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 North Carolina, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a immigration in North Carolina costs on average $4,300, typically $2,600-$6,900 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $170 to $315 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 | $850 | $1,750 | $2,600 | 3-6 months |
| Moderate | $2,600 | $4,300 | $6,900 | 6-12 months |
| Complex | $6,350 | $8,750 | $11,900 | 12-24+ months |
Last verified: June 2026
$170 – $315/ hour
Median: $230/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/north-carolina/immigration-cost"
title="North Carolina 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/north-carolina/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 North Carolina. The recorded median total is $4,300, with reported quotes clustering between $2,600 and $6,900. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,075–$2,740, which leaves roughly $1,560–$3,225 of the North Carolina 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 $4,300, the median immigration cost in North Carolina runs 13% below the $4,938 national average across all 50 states and DC.
North Carolina carries 3 rows — simple, $850–$2,600 at $125–$250/hr over 3-6 months; moderate, $2,600–$6,900 at $170–$315/hr over 6-12 months; complex, $6,350–$11,900 at $210–$375/hr over 12-24+ months — on 4 shared citations. They put it below the midpoint of the table without reaching the bottom quarter.
$4,300 is a median, not the middle of the band — $1,700 above the $2,600 floor, $2,600 under the $6,900 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 49.
North Carolina occupies the 35th row of 49 for a immigration. Its $4,300 median trails the $4,750 table midpoint by $450, which is 9% — close enough that a single firm's quote can straddle both figures.
North Dakota is only $50 above North Carolina at $4,350, but the drop to Indiana at $4,150 is $150 — the state sits at the bottom edge of its group, with clear air beneath it.
6 tracked states — Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Wyoming among them — record a median within three percent of North Carolina's $4,300. 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 North Carolina is 39th of 49 at $230 an hour, 4 places behind its 35th position on total cost.
| Rank | State | Median | Against North Carolina |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Georgia | $4,400 | +$100 |
| 30 | Missouri | $4,400 | +$100 |
| 31 | Ohio | $4,400 | +$100 |
| 32 | Wyoming | $4,400 | +$100 |
| 33 | Florida | $4,350 | +$50 |
| 34 | North Dakota | $4,350 | +$50 |
| 35 | North Carolina | $4,300 | — |
| 36 | Indiana | $4,150 | −$150 |
| 37 | Iowa | $4,150 | −$150 |
| 38 | Mississippi | $4,050 | −$250 |
| 39 | Nebraska | $4,050 | −$250 |
| 40 | Arkansas | $4,000 | −$300 |
| 41 | South Carolina | $4,000 | −$300 |
The 35th position is not a stable fact about North Carolina: $50 up or $150 down moves North Carolina a row, and a ten percent revision in either direction would cross 17 rows, 9 above and 8 below in near-equal numbers.
Climbing five places would mean passing Missouri, Ohio, Wyoming, Florida, North Dakota and adding $100 to the $4,300 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Arkansas: $300.
$2,850 short of Hawaii ($7,150), $950 clear of Kentucky ($3,350).
At $230 an hour, the $4,300 median represents about 19 hours of attorney time — a matter measured in days of work, not weeks. The peer median is 18 hours, so 1 more hours of work sit behind the North Carolina figure than behind the typical state's.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex immigration costs 5x a simple one in North Carolina, but the implied workload only rises 3.3x — 9 hours at $190 becomes 30 hours at $295 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.55x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
From $2,600 to $6,900 the moderate band is $4,300 wide, close to the $4,750 peer median. End to end that is 19 hours at $230.
Across the 6-12 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $4,300 median is roughly $478 a month of elapsed time.
A third ordering: by implied hours North Carolina is 17th of 49 at 19 hours, 18 places above its cost rank of 35th on cost — more work behind the same immigration money.
50% up the $2,600–$6,900 band sits the $4,750 table midpoint, buying 21 hours at $230 against the 19 the local immigration median implies — 2 hours apart.
| Measure | North Carolina | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $4,300 | 35th |
| Hourly median | $230 | 39th |
| Implied hours | 19 | 17th |
| Simple median | $1,750 | 35th |
| Complex median | $8,750 | 44th |
$230 an hour puts North Carolina between Nebraska ($230) and North Dakota ($230) — not the immigration cost pairing.
5 other states record exactly $230 — Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota among them — so rate is a coarse instrument in this immigration table.
$4,300 buys 23 hours at $190, 19 at $230, 15 at $295.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 37 | Mississippi | $230 |
| 38 | Nebraska | $230 |
| 39 | North Carolina | $230 |
| 40 | North Dakota | $230 |
| 41 | West Virginia | $230 |
Ranked tier by tier, North Carolina slides 9 places downward: 35th at the simple tier, 35th at moderate, 44th at complex. Its headline moderate position sits between the two extremes rather than summarising them.
$1,750 is 35th of 49 on a straightforward immigration, under Nebraska ($1,750) and over New Mexico ($1,700), $150 under the $1,900 tier midpoint.
$8,750 is 44th of 49 once contested, between Alabama ($8,800) and Arkansas ($8,600), $2,000 off the $10,750 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in North Carolina: the simple tier reaches $2,600 where the moderate tier starts at $2,600, and the moderate tier reaches $6,900 where the complex tier starts at $6,350. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | North Carolina | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $1,750 | 35th | $1,900 | 9 |
| moderate | $4,300 | 35th | $4,750 | 19 |
| complex | $8,750 | 44th | $10,750 | 30 |
$1,750 keeps North Carolina at 35th on straightforward matters, the same place it holds on the headline figure, $150 (8%) under the $1,900 tier midpoint.
9 implied hours at $190: 47% of the moderate tier's 19, over 3-6 months.
Nebraska ($1,750) and New Mexico ($1,700) bracket it — a $50 window.
7 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $1,750, denser than the 6 around the moderate row.
$8,750 drops North Carolina to 44th of 49 on contested matters, 9 below its moderate position and $2,000 (19%) under the $10,750 tier midpoint.
30 implied hours at $295: 158% of the moderate tier's 19, over 12-24+ months.
Alabama ($8,800) and Arkansas ($8,600) bracket it — a $200 window.
4 states sit within three percent of the $8,750 here, against 6 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | Nevada | $1,800 |
| 34 | Nebraska | $1,750 |
| 35 | North Carolina | $1,750 |
| 36 | New Mexico | $1,700 |
| 37 | Mississippi | $1,650 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 42 | Kansas | $8,850 |
| 43 | Alabama | $8,800 |
| 44 | North Carolina | $8,750 |
| 45 | Arkansas | $8,600 |
| 46 | South Carolina | $8,250 |
In North Carolina a immigration is 4th of 8 at $4,300, between DUI / DWI and Personal Injury. At 50% of Criminal Defense ($8,600).
The state does not rank uniformly. North Carolina is 32nd of 49 for Bankruptcy but 47th for Divorce, a 15-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 35th on immigration says little about what the other lines cost.
North Carolina is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Immigration runs 9% below its own midpoint while Estate Planning / Probate runs 28% below its own midpoint — a 19-point spread between the extremes.
North Carolina's practice areas fan out more than most: its largest tracked median is 5.7x its smallest, against 5.1x for the typical state. Prices here are set matter by matter rather than by one statewide level.
0 of 7 matter types rank North Carolina in the upper third, 6 in the lower, 1 between; immigration is 35th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 29th percentile of the 49 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $2,700 | $8,600 | $23,300 | 34 | 37th | −16% | Iowa |
| Divorce | $2,500 | $6,900 | $17,650 | 28 | 47th | −19% | South Dakota |
| DUI / DWI | $2,750 | $6,400 | $15,250 | 28 | 36th | −14% | Tennessee |
| Immigration | $1,750 | $4,300 | $8,750 | 19 | 35th | −9% | North Dakota |
| Personal Injury | $1,250 | $4,200 | $12,950 | — | — | −19% | — |
| Bankruptcy | $1,150 | $3,150 | $4,500 | 15 | 32nd | −12% | Florida |
| Real Estate Closing | $900 | $1,850 | $4,000 | 9 | 36th | −17% | Ohio |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $500 | $1,500 | $4,800 | 7 | 42nd | −28% | South Dakota |
Simple tier. $1,750 ÷ $190 = about 9 hours, spread over 3-6 months at roughly $389 a month. The $2,550 step to the moderate tier is 10 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $4,300 to $8,750 is a $4,450 step weighted toward price: 11 more hours at $230 is $2,530, but $295 across 30 hours adds $1,950 — 44% of it.
Borrowing the wrong row. Budgeting from Indiana ($4,150) lands $150 under North Carolina; from North Dakota ($4,350), $50 over; from the $4,750 table midpoint, $450 out.
Both ends, in time. $2,600 is 11 hours at $230; $6,900 is 30. 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 North Carolina's own recorded figures, $8,750 buys 5 matters at the $1,750 simple median — or, counted in time, 30 implied hours against 9, a factor of 3.3 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the North Carolinacourt'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.