If you hire a lawyer and tell him that your marriage is fake, he will not represent you. Not only that he might even report you to the CIS for committing fraud. Since you're already maried, now file the necessary paperwork by yourself. I think you will save thousands of dollars and your chance of success are probably the same with or without a lawyer. If you can read/write english and can follow directions, I would skip the lawyer. You can file I-130, I-485, I-765 all together and you need to send it to the Chicago Lock Box I beleive. Just follow instructions on that and send it out. You will be asked for an interview, so on the interview you need to provide proof of your relationship being bona fied. Pictures, lease agreements, joint accounts, utilities etc are needed. So before you file make sure you can produce such documents and since you are living in different states, I would recommend you move. Also be able to explain any inconsistencies without hesitation. Your confidence level is what counts, they dont have a lie detector, how you react to questions and your general attitude is what they go by. Good luck.