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Immigration Lawyer in Reading, PA: Who Can Help and Costs

Who may lawfully help with an immigration case, how to check them, the free and low-cost doors in Reading, the Berks firms that handle immigration, how lawyers charge, USCIS fees and fee waivers, where cases are heard, and what to bring to a first meeting.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 19, 2026
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Only two kinds of people may be paid to handle an immigration case. One is a lawyer with an active license. The other is an accredited representative, a non-lawyer the Justice Department has approved to give immigration legal help through a nonprofit that the department recognizes. In Reading, Community Justice Project represents low-income people for free, and ALDEA gives a free first consultation and then charges reduced fees. The private immigration lawyers on the county lawyers page set their own fees, and the government's filing fees come on top.

This is general information about who may help and what things cost; which path fits your own case is a question for a lawyer or an accredited representative.

Who is allowed to help you with an immigration case?

Accredited representatives come in two levels. A partially accredited representative handles matters only before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that decides applications (USCIS). A fully accredited representative may also appear in immigration court. In a removal case (removal is the law's word for the court process of deporting someone), a partially accredited representative can't appear, and the Justice Department's roster shows which level a person holds.

For a lawyer, the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board's free lookup shows whether the license is active and any public discipline; how to check a lawyer's license and record in Pennsylvania walks through it. For an accredited representative, look up the organization and the person on the Justice Department's Recognition and Accreditation roster, linked in the Sources.

The person a neighbor says "does papers" may be a notary, and a notary here is not a notario. In many Spanish-speaking countries a notario público is a lawyer; in the United States a notary isn't. Under Pennsylvania's notary law, a notary's state commission doesn't authorize the notary to give legal advice, to "act as an immigration consultant or an expert on immigration matters," or to represent anyone in an immigration proceeding. A notary who isn't a lawyer may not use the term "notario" or "notario publico." The state's tips: don't pay anyone just to send you to a lawyer, and nobody may lawfully "find" you a sponsor or a spouse.

Community Justice Project is a nonprofit law firm on the Justice Department's roster that represents low-income people for free, at 35 North 6th Street, Mezzanine 103, Reading, 610-370-7459, with a bilingual English and Spanish team. It handles citizenship applications, DACA renewals, green card renewals, some work permit renewals, Violence Against Women Act cases, and U visas (for victims of certain crimes), and helps with the fee waiver for citizenship and green card renewal; a fee waiver asks USCIS to drop its filing fee for income or hardship.

Whether it takes a case not on that list is a question for its intake staff, the people who take your first call. Its own wording: you must be income-eligible, usually income within 187 percent of the federal poverty limit; at the 2026 guidelines that's about $29,800 a year for one person and $61,700 for a family of four, and whose income counts is a question for the same staff.

ALDEA, The People's Justice Center, is at 532 Walnut Street, Reading, 484-877-8002 or WhatsApp 484-409-9565. Its own words: "Our initial consultations are always free, with representation offered on a sliding-scale or low bono basis," meaning reduced fees. Those reduced fees cover removal defense, humanitarian and family cases, green cards and work permits. ALDEA gives free phone consultations to people in detention and works in Spanish, Haitian Creole and English. ALDEA's pages set no income limit.

Which Berks County law firms handle immigration cases?

Cambria & Kline, at 532 Walnut Street in Reading, handles family petitions, citizenship, asylum and appeals, and prints a consultation fee of $80. A petition is the form a citizen or green card holder files to sponsor a relative.

Cornerstone Law Firm, at 8500 Allentown Pike in Blandon and 519 Walnut Street in Reading, lists naturalization, family and employment immigration, DACA and green card renewal, and deportation cases.

Kitay Law Offices, at 1258 Penn Avenue in Wyomissing, lists family immigration, deportation defense, citizenship and DACA, and says "virtually our entire staff is bilingual in both English and Spanish."

How much does an immigration lawyer cost?

Nothing requires you to hire anyone; the forms are the government's and you may file them yourself. A lawyer or accredited representative chooses the forms, prepares and files them, and appears with you. Lawyers set their own fees, and those that publish them quote a flat fee per case type. Pennsylvania's rules require a lawyer who hasn't regularly represented you before to tell you how the fee is figured, in writing, before or soon after the work starts; how lawyers charge in Berks County covers that agreement. With an accredited representative you pay the nonprofit, not the person: the nonprofit sets its own fees and pays its representatives, and if it charges fees it must have a written policy for people who can't pay.

For scale, Lehigh Valley Immigration Law, an Allentown firm that takes Reading clients by phone or video, prints these estimates: a family petition at $2,000 to $2,650, a green card application from inside the country at $5,500 to $6,600, and a citizenship application at $2,200, government fees separate. A relative petition and a green card application are separate forms, and some cases involve both, which is for the lawyer to work out.

What does the government charge, and can the filing fee be waived?

USCIS charges its own fee to file, often lower online than on paper. The schedule, as of October 2026:

What you're filing Form USCIS fee, paper USCIS fee, online
Citizenship application N-400 $760 ($380 reduced fee if household income is at or under 400% of the poverty guidelines) $710
Petition for a relative I-130 $675 $625
Green card application from inside the U.S. (applicant 14 or older) I-485 $1,440 $1,390
Work permit, first or renewal I-765 $520 ($260 if the applicant has a green card application pending that was filed on or after April 1, 2024) $470
Green card renewal or replacement I-90 $465 $415
Removing the conditions on a marriage green card I-751 $750 $700
DACA renewal I-821D $85, plus the work permit fee One fee printed
Asylum application I-589 Under the 2025 federal budget law, $100 at filing and a $102 annual fee while it's pending, neither waivable; no other filing fee Same
Temporary Protected Status, first registration I-821 $510, plus a $30 biometrics fee Same

USCIS Form G-1055, edition of October 7, 2026, read October 14, 2026. The 2025 federal budget law added fees on top of the table: the annual asylum fee, a Temporary Protected Status fee, and $560 on a first work permit for an asylum applicant (whose first permit has no other fee), a Temporary Protected Status applicant or a person let into the country on parole (a temporary permission to enter), paid separately and not waivable. Those add-on fees rise on October 16, 2026; check uscis.gov/g-1055 the day you file.

The citizenship row has a reduced $380 fee, paper filing only, for a household income not more than 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines; a fee waiver is paper-only too. At the 2026 guidelines, 400 percent is about $63,800 for one person and $132,000 for a family of four. The citizenship, relative petition, green card and DACA fees and the work permit fee don't change on October 16, 2026; the table's note names the add-on fees that do.

USCIS can waive its own filing fee on these forms: citizenship, green card renewal, removing the conditions on a marriage green card, work permits other than DACA, and the biometrics fee for a first Temporary Protected Status registration. A green card application qualifies only in certain categories, and the relative petition isn't on the list. You show one of three things: you or your spouse, child, sibling living with you, or (if you're under 21 or disabled) parent receive a benefit that depends on income, such as Medicaid or food stamps; your household income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or you face "extreme financial hardship." The request is Form I-912, free to file. The 2025 budget law's add-on fees "cannot be waived or reduced."

What should you bring to a first meeting with an immigration lawyer?

Bring every immigration paper you have: the passport, the green card, the arrival record (Form I-94), every USCIS notice, the A-number if there is one, any court papers, and copies of anything filed before. The A-number is a seven-, eight- or nine-digit number that immigration authorities assign. If you're a citizen filing for a relative, the passport, arrival record and notices are theirs; bring them along with your own identification.

Then ask what the consultation costs, what the flat fee covers and what costs extra, which government fees are separate, who will handle the case, and whether staff speak your language. Get the fee agreement in writing, keep receipts and copies, and never sign a blank form. USCIS's own contact center, 800-375-5283, answers in English and Spanish.

This week's job is one phone call: Community Justice Project or ALDEA if money is tight (free and low-cost legal help in Berks County lists the other Berks doors), or a firm from the county lawyers page if you're hiring privately. Look the lawyer up before you pay.

Frequently asked questions about immigration lawyers in Berks County.

Where is an immigration court case from Berks County heard?

Removal cases go to immigration court, not USCIS. For a Berks resident who isn't detained, that is generally the Philadelphia Immigration Court, 900 Market Street, Suite 504, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., 215-656-7000. A detained person's case may go through a different court; the Notice to Appear, the paper that starts a removal case, names the court.

Is there a fee waiver for a DACA renewal?

No. There are no fee waivers for DACA, so the $85 renewal fee and the work permit fee ($520 on paper, $470 online) are due in full, about $605 or $555 together, and neither changes on October 16, 2026. Community Justice Project lists DACA renewals for people who meet its income rule; ALDEA's pages list other case types, so ask it first.

Sources

See the 3 places in this guide on the map