Extension costs usually resemble the original filing, current government fees plus legal preparation, though they can be lower if the case is straightforward and the evidence just needs updating rather than rebuilding. Confirm current fees separately, since they change and aren't fixed by the prior filing.
Ask whether the extension is routine or complicated
If the role, duties, and employer are unchanged, extension preparation is often more streamlined than the original filing, which can affect legal cost. If something has shifted, added responsibilities, a title change, a new evaluation might be needed, the cost is closer to a fresh assessment. Ask counsel to estimate based on the actual state of the current file rather than assuming it will be routine.
Add one further question to that estimate: what the review costs if it finds something. An extension that looked routine and turns out to involve a changed employer entity, a materially different role, or a credential question raised by a licensing renewal is not simply a longer version of the same work — it may be a different piece of work with a different conclusion. Establish in advance whether that becomes a fresh engagement and what happens to fees already committed.
Hypothetical example: a physicist's extension is quoted as straightforward on the basis that nothing has changed, and the review discovers that the research group's funding now routes the employment through a different legal entity, which converts a light-touch exercise into a substantive one three weeks before the period ends.