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 Maryland, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a immigration in Maryland costs on average $5,350, typically $3,200-$8,600 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $230 to $430 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 | $1,150 | $2,350 | $3,500 | 3-6 months |
| Moderate | $3,200 | $5,350 | $8,600 | 6-12 months |
| Complex | $10,100 | $13,850 | $18,900 | 12-24+ months |
Last verified: June 2026
$230 – $430/ hour
Median: $315/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 Maryland. The recorded median total is $5,350, with reported quotes clustering between $3,200 and $8,600. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,075–$2,740, which leaves roughly $2,610–$4,275 of the Maryland 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 $5,350, the median immigration cost in Maryland runs 8% above the $4,938 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Maryland carries 3 rows — simple, $1,150–$3,500 at $175–$345/hr over 3-6 months; moderate, $3,200–$8,600 at $230–$430/hr over 6-12 months; complex, $10,100–$18,900 at $290–$520/hr over 12-24+ months — on 4 shared citations. They put it above the midpoint, short of the top quarter.
$5,350 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,150 above the $3,200 floor, $3,250 under the $8,600 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 49.
At 17th of 49, Maryland sits above the midpoint of the immigration table: $600 more than the $4,750 median state, or 13%, with 16 states recording a higher median.
Minnesota ($5,400) and Nevada ($5,350) bracket Maryland inside a $50 window — narrow enough that 17th is close to arbitrary.
5 tracked states — Minnesota, Nevada, Maine, Oregon among them — record a median within three percent of Maryland's $5,350. The figure sits in the densest part of the immigration distribution, where a rank change of several rows costs only a few hundred dollars.
The two rankings disagree sharply. Maryland attorneys sit 10th of 49 on hourly rate at $315 an hour, but the state is only 17th on total immigration cost — the recorded matters resolve in fewer billed hours than the rate alone would produce.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Maryland |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | District of Columbia | $5,850 | +$500 |
| 12 | Illinois | $5,850 | +$500 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $5,700 | +$350 |
| 14 | Utah | $5,600 | +$250 |
| 15 | Texas | $5,550 | +$200 |
| 16 | Minnesota | $5,400 | +$50 |
| 17 | Maryland | $5,350 | — |
| 18 | Nevada | $5,350 | −$0 |
| 19 | Maine | $5,300 | −$50 |
| 20 | Oregon | $5,300 | −$50 |
| 21 | Virginia | $5,250 | −$100 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | $5,050 | −$300 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | $4,850 | −$500 |
$50 up or $0 down moves Maryland a row. A ten percent revision to the underlying figure would cross 12 rows in total — 7 up, 5 down — so the rank reads better as a band than as a precise place.
Climbing five places would mean passing Illinois, Massachusetts, Utah, Texas, Minnesota and adding $500 to the $5,350 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Nevada, Maine, Oregon, Virginia, Pennsylvania: $300.
$1,800 short of Hawaii ($7,150), $2,000 clear of Kentucky ($3,350).
At $315 an hour, the $5,350 median represents about 17 hours of attorney time — a matter measured in days of work, not weeks. The peer median is 18 hours: Maryland reaches its total in 1 fewer implied hours, because the rate rather than the workload carries more of it.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex immigration costs 5.9x a simple one in Maryland, but the implied workload only rises 3.8x — 9 hours at $260 becomes 34 hours at $405 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.56x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
From $3,200 to $8,600 the moderate band is $5,400 wide, close to the $4,750 peer median. End to end that is 17 hours at $315.
Across the 6-12 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $5,350 median is roughly $594 a month of elapsed time.
By implied hours Maryland falls to 39th of 49 at 17 hours, 22 places below its 17th on cost — the immigration total arriving on less recorded work.
29% up the $3,200–$8,600 band sits the $4,750 table midpoint, buying 15 hours at $315 against the 17 the local immigration median implies — 2 hours apart.
| Measure | Maryland | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $5,350 | 17th |
| Hourly median | $315 | 10th |
| Implied hours | 17 | 39th |
| Simple median | $2,350 | 6th |
| Complex median | $13,850 | 3rd |
$315 an hour puts Maryland between District of Columbia ($315) and Massachusetts ($315) — not the immigration cost pairing.
4 other states record exactly $315 — District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia among them — so rate is a coarse instrument in this immigration table.
$5,350 buys 21 hours at $260, 17 at $315, 13 at $405.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Rhode Island | $320 |
| 9 | District of Columbia | $315 |
| 10 | Maryland | $315 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | $315 |
| 12 | Vermont | $315 |
The ranking barely moves across tiers — 6th at the simple tier, 17th at moderate, 3rd at complex of 49 — so Maryland keeps roughly the same relative position whether the immigration is straightforward or contested.
$2,350 is 6th of 49 on a straightforward immigration, under Virginia ($2,450) and over New Jersey ($2,350), $450 over the $1,900 tier midpoint.
$13,850 is 3rd of 49 once contested, between Washington ($14,100) and New Hampshire ($13,300), $3,100 off the $10,750 tier midpoint.
The lower two bands run into each other — the simple tier tops out at $3,500 against a moderate floor of $3,200 — but there is a clear gap of $1,500 between the moderate ceiling of $8,600 and the complex floor of $10,100. In Maryland the jump into contested work is a step, not a slope.
| Tier | Maryland | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $2,350 | 6th | $1,900 | 9 |
| moderate | $5,350 | 17th | $4,750 | 17 |
| complex | $13,850 | 3rd | $10,750 | 34 |
$2,350 puts Maryland 6th of 49 on straightforward matters, 11 up on its moderate position, and $450 (24%) over the $1,900 tier midpoint.
9 implied hours at $260: 53% of the moderate tier's 17, over 3-6 months.
Virginia ($2,450) and New Jersey ($2,350) bracket it — a $100 window.
5 states sit within three percent of the $2,350 here, against 5 at the moderate row.
$13,850 puts Maryland 3rd of 49 on contested matters, 14 up on its moderate position, and $3,100 (29%) over the $10,750 tier midpoint.
34 implied hours at $405: 200% of the moderate tier's 17, over 12-24+ months.
Washington ($14,100) and New Hampshire ($13,300) bracket it — a $800 window.
1 states sit within three percent of the $13,850 here, against 5 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | California | $2,500 |
| 5 | Virginia | $2,450 |
| 6 | Maryland | $2,350 |
| 7 | New Jersey | $2,350 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $2,300 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $16,050 |
| 2 | Washington | $14,100 |
| 3 | Maryland | $13,850 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | $13,300 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | $13,250 |
In Maryland a immigration is 5th of 8 at $5,350, between Personal Injury and Bankruptcy. At 51% of Divorce ($10,550).
Across practice areas Maryland ranges from 8th of 49 for Divorce to 21st for Criminal Defense — a 13-place spread, with its 17th on immigration inside it.
The spread across practice areas is wide. Divorce runs 23% above its own midpoint, while Estate Planning / Probate runs 1% above its own midpoint — 22 percentage points apart. A single "Maryland is expensive" or "Maryland is inexpensive" claim would be wrong for at least one of the matter types tracked here.
The largest tracked median in Maryland is 5x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
4 of 7 matter types rank Maryland in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 3 between; immigration is 17th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 67th percentile of the 49 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divorce | $3,750 | $10,550 | $27,650 | 31 | 8th | +23% | California |
| Criminal Defense | $3,650 | $10,500 | $33,450 | 30 | 21st | +3% | Minnesota |
| DUI / DWI | $4,000 | $8,250 | $18,500 | 26 | 15th | +11% | Arizona |
| Personal Injury | $1,600 | $6,000 | $17,300 | — | — | +15% | — |
| Immigration | $2,350 | $5,350 | $13,850 | 17 | 17th | +13% | Minnesota |
| Bankruptcy | $1,700 | $3,800 | $6,050 | 13 | 16th | +6% | Wisconsin |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,250 | $2,300 | $5,350 | 8 | 19th | +3% | Vermont |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $650 | $2,100 | $7,400 | 7 | 20th | +1% | Virginia |
Simple tier. $2,350 ÷ $260 = about 9 hours, spread over 3-6 months at roughly $522 a month. The $3,000 step to the moderate tier is 8 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $5,350 to $13,850 is a $8,500 step, mostly work: 17 more hours at $315 is $5,355, while moving to $405 across 34 hours adds $3,060. Work carries 64%.
Borrowing the wrong row. Nevada ($5,350) is $0 light, Minnesota ($5,400) is $50 heavy — but the $4,750 table midpoint is out by $600, 12x the neighbour error.
Both ends, in time. $3,200 is 10 hours at $315; $8,600 is 27. Over the 6-12 months recorded for a moderate immigration, that is 1 to 3 hours a month — the difference between an occasional file review and continuous work.
Contested against simple. At Maryland's own recorded figures, $13,850 buys 5.9 matters at the $2,350 simple median — or, counted in time, 34 implied hours against 9, a factor of 3.8 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Marylandcourt'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.