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 New Jersey, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a immigration in New Jersey costs on average $5,950, typically $3,550-$9,500 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $240 to $445 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 | $1,200 | $2,350 | $3,500 | 3-6 months |
| Moderate | $3,550 | $5,950 | $9,500 | 6-12 months |
| Complex | $8,850 | $12,200 | $16,600 | 12-24+ months |
Last verified: June 2026
$240 – $445/ hour
Median: $325/hr
6-12 months
For moderate complexity cases
New to how attorney fees work? Read the legal fees guide — hourly, flat, and contingency billing explained.
Researching costs in another area? These free tools from our network may help.
Add this calculator to your own site with a copy-paste snippet — includes an attribution link back to this page.
<iframe
id="legalcostcalc-embed"
src="https://legalcostcalc.co/embed/new-jersey/immigration-cost"
title="New Jersey Immigration Cost Calculator"
width="100%"
height="720"
style="border:1px solid #e2e8f0;border-radius:8px;max-width:768px;"
loading="lazy"
></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px;text-align:center;">
<a href="https://legalcostcalc.co/new-jersey/immigration-cost?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=embed_snippet" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">
Powered by LegalCostCalc
</a>
</p>
<script>
window.addEventListener("message", function (event) {
if (!event.data || event.data.type !== "legalcostcalc:embed-resize") return;
var frame = document.getElementById("legalcostcalc-embed");
if (frame && typeof event.data.height === "number") {
frame.style.height = event.data.height + "px";
}
});
</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 New Jersey. The recorded median total is $5,950, with reported quotes clustering between $3,550 and $9,500. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,075–$2,740, which leaves roughly $3,210–$4,875 of the New Jersey 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 $5,950, the median immigration cost in New Jersey runs 20% above the $4,938 national average across all 50 states and DC.
New Jersey carries 3 rows — simple, $1,200–$3,500 at $180–$355/hr over 3-6 months; moderate, $3,550–$9,500 at $240–$445/hr over 6-12 months; complex, $8,850–$16,600 at $300–$535/hr over 12-24+ months — on 4 shared citations. Those figures put it in the top quarter of the table.
$5,950 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,400 above the $3,550 floor, $3,550 under the $9,500 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 49.
New Jersey ranks 8th of 49 tracked states for a immigration, inside the highest-cost quarter of the table. The gap to the $4,750 midpoint is $1,200 — 25% — and only 7 states record a higher median.
Connecticut ($6,050) and Colorado ($5,900) bracket New Jersey inside a $150 window — narrow enough that 8th is close to arbitrary.
5 tracked states — Connecticut, Colorado, California, District of Columbia among them — record a median within three percent of New Jersey's $5,950. The figure sits in the densest part of the immigration distribution, where a rank change of several rows costs only a few hundred dollars.
New Jersey ranks 3rd of 49 on hourly rate at $325 an hour and 8th on total cost — 5 places apart, enough that the rate is a slightly optimistic guide to the total.
| Rank | State | Median | Against New Jersey |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | New York | $6,250 | +$300 |
| 3 | Rhode Island | $6,250 | +$300 |
| 4 | Vermont | $6,200 | +$250 |
| 5 | Washington | $6,200 | +$250 |
| 6 | New Hampshire | $6,150 | +$200 |
| 7 | Connecticut | $6,050 | +$100 |
| 8 | New Jersey | $5,950 | — |
| 9 | Colorado | $5,900 | −$50 |
| 10 | California | $5,850 | −$100 |
| 11 | District of Columbia | $5,850 | −$100 |
| 12 | Illinois | $5,850 | −$100 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $5,700 | −$250 |
| 14 | Utah | $5,600 | −$350 |
The 8th position is not a stable fact about New Jersey: $100 up or $50 down moves New Jersey a row, and a ten percent revision in either direction would cross 14 rows, 6 above and 8 below in near-equal numbers.
Climbing five places would mean passing Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, New Hampshire, Connecticut and adding $300 to the $5,950 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Colorado, California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts: $250.
$1,200 short of Hawaii ($7,150), $2,600 clear of Kentucky ($3,350).
At $325 an hour, the $5,950 median represents about 18 hours of attorney time — a matter measured in days of work, not weeks. That rounds to the same 18 hours as the peer median, so on workload New Jersey is indistinguishable from the middle of the table at this precision.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex immigration costs 5.2x a simple one in New Jersey, but the implied workload only rises 3.2x — 9 hours at $270 becomes 29 hours at $415 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.54x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
In dollars the New Jersey moderate band is wide: $3,550 to $9,500, a $5,950 range, $1,200 wider than the peer-median band of $4,750. End to end that is 18 hours at $325.
Across the 6-12 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $5,950 median is roughly $661 a month of elapsed time.
By implied hours New Jersey falls to 20th of 49 at 18 hours, 12 places below its 8th on cost — the immigration total arriving on less recorded work.
20% up the $3,550–$9,500 band sits the $4,750 table midpoint, buying 15 hours at $325 against the 18 the local immigration median implies — 3 hours apart.
| Measure | New Jersey | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $5,950 | 8th |
| Hourly median | $325 | 3rd |
| Implied hours | 18 | 20th |
| Simple median | $2,350 | 7th |
| Complex median | $12,200 | 12th |
$325 an hour puts New Jersey between Washington ($330) and New York ($325) — not the immigration cost pairing.
New York records the same $325: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$5,950 buys 22 hours at $270, 18 at $325, 14 at $415.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $370 |
| 2 | Washington | $330 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $325 |
| 4 | New York | $325 |
| 5 | California | $320 |
Ranked tier by tier, New Jersey slides 5 places downward: 7th at the simple tier, 8th at moderate, 12th at complex. Its headline moderate position sits between the two extremes rather than summarising them.
$2,350 is 7th of 49 on a straightforward immigration, under Maryland ($2,350) and over Connecticut ($2,300), $450 over the $1,900 tier midpoint.
$12,200 is 12th of 49 once contested, between Connecticut ($12,400) and Massachusetts ($12,000), $1,450 off the $10,750 tier midpoint.
$50 separates the simple ceiling of $3,500 from the moderate floor of $3,550, so the first escalation is a clean break, while the moderate and complex bands overlap from $8,850 upward. The expensive end of a routine immigration and the cheap end of a contested one are the same money in New Jersey.
| Tier | New Jersey | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $2,350 | 7th | $1,900 | 9 |
| moderate | $5,950 | 8th | $4,750 | 18 |
| complex | $12,200 | 12th | $10,750 | 29 |
$2,350 puts New Jersey 7th of 49 on straightforward matters, 1 up on its moderate position, and $450 (24%) over the $1,900 tier midpoint.
9 implied hours at $270: 50% of the moderate tier's 18, over 3-6 months.
Maryland ($2,350) and Connecticut ($2,300) bracket it — a $50 window.
5 states sit within three percent of the $2,350 here, against 5 at the moderate row.
$12,200 drops New Jersey to 12th of 49 on contested matters, 4 below its moderate position and $1,450 (13%) over the $10,750 tier midpoint.
29 implied hours at $415: 161% of the moderate tier's 18, over 12-24+ months.
Connecticut ($12,400) and Massachusetts ($12,000) bracket it — a $400 window.
4 states sit within three percent of the $12,200 here, against 5 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Virginia | $2,450 |
| 6 | Maryland | $2,350 |
| 7 | New Jersey | $2,350 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $2,300 |
| 9 | New Hampshire | $2,300 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Oregon | $12,550 |
| 11 | Connecticut | $12,400 |
| 12 | New Jersey | $12,200 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $12,000 |
| 14 | Illinois | $11,800 |
In New Jersey a immigration is 4th of 8 at $5,950, between DUI / DWI and Personal Injury. At 53% of Criminal Defense ($11,200).
Across practice areas New Jersey ranges from 4th of 49 for DUI / DWI to 18th for Bankruptcy — a 14-place spread, with its 8th on immigration inside it.
New Jersey is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Immigration runs 25% above its own midpoint while Bankruptcy runs 6% above its own midpoint — a 19-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in New Jersey is 4.9x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
7 of 8 matter types rank New Jersey in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 1 between; immigration is 8th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 85th percentile of the 49 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $4,250 | $11,200 | $35,550 | 32 | 13th | +10% | Oregon |
| Divorce | $3,500 | $10,050 | $27,350 | 28 | 14th | +18% | Vermont |
| DUI / DWI | $3,900 | $9,200 | $19,850 | 28 | 4th | +23% | Rhode Island |
| Immigration | $2,350 | $5,950 | $12,200 | 18 | 8th | +25% | Connecticut |
| Personal Injury | $1,700 | $5,550 | $16,600 | — | 10th | +7% | Delaware |
| Bankruptcy | $1,700 | $3,800 | $6,200 | 13 | 18th | +6% | Nevada |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,300 | $2,700 | $4,950 | 9 | 5th | +21% | Alaska |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $700 | $2,300 | $7,150 | 7 | 8th | +11% | Connecticut |
Simple tier. $2,350 ÷ $270 = about 9 hours, spread over 3-6 months at roughly $522 a month. The $3,600 step to the moderate tier is 9 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $5,950 to $12,200 is a $6,250 step weighted toward price: 11 more hours at $325 is $3,575, but $415 across 29 hours adds $2,610 — 42% of it.
Borrowing the wrong row. Colorado ($5,900) is $50 light, Connecticut ($6,050) is $100 heavy — but the $4,750 table midpoint is out by $1,200, 12x the neighbour error.
Both ends, in time. $3,550 is 11 hours at $325; $9,500 is 29. 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 New Jersey's own recorded figures, $12,200 buys 5.2 matters at the $2,350 simple median — or, counted in time, 29 implied hours against 9, a factor of 3.2 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the New Jerseycourt'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.