The attorney has said that the charges will be $1500 (non-refundable) + $750 for interview attendance + copying & mail costs in addition to the UCIS filing fees.

I have looked through the documentation requirements for the I-751 and it does not look too bad. The attorney also said that we have to provide "many" letters of people who know us and copies of their drivers licenses. This is something that we are not prepared to ask from our friends, if someone were asking me I would refuse. They are fine with the listed requirements from the guide to the I-751 petition.

Has anyone out there done this alone, and how difficult was it ??

Thank You.

I think you'll find that the vast majority of VJ'ers in this situation did it themselves.

So far we have not used an lawyer for K-1, or AOS, and will not use one for I-751, saved a ton of $$$ bu using the guides.

I meant to state that we DID use an attorney the first time (2 years ago this June) when conditional residence was granted.

The attorney did not say one word during the interview at the Immigration office.

Thank you for the reply.

I would definitely say YES, you CAN do it by yourself and NO you do NOT need an attorney. Remember, whether you're paying an attorney or not, you will still have to gather the evidence yourself.

I have completed each of my application myself with no problems. Applying for a J1, switching from J1 to F1, applying for EAD and then F1 to Perm Res and now lastly I-751.

Just read though the application instruction form and if you have any questions from there, ask us. Most of the answers I've seen on this website are very accurate.

Good luck to you!!

I'm preparing to file Andre's in August. Not planning on using an attorney.

With the help of VJ and Vjers you would not need an attorney I am pretty confident on the material posted questions asked and the replies are all as good or better than any attorney
all the best

We've never used an attorney. This application is straightforward, but it's time consuming. Ask lots of questions on here. For one thing, I would not pay a lawyer that is telling you to include photocopies of driver's licenses of those that write a letter for you. That is completely inaccurate. You don't even HAVE to include a letter from a friend at all. The directions on the application list it as an example of something you could possibly send in. It is good to have those letters notarized perhaps, but definitely don't need a copy of their license.

Just follow the directions very closely and again, ask on here!

rarely are there interviews for the I-751 ...

I have not used a lawyer at all through this process. I just submitted the I-751 application the end of February. It is an easy form to fill out and you would have to provide all of the documents to the lawyer anyway for him to copy. Just collect them all and do your own photocopying. Write your name and A number on the top of each form and submit the documentation yourself. You do not need a lawyer to do this - and to charge $750 for an interview fee - yipes! The majority of cases are approved without an interview.

You can definitely do this on your own. Ask any questions you feel here and we will all be happy to help you out. Save yourself the $1500 and the $750 - you still have to pay the application fee, the biometrics fee and the copying and postage costs, though !

Don't use the attorney. Almost all cases don't need any interview either.

I echo the others. I-751 is not that bad a form to submit. Read the forms thru carefully so that you can start putting together the evidence early, and save yourself the attorney fees. There are lots of threads here on what folks have submitted.

All fees we have paid in this process have been only to the USCIS, Post Office, and the Physician for medical check-up. And that is stlll too much

Good Luck!

Did you have to do physical for removing conditions? I am not aware of the medical needed for removing conditions.

We didn't use one, and if there's any step of the process that doesn't call for an attorney, it's probably the I-751, or at least an I-751 filed by a couple who is living together in a bona fide relationship that's not on the verge of breaking up or anything.

However, that doesn't mean nobody should use one.

I'm convinced that SOME people should use an attorney for each step, no matter how simple the step is. If you can't read and follow instructions, pay attention to details, fill out forms legibly, organize paperwork in an easy-to-understand fashion, then get help.

If you've researched the question, and you still think the I-751 should be filed 90 days before your second wedding anniversary, then you should hire an attorney.

If you pay someone to help you with your taxes, maybe you should consider paying someone to help you with your immigration paperwork.

But if you've read the guides and the I-751 sounds like something you can handle yourself, go for it.

taxes are a lot more complicated...

agreed! We have someone do our taxes (only $45), and these forms are nothing in comparison.

That depends.

When you can e-file an I-130 and get a visa in the mail without an interview, or e-file an N-400 and get a naturalization certificate in the mail, I'll concede that immigration is less complicated than taxes.

Yes, there are a lot more numbers involved with taxes, and that scares some people. But it's really easy to find software that handles all the numerical details, so that shouldn't be much of an issue. All you have to do is take numbers from your W-4s and 1099s and transfer them into the software.

You can get someone to do a straightforward tax return for $50.00 or sometimes less. You can't get an attorney to take an immigration case for that price. That's because it doesn't take the same level of professional training or time commitment to figure out a tax return as it does to figure out an immigration situation.

The tricky parts in both areas come in figuring out how to read and interpret the laws, regulations, and instructions. What filing status do I qualify for? Is this an allowable deduction? With my income shortfall, what value of assets would I need to demonstrate on my I-864 in order to avoid needing a joint sponsor?

And I will concede that individual situations present widely varying amounts of complexity, both in taxes and immigration. In both areas, there are people with very straightforward situations, and people with extraordinarily complex situations. Someone may have very easy taxes and hard immigration issues, or vice versa. So not everyone who does their own taxes should take on their own immigration case, nor should everyone who does their own immigration work do their own taxes.

We called the attorney we used for our AOS, she recommended we do it ourselves. She was sure it would be not problem, but of course if we felt uncomfortable, she would file for us, we never got to the $$ stage. I admired her honesty. Add to that, she had her assistant call and follow up a week before the due date to make sure every was OK and that we had indeed filed with no problems. I assured her it was done and if we had an issues they would be the first to know.
That said...I have have to add the help and advise I got from VJ was so valuable...

That sums it up in my view. Get an attorney if your situation is non-standard, otherwise do it yourself (if you feel comfortable with filling out forms). We had an attorney for the conditional Green Card, but did the I-751 ourselves. By that time, I knew that I had to send all documentns by trackable mail to the USCIS - previously, an answer letter to a RFE got lost, and I was threatened with deportation.

I meant for the whole AOS process - there is no physical for "removal of conditions." Sorry for any confusion caused!

FORGET THE ATTORNEY ... PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE TO SUBMIT COPIES OF THEIR DRIVERS LICENSES
AND DON'T STRESS OUT (ANY MORE THAN NECESSARY)! GOOD LUCK!

umm, I have tired to e-file my taxes before and I got terribly confused but filling out the I-751 was a piece of cake compared to that....