How to find a good immigration laywer? Add to Watch List Options

[houseon24]

Hello Everybody

We are brand new to this forum and we are (as a lot of other people here) feeling very frustrated with what to do.
We have been together for almost 5 years - but have both been living and working in another country (not his or hers country) together.

We are now looking into hiring an immigration lawyer to help us with this process but how do we find a good one?

When we google "immigration lawyer + the city the US Citizen live in" - we get a lot of hits - but when we look at each attorney's website - they don't appear to be specialized in immigration law or even write on their websites that they deal with it.

THe European fiancee in this couple is currently here on a tourist visa (visa-waiver) and we were planning to file for a K1 visa once she returns to Europe. Now we realized how long that can take - and are wondering if there might be other options for us.... (maybe a quickie and then go for the K3?) An immigration lawyer should hopefully be able to help us figure out the best way in this situation.

The fiancee can not return to the US again without it being a K-visa as she was barely allowed to enter the country on this last return t the US.

Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance
Houseon24!

[canadian_wife]

Unless you have a complicated case, a lawyer isn't really necessay, especially now that you've found Visa Journey

K-1 is typically faster, especially since you can file today. It is more expensive and you only have 90 days to get married in the US once the visa is issued

K-3 is obsolete, slow and expensive

Cr-1 is a spousal visa and will take longer typically but allows for work and travel once in the US and leads to a green card quicker

Good luck - read the guides here and they'll help you!

[Inky]

K-3 is more expencive and takes longer, Many people do not follow this rout anymore.

K-1 is for fiance - one entry and marriage with in 90 days after entry.

Unless your case requires a lawyer in the fact that it is complicated or one of you has a criminal record, it would save you a lot of money to just follow the guides and ask questions on Vj and file it yourself rather than spending extra money on a lawyer who cant promis you anything really with the process.

The guides on the website have a lot of information, might want to read through them im sure it would help, then ask any further questions after

[Guitarlo]

Hello Everybody

We are brand new to this forum and we are (as a lot of other people here) feeling very frustrated with what to do.
We have been together for almost 5 years - but have both been living and working in another country (not his or hers country) together.

We are now looking into hiring an immigration lawyer to help us with this process but how do we find a good one?

When we google "immigration lawyer + the city the US Citizen live in" - we get a lot of hits - but when we look at each attorney's website - they don't appear to be specialized in immigration law or even write on their websites that they deal with it.

THe European fiancee in this couple is currently here on a tourist visa (visa-waiver) and we were planning to file for a K1 visa once she returns to Europe. Now we realized how long that can take - and are wondering if there might be other options for us.... (maybe a quickie and then go for the K3?) An immigration lawyer should hopefully be able to help us figure out the best way in this situation.

The fiancee can not return to the US again without it being a K-visa as she was barely allowed to enter the country on this last return t the US.

Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance
Houseon24!

Where in the US do you live? I had a miserable experience from hiring one of those online immigration lawyer service "JOHN ROTH ASSOCIATES." They sucked! A brick and mortar lawyer will cost more but at least you know where they are. If you are in Minneapolis I can recommend someone. Make sure they attorney is certfied AIL (American Immigration Lawyer Association). Google the American Immigration Association and ger a referral.

[baron555]

As stated, unless your case is complicated, the only thing an attorney helping can guarantee is:

You will pay more money.

Your case will take longer than if you did it yourself since you still have to gather all the evidence and documents and then sending to them and watiting for them to send it to USCIS will take longer.

[Justine+David]

To reinforce, yes, you do NOT need a lawyer if you make use of the search button on VJ and don't have a complicated case (felonies, visa overstays, etc).

[pushbrk]

To reinforce, yes, you do NOT need a lawyer if you make use of the search button on VJ and don't have a complicated case (felonies, visa overstays, etc).

Respectfully, you have no idea whether the OP can do it themselves or not. You don't know if they want to, feel comfortable doing so or would rather spend their time doing something they think is more important to them. Do it yourself is not for everybody.

[houseon24]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies so quickly - guess this forum will be our new best friend!!!
We are both pretty intelligent people - and we CAN for sure figure the paperwork out ourselves - we would just be happy to hand it to someone who KNOWS what they are doing and who can advice us on our specific situation.

One of the things that might cause issues is the fact that we have to state the addresses the Danish fiancee has lived in for the last 5 years. As mentioned previously we both worked in Afghanistan for a number of years and she had her official address there as she couldn't have her address in Denmark during that time frame.

There is also an issue in the fact that she can no longer return even on a tourist visa (she was told so on her last entry to the US)...

Anyways - We weren't so much looking for a lawyer to do our paperwork as we are looking for one to advice us!

Again thank you for all your help already... Amazing!

Houseon24!

[Hopp]

Do yourself a favor: don't get a lawyer. Just tune into VJ, and get help every step of the way. YOu will save thousand$ and get things done quicker than if a lawyer becomes your middle man. Good luck.

[pushbrk]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies so quickly - guess this forum will be our new best friend!!!
We are both pretty intelligent people - and we CAN for sure figure the paperwork out ourselves - we would just be happy to hand it to someone who KNOWS what they are doing and who can advice us on our specific situation.

One of the things that might cause issues is the fact that we have to state the addresses the Danish fiancee has lived in for the last 5 years. As mentioned previously we both worked in Afghanistan for a number of years and she had her official address there as she couldn't have her address in Denmark during that time frame.

There is also an issue in the fact that she can no longer return even on a tourist visa (she was told so on her last entry to the US)...

Anyways - We weren't so much looking for a lawyer to do our paperwork as we are looking for one to advice us!

Again thank you for all your help already... Amazing!

Houseon24!

Having both worked in Afghanistan for an extended period seriously complicates your case. Count in it. You have more than a paperwork filling issue.

[pushbrk]

Do yourself a favor: don't get a lawyer. Just tune into VJ, and get help every step of the way. YOu will save thousand$ and get things done quicker than if a lawyer becomes your middle man. Good luck.

Here's an example of how things can go horribly wrong when people think it's easy to do it yourself or think they can get by asking questions when they have no clue what to ask.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=226644

[waleed's girl]

You don't need a lawyer...if you can read and write English you will be fine just follow the directions carefully.

Are you guys married or engaged?

Good Luck!!

[houseon24]

You don't need a lawyer...if you can read and write English you will be fine just follow the directions carefully.

Are you guys married or engaged?

Good Luck!!

We are 'just' engaged at this point. We were planning a big wedding in July next year with friends and families flying in from all over the world - but it looks like we might have to do a quickie while I am here on a tourist visa and then file for AOS CR1... It all seems very hopeless at this point in time...

How do they 'flag' people in immigration? I mean - if I was told to not re-enter the US without a K visa - should I then expect that to be in 'the system'?
I am not planning to return on a tourist visa ever again - but am wondering if the 'warning' from the immigration police people in the airport might hurt me if I file for AOS? I never got anything written from the immigration people in the airport - but I was interviewed (more than normal) by a very unpleasant lady who told me that I had spent too much time in the US this past year. The only thing that saved me from being deported at that time was the fact that my previous entry to the US had been on a J visa for studying (which I did).

So now I am here on the tourist visa trying to decide if we should just go ahead and do it!

[waleed's girl]

Just file for a k-1 and do the I-129F and your fiance should be here by next July HOPEFULLY!!!!

[pushbrk]

You don't need a lawyer...if you can read and write English you will be fine just follow the directions carefully.

Are you guys married or engaged?

Good Luck!!

We are 'just' engaged at this point. We were planning a big wedding in July next year with friends and families flying in from all over the world - but it looks like we might have to do a quickie while I am here on a tourist visa and then file for AOS CR1... It all seems very hopeless at this point in time...

How do they 'flag' people in immigration? I mean - if I was told to not re-enter the US without a K visa - should I then expect that to be in 'the system'?
I am not planning to return on a tourist visa ever again - but am wondering if the 'warning' from the immigration police people in the airport might hurt me if I file for AOS? I never got anything written from the immigration people in the airport - but I was interviewed (more than normal) by a very unpleasant lady who told me that I had spent too much time in the US this past year. The only thing that saved me from being deported at that time was the fact that my previous entry to the US had been on a J visa for studying (which I did).

So now I am here on the tourist visa trying to decide if we should just go ahead and do it!

Most of the answers you're getting are blindly advising you without even understanding what you are writing. Most don't realize you are even in the USA at the moment. They don't understand the red flags in your case and aren't attempting to understand. You have some major issues that need to be assessed and addressed.