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 Rhode Island, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a immigration in Rhode Island costs on average $6,250, typically $3,750-$10,000 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $230 to $435 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 | $1,250 | $2,550 | $3,800 | 3-6 months |
| Moderate | $3,750 | $6,250 | $10,000 | 6-12 months |
| Complex | $9,600 | $13,250 | $18,000 | 12-24+ months |
Last verified: June 2026
$230 – $435/ hour
Median: $320/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 Rhode Island. The recorded median total is $6,250, with reported quotes clustering between $3,750 and $10,000. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $1,075–$2,740, which leaves roughly $3,510–$5,175 of the Rhode Island 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 $6,250, the median immigration cost in Rhode Island runs 27% above the $4,938 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Rhode Island carries 3 rows — simple, $1,250–$3,800 at $175–$350/hr over 3-6 months; moderate, $3,750–$10,000 at $230–$435/hr over 6-12 months; complex, $9,600–$18,000 at $290–$520/hr over 12-24+ months — on 4 shared citations. Those figures put it in the top quarter of the table.
$6,250 is a median, not the middle of the band — $2,500 above the $3,750 floor, $3,750 under the $10,000 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 49.
Rhode Island ranks 3rd of 49 tracked states for a immigration, inside the highest-cost quarter of the table. The gap to the $4,750 midpoint is $1,500 — 32% — and only 2 states record a higher median.
New York ($6,250) and Vermont ($6,200) bracket Rhode Island inside a $50 window — narrow enough that 3rd is close to arbitrary.
4 tracked states — New York, Vermont, Washington, New Hampshire among them — record a median within three percent of Rhode Island's $6,250. 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 Rhode Island is 8th of 49 at $320 an hour, 5 places behind its 3rd position on total cost.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Rhode Island |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $7,150 | +$900 |
| 2 | New York | $6,250 | −$0 |
| 3 | Rhode Island | $6,250 | — |
| 4 | Vermont | $6,200 | −$50 |
| 5 | Washington | $6,200 | −$50 |
| 6 | New Hampshire | $6,150 | −$100 |
| 7 | Connecticut | $6,050 | −$200 |
| 8 | New Jersey | $5,950 | −$300 |
| 9 | Colorado | $5,900 | −$350 |
The rows within ten percent are lopsided: 10 below Rhode Island against 0 above. $0 up or $50 down moves Rhode Island a row, so a downward revision would cost the state far more places than an equivalent upward one would gain — the 3rd position is propped up by a thin immigration field above it and a crowded one beneath.
Climbing five places would mean passing Hawaii, New York and adding $900 to the $6,250 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Vermont, Washington, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey: $300.
$900 short of Hawaii ($7,150), $2,900 clear of Kentucky ($3,350).
At $320 an hour, the $6,250 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 Rhode Island figure than behind the typical state's.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex immigration costs 5.2x a simple one in Rhode Island, but the implied workload only rises 3.3x — 10 hours at $260 becomes 33 hours at $405 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.56x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
In dollars the Rhode Island moderate band is wide: $3,750 to $10,000, a $6,250 range, $1,500 wider than the peer-median band of $4,750. End to end that is 20 hours at $320.
Across the 6-12 months the sources record for a moderate matter, the $6,250 median is roughly $694 a month of elapsed time.
By implied hours Rhode Island falls to 6th of 49 at 20 hours, 3 places below its 3rd on cost — the immigration total arriving on less recorded work.
16% up the $3,750–$10,000 band sits the $4,750 table midpoint, buying 15 hours at $320 against the 20 the local immigration median implies — 5 hours apart.
| Measure | Rhode Island | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $6,250 | 3rd |
| Hourly median | $320 | 8th |
| Implied hours | 20 | 6th |
| Simple median | $2,550 | 3rd |
| Complex median | $13,250 | 5th |
$320 an hour puts Rhode Island between New Hampshire ($320) and District of Columbia ($315) — not the immigration cost pairing.
California, Connecticut, New Hampshire record the same $320: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$6,250 buys 24 hours at $260, 20 at $320, 15 at $405.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Connecticut | $320 |
| 7 | New Hampshire | $320 |
| 8 | Rhode Island | $320 |
| 9 | District of Columbia | $315 |
| 10 | Maryland | $315 |
The ranking barely moves across tiers — 3rd at the simple tier, 3rd at moderate, 5th at complex of 49 — so Rhode Island keeps roughly the same relative position whether the immigration is straightforward or contested.
$2,550 is 3rd of 49 on a straightforward immigration, under Hawaii ($2,550) and over California ($2,500), $650 over the $1,900 tier midpoint.
$13,250 is 5th of 49 once contested, between New Hampshire ($13,300) and Colorado ($13,200), $2,500 off the $10,750 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in Rhode Island: the simple tier reaches $3,800 where the moderate tier starts at $3,750, and the moderate tier reaches $10,000 where the complex tier starts at $9,600. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | Rhode Island | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $2,550 | 3rd | $1,900 | 10 |
| moderate | $6,250 | 3rd | $4,750 | 20 |
| complex | $13,250 | 5th | $10,750 | 33 |
$2,550 keeps Rhode Island at 3rd on straightforward matters, the same place it holds on the headline figure, $650 (34%) over the $1,900 tier midpoint.
10 implied hours at $260: 50% of the moderate tier's 20, over 3-6 months.
Hawaii ($2,550) and California ($2,500) bracket it — a $50 window.
3 states sit within three percent of the $2,550 here, against 4 at the moderate row.
$13,250 drops Rhode Island to 5th of 49 on contested matters, 2 below its moderate position and $2,500 (23%) over the $10,750 tier midpoint.
33 implied hours at $405: 165% of the moderate tier's 20, over 12-24+ months.
New Hampshire ($13,300) and Colorado ($13,200) bracket it — a $100 window.
3 states sit within three percent of the $13,250 here, against 4 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $2,600 |
| 2 | Hawaii | $2,550 |
| 3 | Rhode Island | $2,550 |
| 4 | California | $2,500 |
| 5 | Virginia | $2,450 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Maryland | $13,850 |
| 4 | New Hampshire | $13,300 |
| 5 | Rhode Island | $13,250 |
| 6 | Colorado | $13,200 |
| 7 | New York | $12,950 |
In Rhode Island a immigration is 4th of 8 at $6,250, between DUI / DWI and Personal Injury. At 49% of Criminal Defense ($12,750).
Across practice areas Rhode Island ranges from 2nd of 49 for Criminal Defense to 13th for Real Estate Closing — a 11-place spread, with its 3rd on immigration inside it.
The spread across practice areas is wide. Divorce runs 33% above its own midpoint, while Personal Injury runs 4% above its own midpoint — 29 percentage points apart. A single "Rhode Island is expensive" or "Rhode Island is inexpensive" claim would be wrong for at least one of the matter types tracked here.
Rhode Island's practice areas fan out more than most: its largest tracked median is 5.5x its smallest, against 5.1x for the typical state. Prices here are set matter by matter rather than by one statewide level.
Every one of the 7 matter types tracked for Rhode Island places it in the upper third of its table, which is why the 3rd on immigration is not an outlier.
That places the immigration figure in the 96th percentile of the 49 states tracked here.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $4,450 | $12,750 | $34,900 | 36 | 2nd | +25% | Hawaii |
| Divorce | $3,300 | $11,400 | $26,900 | 33 | 3rd | +33% | Washington |
| DUI / DWI | $4,400 | $9,400 | $18,100 | 29 | 3rd | +26% | Hawaii |
| Immigration | $2,550 | $6,250 | $13,250 | 20 | 3rd | +32% | New York |
| Personal Injury | $1,650 | $5,400 | $17,700 | — | — | +4% | — |
| Bankruptcy | $1,800 | $4,100 | $6,200 | 14 | 9th | +14% | District of Columbia |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,150 | $2,450 | $5,350 | 8 | 13th | +10% | Oregon |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $650 | $2,300 | $6,600 | 7 | 9th | +11% | New Jersey |
Simple tier. $2,550 ÷ $260 = about 10 hours, spread over 3-6 months at roughly $567 a month. The $3,700 step to the moderate tier is 10 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $6,250 to $13,250 is a $7,000 step, mostly work: 13 more hours at $320 is $4,160, while moving to $405 across 33 hours adds $2,805. Work carries 60%.
Borrowing the wrong row. Vermont ($6,200) is $50 light, New York ($6,250) is $0 heavy — but the $4,750 table midpoint is out by $1,500, 30x the neighbour error.
Both ends, in time. $3,750 is 12 hours at $320; $10,000 is 31. 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 Rhode Island's own recorded figures, $13,250 buys 5.2 matters at the $2,550 simple median — or, counted in time, 33 implied hours against 10, a factor of 3.3 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Rhode Islandcourt'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.