WE filed our K1 last January 2008, my foreign fiancee hired a lawyer to represent him on the process. Is it advantage to have a lawyer? does it shorten the period of processing?

I personally dont think there is any benefit in hiring a lawyer unless you forsee some problems with your case, most people here file on their own. Their is no precedence given to cases handled by lawyers. All the info you would need is here either in the guides or by peoples personal experiences.

Good luck with your journey and .

A lawyer can't speed anything up! Alot of times they slow petitions down or even mess them up! The only need to hire a lawyer would be if you or your fiance had some extentuating circumstances! If you have any questions you can always ask anyone on this website and someone will know the answer!

agree

Fully agree, with all the information posted here, tell your significant other just read here and he will get as much information and help as a lawyer. I don´t see where a lawyer fits here.

No need. This website alone has all the information that you need. Just follow the instructions and file/bring all the documents required and you will do just fine.

Not at all. We filed our petition 8 months ago and still waiting

I don't think hiring a lawyer would work since there is no expedite process for family-based immigration. Just read the guides here and you'll be fine. Most of the VJers managed to finish the immigration process on their own and everything posted here is first-hand experience...

Based on our experience a lawyer doesn't help much in expediting the process. It was just an added expense on our part. We paid him $1000 just to submit our paperworks & still I wasn't satisfied with his service (the forms he sent for us to sign had misspells & error in entries which caused delays, etc). Besides, he's not much of help when it comes to information after we got our NOA2. I learned everything I need to know about the K1 process when I joined this site; it offers valuable info. How I wished I found this site before we process our application, it would save us a thousand dollars. Anyway, I suggest you read thoroughly the posts in this site especially Sheriff Uling's K1 Visa Guide. They are valuable source of information. Likewise, do not hesitate to ask questions. VJ members are willing to answer your questions & assist you in this journey. Goodluck!

actually, with our case, i couldn't disagree more. we hired a lawyer (an international lawyer, who is accustomed to these cases) and judging by the timelines on here, i haven't seen a single couple move through the process faster than we have.

so, based on personal experience, i would say it is definitely worth it to have someone to take care of alot of the hassle, the headaches, and answering of questions. plus he organized everything and made sure it was perfect before it was sent.

it may also have helped that im in the military, and have a pretty intensive background check done by the government before i got my "job"

so, based on how quickly we have been moving along, i would say it was worth it...to us at least.

Bad idea and waste of money, you wont get through the system any faster.