good" FAKE reviews! This "law firm" is unorganized, unprofessional and the only thing they care about is taking your money. The so called lawyer more like the name on the paper work "Santiago Juarez" does not have any contact with you. You will always speak to people with no license, assistants not paralegals acting as your legal rep. They have no clue what they are doing. My husband and I FILED for immigration case back in 4/ 2022. The docs included the affidavit of support with all the supporting documents (1040s, W2s, letters) and turned these in, in person. in 7 months we were called once on 10/2022 to go for fingerprints. Otherwise we did not hear any thing from the office unless it was for a payment. Nothing was communicated to us period. When we would call Mayra the one originally working our case she did not answer. No call or any attempts to inform us of anything. Each time we called we were told we would get a call back. No one ever got in touch with us about any change, a status, or just to simply inform we were waiting for immigration to update. We were not provided a case number for the immigration site. When i asked for it they would say they would look into it. Suddenly on June 21 of 2023 we get a call from Patsy requesting for medical and covid shot records and informing us she is now the one working our case. Then a few days later we are being asked for tax documents for the sponsor. Which we had given them last year when we filed originally. Then a few days later another call asking for new signatures on a new affidavit of support. Again a form we had given them last year. When I questioned this I was told they needed fresh signature. After confirming this was all that was needed several times, On 7/24/2023 We receive more calls from a new guy named Yanko who has now taken over the case. He is asking yet again for documents we had sent in Several times. I asked questions he was unable to answer, he told me the case was just handed to him and he didnt know everything about it. I told him we had already sent the requested docs and he said he did not have them. He Also informed us our case will be rejected without these docs even though they already had them! told us that we need to get everything in by 7/27 or we would lose. I was extremely upset and asked to speak to the lawyer and was told he was not there but i could meet with Marcella. When we arrived at the office on 7/27 Marcella was not available due to "a family emergency" We then see the letter from immigration requesting the docs was dated in April of 2023. They did not contact us for almost 2 months for this request. When i asked about this he told us they received the letter late in the mail. We also noticed the request asked for the affidavit of support and supporting docs. So basically the docs we gave them and paid for to be filed in 4/2022 were never FILED! We were on a time constraint because of their lack of work! Not one of them even informed us of this. I also will say the office is terribly disorganized i am able to see piles of personal info thrown on desks visible to anyone who walks by. Information such as social security numbers, ids, w2s. They have no regard for privacy. Our paper work was lost in their office. They also don't use secured email. We were told Marcella would contact us by 7/31. I finally received a call 2 days later explaining that they were sorry, That it was immigration that was late not them. We paid for services that were never rendered. They added thousands of dollars in interest, When i asked for a breakdown of charges i was told to read my contract. Why would a simple break down of charges be so hard to provide? we are now receiving letters stating that if we go with another firm we are under contract and that it can affect our case status. Paid case off, went to pick up the social card that took almost 3 years. They tried to tell me i owed more money! Keep all your reciepts. HORRIBLE...

Where do I even start? I deeply regret ever choosing this law firm. Our experience with them has been nothing short of a nightmare, and we feel like we're constantly being deceived. Initially, we were given one set of expectations for our case, only to be blindsided two weeks later during a meeting where we were informed that our case would be much more difficult and costly than originally stated. With our court date looming just two weeks away, we felt trapped into continuing with this firm.

Communication has been abysmal. Every time we need something done for our case, it's like pulling teeth to get a response. We've had to constantly call or set up appointments due to their lack of proactive communication. Moreover, the office is a mess; there's sensitive paperwork strewn about on desks, including personal information such as names, addresses, and social security numbers. This blatant disregard for privacy is unacceptable, especially during meetings with other clients.

To make matters worse, we had another court date approaching, and a month beforehand, we hadn't heard a peep from them about the progress on our case. Emails went unanswered, and it felt like we were being completely ignored. It's evident that this law firm has no initiative to keep their clients informed and seems to only care about receiving payments.

On March 13, 2024, we visited Avante Immigration Law Firm and were informed by Marcela that they would handle our case for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Adjustment of Status (AOS), and other immigration matters along with Amparo Alevante Law Firm.

However, today we received a letter from Amparo Alevante Law Firm stating that they are not working any other law firm. This conflicting information has left us uncertain about the status of our case and the quality of representation we are receiving. It raises serious ethical concerns and undermines our confidence in the legal services we are paying for.

In light of these discrepancies, we kindly request clarification on how Amparo Alevante Law Firm and Avante Immigration Law Firm intend to proceed with our case. The separation of your two law firms is not the fault of your clients and should be resolved in a professional and timely matter. The disagreement between these two law firms matter and hold significant importance, as they directly impact our livelihoods, immigration statuses, and relationships. Therefore, we urge both firms to prioritize people over profit and clients over conflict.

Despite what was promised in our contract, they have failed to assist us with the AOS process. It's clear that they have not met the legal standards required for handling immigration cases. At this point, we feel compelled to report their negligent behavior to the New Mexico Bar Association, New Mexico Ethics Advisory Committee, and the NM Disciplinary Board. We are also considering seeking legal advice elsewhere or pursuing legal action for malpractice.

In summary, steer clear of this law firm if you value competence, professionalism, ethical standards, and...

When we first started with Amparo, we were hopeful. They seemed professional and polite, but that changed quickly after our initial meeting. In subsequent meetings, they often couldn’t find our case paperwork, even though the meetings were scheduled. It also seemed as if our case worker was never really aware of our meetings as she would look surprised or confused to see us in office.

Even worse, it felt like they frequently misplaced our payment records as they would ask for payments we’d already made months earlier. Whenever we asked for the remaining balance, it took them a long time to find our account, or they couldn’t provide an estimate. We lost confidence in their ability to handle our case and where our money was going. After a year, we decided to stop using their services, and stopped paying.

We eventually switched to a new lawyer, and the process was faster, smoother, and cheaper. My wife’s Advanced Parole was completed right away. While applying for her green card, we discovered Amparo had at least submitted paperwork for our family petition, but we never received copies. We initially asked for our records over the phone, but Amparo refused. Eventually we went in person and after an hour-long wait, they offered to at least give us a scanned copy of a specific document we needed. We provided the scanned copy to our current lawyer but they explained that the actual copy would speed things up and be more helpful.

So, we requested the actual copy, and Amparo said it would take time since our case was inactive. They promised to call when it was ready, but they never did. When we followed up, they said we couldn’t get any of our records unless we paid the outstanding balance from when we stopped their services. I don’t understand why Amparo is making this so difficult. Those records should belong to us, yet it feels like they are holding our case hostage until we pay...