This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for immigration in Illinois, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a immigration in Illinois costs on average $5,850, typically $3,500-$9,300 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $215 to $405 per hour. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 6-12 months to resolve.
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $1,050 | $2,150 | $3,200 | 3-6 months |
| Moderate | $3,500 | $5,850 | $9,300 | 6-12 months |
| Complex | $8,600 | $11,800 | $16,100 | 12-24+ months |
Last verified: June 2026
$215 – $405/ hour
Median: $295/hr
6-12 months
For moderate complexity cases
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</script>Immigration legal costs form around two separate line items that are easy to conflate: the attorney's fee for their work, and USCIS (or other federal agency) filing fees, which are set nationally and apply no matter which attorney — or no attorney — handles the case. A straightforward family-based petition with no complicating history is the lowest-cost scenario and is often billed as a flat fee. Employment-based petitions, waivers, or removal defense involve substantially more attorney hours preparing evidence and responding to government requests, which is reflected in the moderate and complex figures on this page.
Because filing fees are federal and state-independent, cost differences between states for immigration matters come almost entirely from local attorney market rates rather than from any difference in the underlying legal process. Cases that draw a Request for Evidence, involve a prior denial, or require appearing before an immigration judge add attorney hours (and sometimes additional filing fees) well beyond the base petition cost.
Take a moderate-complexity immigration matter in Illinois. The recorded median total is $5,850, with reported quotes clustering between $3,500 and $9,300. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,075–$2,740, which leaves roughly $3,110–$4,775 of the Illinois median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. 2 further recorded fees are not itemised above and are not in that total.
At $5,850, the median immigration cost in Illinois runs 18% above the $4,938 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Illinois carries 3 rows — simple, $1,050–$3,200 at $160–$325/hr over 3-6 months; moderate, $3,500–$9,300 at $215–$405/hr over 6-12 months; complex, $8,600–$16,100 at $270–$485/hr over 12-24+ months — on 4 shared citations. Those figures put it in the top quarter of the table.
$5,850 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,350 above the $3,500 floor, $3,450 under the $9,300 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 49.
Illinois ranks 12th of 49 tracked states for a immigration, inside the highest-cost quarter of the table. The gap to the $4,750 midpoint is $1,100 — 23% — and only 11 states record a higher median.
District of Columbia ($5,850) and Massachusetts ($5,700) bracket Illinois inside a $150 window — narrow enough that 12th is close to arbitrary.
5 tracked states — New Jersey, Colorado, California, District of Columbia among them — record a median within three percent of Illinois's $5,850. The figure sits in the densest part of the immigration distribution, where a rank change of several rows costs only a few hundred dollars.
On hourly rate alone Illinois is 15th of 49 at $295 an hour, 3 places behind its 12th position on total cost.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Illinois |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | New Hampshire | $6,150 | +$300 |
| 7 | Connecticut | $6,050 | +$200 |
| 8 | New Jersey | $5,950 | +$100 |
| 9 | Colorado | $5,900 | +$50 |
| 10 | California | $5,850 | −$0 |
| 11 | District of Columbia | $5,850 | −$0 |
| 12 | Illinois | $5,850 | — |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $5,700 | −$150 |
| 14 | Utah | $5,600 | −$250 |
| 15 | Texas | $5,550 | −$300 |
| 16 | Minnesota | $5,400 | −$450 |
| 17 | Maryland | $5,350 | −$500 |
| 18 | Nevada | $5,350 | −$500 |
The 12th position is not a stable fact about Illinois: $0 up or $150 down moves Illinois a row, and a ten percent revision in either direction would cross 16 rows, 8 above and 8 below in near-equal numbers.
Climbing five places would mean passing Connecticut, New Jersey, Colorado, California, District of Columbia and adding $200 to the $5,850 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Massachusetts, Utah, Texas, Minnesota, Maryland: $500.
$1,300 short of Hawaii ($7,150), $2,500 clear of Kentucky ($3,350).
At $295 an hour, the $5,850 median represents about 20 hours of attorney time — a matter measured in days of work, not weeks. The peer median is 18 hours, so 2 more hours of work sit behind the Illinois figure than behind the typical state's.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex immigration costs 5.5x a simple one in Illinois, but the implied workload only rises 3.4x — 9 hours at $245 becomes 31 hours at $380 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.55x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
In dollars the Illinois moderate band is wide: $3,500 to $9,300, a $5,800 range, $1,050 wider than the peer-median band of $4,750. End to end that is 20 hours at $295.
Across the 6-12 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $5,850 median is roughly $650 a month of elapsed time.
A third ordering: by implied hours Illinois is 2nd of 49 at 20 hours, 10 places above its cost rank of 12th on cost — more work behind the same immigration money.
22% up the $3,500–$9,300 band sits the $4,750 table midpoint, buying 16 hours at $295 against the 20 the local immigration median implies — 4 hours apart.
| Measure | Illinois | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $5,850 | 12th |
| Hourly median | $295 | 15th |
| Implied hours | 20 | 2nd |
| Simple median | $2,150 | 17th |
| Complex median | $11,800 | 14th |
$295 an hour puts Illinois between Colorado ($305) and Minnesota ($295) — not the immigration cost pairing.
Minnesota, Oregon record the same $295: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$5,850 buys 24 hours at $245, 20 at $295, 15 at $380.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Virginia | $315 |
| 14 | Colorado | $305 |
| 15 | Illinois | $295 |
| 16 | Minnesota | $295 |
| 17 | Oregon | $295 |
The ranking barely moves across tiers — 17th at the simple tier, 12th at moderate, 14th at complex of 49 — so Illinois keeps roughly the same relative position whether the immigration is straightforward or contested.
$2,150 is 17th of 49 on a straightforward immigration, under Minnesota ($2,200) and over Oregon ($2,100), $250 over the $1,900 tier midpoint.
$11,800 is 14th of 49 once contested, between Massachusetts ($12,000) and Maine ($11,750), $1,050 off the $10,750 tier midpoint.
$300 separates the simple ceiling of $3,200 from the moderate floor of $3,500, so the first escalation is a clean break, while the moderate and complex bands overlap from $8,600 upward. The expensive end of a routine immigration and the cheap end of a contested one are the same money in Illinois.
| Tier | Illinois | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $2,150 | 17th | $1,900 | 9 |
| moderate | $5,850 | 12th | $4,750 | 20 |
| complex | $11,800 | 14th | $10,750 | 31 |
$2,150 drops Illinois to 17th of 49 on straightforward matters, 5 below its moderate position and $250 (13%) over the $1,900 tier midpoint.
9 implied hours at $245: 45% of the moderate tier's 20, over 3-6 months.
Minnesota ($2,200) and Oregon ($2,100) bracket it — a $100 window.
4 states sit within three percent of the $2,150 here, against 5 at the moderate row.
$11,800 drops Illinois to 14th of 49 on contested matters, 2 below its moderate position and $1,050 (10%) over the $10,750 tier midpoint.
31 implied hours at $380: 155% of the moderate tier's 20, over 12-24+ months.
Massachusetts ($12,000) and Maine ($11,750) bracket it — a $250 window.
4 states sit within three percent of the $11,800 here, against 5 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Massachusetts | $2,200 |
| 16 | Minnesota | $2,200 |
| 17 | Illinois | $2,150 |
| 18 | Oregon | $2,100 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | $2,100 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | New Jersey | $12,200 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $12,000 |
| 14 | Illinois | $11,800 |
| 15 | Maine | $11,750 |
| 16 | Virginia | $11,750 |
In Illinois a immigration is 5th of 8 at $5,850, between Personal Injury and Bankruptcy. At 56% of Criminal Defense ($10,450).
The state does not rank uniformly. Illinois is 3rd of 49 for Personal Injury but 23rd for Real Estate Closing, a 20-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 12th on immigration says little about what the other lines cost.
The spread across practice areas is wide. Immigration runs 23% above its own midpoint, while Real Estate Closing runs 1% above its own midpoint — 22 percentage points apart. A single "Illinois is expensive" or "Illinois is inexpensive" claim would be wrong for at least one of the matter types tracked here.
The largest tracked median in Illinois is 4.8x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
5 of 8 matter types rank Illinois in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 3 between; immigration is 12th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 77th percentile of the 49 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,450 | $10,450 | $33,400 | 32 | 22nd | +2% | Maryland |
| Divorce | $3,150 | $9,650 | $22,050 | 30 | 17th | +13% | District of Columbia |
| DUI / DWI | $3,650 | $7,850 | $19,400 | 27 | 21st | +5% | Oregon |
| Personal Injury | $1,600 | $5,950 | $16,900 | — | 3rd | +14% | California |
| Immigration | $2,150 | $5,850 | $11,800 | 20 | 12th | +23% | District of Columbia |
| Bankruptcy | $1,700 | $3,900 | $5,500 | 14 | 14th | +8% | Texas |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,000 | $2,250 | $4,900 | 8 | 23rd | +1% | Virginia |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $650 | $2,200 | $5,950 | 7 | 11th | +6% | New York |
Simple tier. $2,150 ÷ $245 = about 9 hours, spread over 3-6 months at roughly $478 a month. The $3,700 step to the moderate tier is 11 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $5,850 to $11,800 is a $5,950 step weighted toward price: 11 more hours at $295 is $3,245, but $380 across 31 hours adds $2,635 — 45% of it.
Borrowing the wrong row. Massachusetts ($5,700) is $150 light, District of Columbia ($5,850) is $0 heavy — but the $4,750 table midpoint is out by $1,100, 7x the neighbour error.
Both ends, in time. $3,500 is 12 hours at $295; $9,300 is 32. Over the 6-12 months recorded for a moderate immigration, that is 1 to 4 hours a month — the difference between an occasional file review and continuous work.
Contested against simple. At Illinois's own recorded figures, $11,800 buys 5.5 matters at the $2,150 simple median — or, counted in time, 31 implied hours against 9, a factor of 3.4 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Illinoiscourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.