Switching Immigration Firms Mid-Case: An Employer’s Guide

Yes — an employer can move an open immigration case to a new firm at any stage, including after a Request for Evidence (RFE) has arrived. The new firm files a fresh Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance, signed by the employer (and, where required, the employee), which makes it the attorney of record. What does not change is the deadline: the RFE states its own response date, and under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(iv) additional time to respond may not be granted. So the handover has to happen in days, not weeks. The essentials are a copy of the RFE, the complete filing as submitted, the receipt notices, and a written request to the old firm for the file, which belongs to the client. This guide covers when to switch, how the transfer works, what a new firm needs in the first 48 hours, and how to move a whole caseload without anyone falling out of status.

When it makes sense to switch

Most employers put up with slow communication for a long time, and changing counsel mid-case is a real cost. But some signals are hard to ignore:

• An RFE, Notice of Intent to Deny, or PERM audit has arrived and the firm has not acknowledged it or produced a response plan.
• Emails and calls go unanswered for days while status expiry dates approach.
• You learn about deadlines from your employees, or from USCIS notices, rather than from your lawyers.
• Filings go out with avoidable errors — wrong worksite, wage level that does not match the LCA, missing signatures.
• Billing surprises: open-ended hourly charges where you expected a fixed fee.

Switching is rarely the wrong answer when a deadline is live and the current firm is silent. It is usually better to bring in new counsel with three weeks left than with three days.

How a case actually transfers

There is no USCIS "transfer" form. The new firm simply enters its appearance. For a pending petition, it prepares a new Form G-28 signed by the authorized signatory of the employer, and files it with the RFE response (or separately, if no response is yet due). From then on, USCIS correspondence for that case should go to the new attorney of record. Notices already issued, however, went to the old firm — which is why the file matters.

Under the professional-conduct rules that govern lawyers, the client file generally belongs to the client, and a lawyer whose representation ends must return the papers and property the client is entitled to. Make the request in writing, name the new firm as the recipient, and ask for everything: the filed petitions exactly as submitted, every receipt, transfer, RFE, and approval notice, the certified LCA or PERM records, evidence, and correspondence with the agency. Keep the tone neutral. Most firms comply quickly; a dated written request is what helps if one does not.

The RFE deadline does not move

The regulation is blunt. An RFE or Notice of Intent to Deny "will indicate the deadline for response," the response period for an RFE may not exceed twelve weeks (thirty days for a NOID), and additional time to respond may not be granted (8 CFR 103.2(b)(8)(iv)). A change of attorney is not an exception. If no response arrives by the date, USCIS may deny the case as abandoned, on the record, or both.

Two related rules shape the strategy. All requested materials must be submitted together, in one response, along with the RFE notice itself; sending only part of what was asked is treated as a request for a decision on the record. And the evidence must show the case was eligible when it was filed — the response explains and documents; it cannot fix a case that was not approvable on the filing date. A new firm’s first job is to tell you which kind of RFE you have.

What the new firm needs in the first 48 hours

• The RFE or NOID notice — every page, including the response deadline and the receipt number.
• The filing as submitted, not a draft: forms, support letter, LCA, and every exhibit. If the old firm is slow, the employer’s HR or the employee may have a copy.
• All USCIS notices for the case — receipt, transfer, biometrics, prior approvals.
• The employee’s immigration history: passport, I-94 record, prior approval notices, and any earlier denials.
• A decision-maker at the employer who can answer questions about the role, sign the G-28, and sign a new support letter quickly.

With those in hand, a capable firm can read the RFE, identify what each request is really asking, and assign evidence-gathering the same week. For H-1B matters, our H-1B RFE response service is built around exactly this kind of compressed timeline; for labor certification, see PERM audit responses — the audit letter sets its own deadline, and it should be treated just as seriously.

Moving a whole caseload safely

When an employer moves ten or fifty employees at once, the risk is not one hard case; it is a quiet deadline nobody owned during the transition. Start with a single inventory before transferring anything:

• Every sponsored employee, their current status, and the expiry date on their I-94 record (not just the approval notice).
• Every pending filing and receipt number, with any open RFEs, NOIDs, or audits flagged first.
• Green-card pipelines: PERM stage, I-140 status, and priority date for each person, so no one’s place in line is lost in the move.
• Dependents: H-4 and L-2 extensions, and work-permit renewals. Automatic EAD extensions ended for most renewals filed on or after Oct. 30, 2025, so renewals should go in as early as allowed.
• Access: how the new firm will reach in-progress PERM records in the Department of Labor’s system and any online USCIS filings.

Then sort by date. Anything due in the next 90 days moves first, with a named owner. A firm with a secure client portal lets HR see every case, document request, and deadline in one place instead of reconstructing it from email threads.

Avoiding gaps in status during the switch

A change of law firm has no effect on an employee’s status by itself — the employer, the petition, and the dates are what count. Gaps happen when an extension is filed late because no one was watching. A timely-filed extension by the same employer generally lets an H-1B worker keep working while it is pending, and an H-1B worker moving to a new employer can usually start on filing of a new petition — both depend on filing before the current stay ends. For the H-1B side of a move, see our H-1B employer guide.

Costs and timeline

Government fees do not change because counsel did; check the current amounts on the USCIS filing fee page. An RFE response itself carries no USCIS fee. Legal fees for taking over a case depend on what is left to do — a single RFE response is a different scope from a full caseload migration — so ask for the fee in writing before work starts. How long a case takes after the response depends on the form and the service center; see current processing times.

How Atlas Immigration Law helps

We take over employer cases mid-stream, including cases with an RFE already on the clock. Each case gets a flat fee agreed in writing before work starts, billed at milestones, and a dedicated paralegal who becomes your single point of contact. We answer on the same business day, and you get direct access to the attorney, Jordan Weinberg, rather than a ticket queue. HR teams see every employee’s case, deadline, and document request in the Atlas Vision client portal. Our Dallas office at 1920 McKinney Ave serves employers in all 50 states, in English and Spanish. A free consultation is available on request through our business immigration page.

This guide is part of our business immigration services — the service page covers eligibility, fees, and how we handle these cases.

Jordan S. Weinberg, Esq.

Founder & Managing Attorney, Atlas Immigration Law

Member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the Dallas Bar Association. Licensed to practice in Texas; fluent in English and Spanish.

Legally reviewed by a licensed immigration attorney

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law and procedures change, and how they apply depends on your specific facts — consult a licensed immigration attorney about your situation.