Silence after a retainer is paid is common enough that it should not, by itself, alarm anyone. Immigration cases sit in queues measured in months and sometimes years, and a competent attorney who has filed correctly may genuinely have nothing to report for two quarters running. The problem is that a case moving slowly and a case never filed look identical from a client's side of the phone. What separates them is a small set of documents and a habit of checking them on a schedule rather than on a feeling.
1. Confirm something was actually filed before you worry about the wait
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services issues a receipt notice, Form I-797C, for essentially every application and petition it accepts, usually within a few weeks of filing, and that notice carries a receipt number. A careful reader asks for a copy of it, not a verbal assurance, and then enters the number in the agency's own online case status tool to see the same information the attorney sees. If a receipt notice cannot be produced, the wait is not a processing wait. It is a filing question, and it is worth asking plainly and in writing.
2. Measure your wait against the posted times, not against a friend's case
USCIS publishes processing times by form type and by the office or service center handling the case, and the spread between offices for the same form can be substantial. That published figure is the only benchmark worth using, because two people filing the same form in the same month can land in queues that differ by a year. Check the number that applies to your form, your category, and your service center. When your case passes the outer edge of that range, you have a documented basis for an inquiry rather than an impression that things are taking too long.
3. Treat a request for evidence as a deadline with a shared workload
A request for evidence means an officer has reviewed the file, found a gap, and paused rather than denied. The notice states exactly what is missing and gives a response deadline, commonly around eleven or twelve weeks, and that date does not move. The attorney drafts the legal response and assembles the packet; the client supplies the underlying proof, meaning tax transcripts, employment letters, medical records, affidavits, whatever the notice names. Ask to see the draft and the exhibit list before it is mailed, and ask for the tracking number afterward.
4. Agree on contact intervals in writing, then hold the schedule
Most fee agreements are quiet about how often the client will hear from the office, which is why so many clients hear nothing. A reasonable arrangement names a cadence, quarterly is common for a slow case, and names the person who will answer, often a paralegal rather than the attorney. Put your own reminder in a calendar and send a short email on the date, asking three narrow questions: has anything arrived, is anything due, what is the current posted processing time. Written questions produce written answers, which is the point.
5. When calls stop, put the request in writing and ask for the file
Escalate on paper. Send a dated letter by certified mail and by email, stating the case type, the receipt number if you have one, and a request for a complete copy of the file, including every notice received from the government. The file belongs to you, and a professional office copies it without argument. If nothing comes back, a new attorney can enter as counsel by filing a fresh Form G-28, and can also file a Freedom of Information Act request with USCIS to see what, if anything, is on record under your name.
6. Know which body hears which complaint
Fee disputes with a licensed attorney go to the state bar, most of which run fee arbitration programs alongside a separate disciplinary process for misconduct such as taking money and filing nothing. Accredited representatives at recognized nonprofits are overseen through the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which handles both accreditation and discipline. Anyone who is neither, a notario or a consultant, is a consumer protection matter, and the Federal Trade Commission is the federal agency responsible for deceptive practices of that kind. State attorneys general take those complaints as well.
The clients who come out of a long case in good shape are rarely the ones who called most often. They are the ones who kept the receipt notices, knew their posted processing range, answered evidence requests early, and asked their questions in writing where the answers could be read again later.