John A Nicelli, Esq

Fact: hired him for representation in 1997 for an adjustment of status. He said it would take 10 years.
Fact: he took a 50% retainer fee up front.
Fact: i made a follow-​up appointment in 2002 for an update. He had none. He asked the remaining 50%.
I continued to follow-​up with Mr. Nicelli’s office regularly, every 3 – 4 months, to no avail. Frustrated with his office, i sought the counsel of a non-​profit church group in 2006. Within 6 months I had work authorization. 6 months after that, I had a green card. 2 months ago I applied for US Citizenship. In the meantime, not a single phone call from Mr. Nicelli or his staff until today, 7÷10÷2013. I wasn’t available to take the call but when I heard the message that his office called, I felt compelled to google his name.
Upon seeing his reviews on Unilocal,and seeing his response to one of the reviewers where he threatens brigitte with legal action, I felt the need to express my opinion on his gross incompetence and lack of professionalism. I suggest that anyone with immigration issues seek the counsel of local not-​for-​profit agencies instead of paying this sheister for any service. Shame on me. Shame on my family. There are many church and community groups that have a better understanding of immigration law and «how to get things done» than anyone in Mr. Nicelli’s office. Save yourself money, save yourself the pain and aggravtion, and save future immigrants by not using this man’s services.

Mr. Nicelli helped me to petition for my wife when she was in India. He advised me through the whole process, did all the papers and in less than a year my wife was in the US.
About twenty-​one months later I asked Mr. Nicelli to file the petition to remove the conditional residence for my wife. Not only did he give us good advice and prepared our package to send to the immigration authorities, we never had an interview. My wife’s case was approved without interview and her green card was sent to her in the mail. I soon expect to call Mr. Nicelli again to file my wife’s naturalization application. He was extremely reasonable in price, extremely knowledgeable in immigration law and everything you would expect a competent immigration lawyer to be.

My family has been acquainted with John Nicelli’s office for over 10 years now and we continue to recommend him to others. He has helped me with my own immigration status and the usually lengthy process was swift and favorable. Being represented by John Nicelli and the results were invaluable.

I am having quite difficult time writing this review, I have used this office’s services twice and I had such different experiences. My first time everything was great. The paralegal (Maria) was excellent — always calling and double checking to make sure I knew what was going on and informing me on the development of the case. Mr. Nicelli took good care explaining to me my options and dealing with my case. Then I have used the office just recently and I was so disappointed. I had to prepare most of the documents myself and still was asked to pay the $ 2,000 attorney fee without any discount. Also I have not received a single call from the paralegals. The only call I got was to collect the $ 2,000 after all my case was closed and I received my card in the mail but even then the office worker on the other end of the phone line asked me if I heard anything from the immigration — they had no idea what was going on or that I even received my green card. So I would have to say that even though I believe Mr. Nicelli is a very competent lawyer — your experience with him will be largely based on how thorough his staff is (and that has not been consistent in my experience)

While I would love to delve into the details of my case, I would rather wait until it is over to do so. However, I will say this: I hired John Nicelli last year to remove the conditions on my green card. While this should have been relatively simple, he advised that I file under a waiver under which I did not even qualify. This resulted in a chaotic mess that nearly got me deported from the United States.
While this could have easily been avoided with proper research on his end, it wasn’t. It was one of the most stressful things I have ever through, and it could have been different had he researched my case a little more deeply, and cared a little bit more.
There are many attorneys out there who keep up on their knowledge base and do a better job of advising clients. Go seek them out.
I
ps. i will say that his paralegal, maria, did an amazing job at keeping me abreast of my case and answering my questions, and even though the details and answers were not have been most accurate, she did the best job she could with what she knew, and i thought she was great