Hello,

Are there any advantages to having a lawyer/attorney for filing the K3 Visa??? I've heard mixed things on the forum on an older thread, but what advantages exist? Would a lawyer help speed the process, make things easier, etc.?

I appreciate any honest input.

neena

K3 is a more complicated process and a lawyer "may" make the process easier. Won't speed up anything tho. Some lawyers have actually slowed the process down by not responding timely. Mine did and I fired him.

Check into doing a solo CR-1 . It's MUCH easier and way cheaper plus a MUCH better visa.

I had hired an Immigration Attorney but, if I could do it again I would have never done it! We are delayed because the Attorney
never advised us about a document USCIS is requesting otherwise our documents would have been approved three weeks ago! We have now reached the 200 day mark and still waiting for our approvals. Attorneys are a waste of time for filing petitions however, for a more serious matter that would be different.

Thanks for for the inputs.

I have one other question though... If the I-130 for my spouse where to be approved first, can I still opt to have the I-129F processed further as well? What steps would I need to take to do that?

Thanks again,

neena

In a normal case (no criminal record, previous visa attempts, etc.), they cannot do anything that you can't do for yourself.

When I was considering hiring an attorney, i had one bozo tell me that the whole process from application to interview on K-3 would take 4 months. So either he is clueless or a liar. Most of the posts you see about attorneys are about the mistakes and delays that they cause. I have read about many RFEs caused by incredibly stupid mistakes made by an attorney or his staff.

Unless you have a "difficult" case, simply read the guides thoroughly and do it yourself.

Good luck,

CG

Stay away from attorney's at all costs! They are certainly not needed for filing your application. I bet they are not up to speed on the new procedures concerning applying the 129f and I-130 at the same time. One more thing, the attorney hands off this type of work to his secretary but charges you as if he is doing the work.

My personal opinion is, if you can read and follow instructions, an attorney is a huge waste of money that does nothing to decrease your wait. I hardly ever use an attorney, even in business. You'd be amazed how much you can do all by yourself simply by asking questions and following instructions.

Stop feeding the lawyers, it only helps them to breed.

From our experience, a lawyer is not necessary. For this process, I believe if you want something done right you'll do it yourself. I'd rather go through everything with a fine-toothed-comb and treat my case as unique, than let a lawyer deal with my paperwork in amongst all his current workload.

Your priority is your own paperwork, your lawyers priority is ALL his paperwork. Just my 2 pence

Hi

I have realize having an attorney at least in our case hasen't help at all ,she doesn't even call us to give us news or anything see just mailed the papers that we arranged and since then she is been missing I think see is on vacation with the money we paid her while we are here WAITING.

In my opinion, finding Visa Journey is the hardest part of the visa process. Once you find this website, you can figure out how to do everything yourself. My thoughts are you will probably do a better job than a lawyer at checking all your paperwork since it is extremely important to you. For a lawyer, you are just one more case. Probably you will also work harder to get things done in the quickest possible way and be more thorough. My recommendation is just do it yourself. And like others have recommended, it is probably best to just file an I-130 and go for the CR-1 visa. But before deciding this, check your embassy to see what the difference in interview times is between CR-1 and K3 visas...that could be an important deciding factor!

I didn't hire a lawyer so I can't speak from person experience, but I am SOOOO glad I did not hire one. My wife's Canadian friend was engaged to a US citizen and they spoke to a lawyer before their wedding who said it would be fine for her to go to Canada for a bridal shower and then return to the US a day before her student VISA expired so she could get married in the US that weekend without filing a SINGLE paper!!! Of course, she was refused at the border and had to change her wedding to be in Canada and has now been apart from her husband for several months, all because of the advice of this stupid lawyer. She then changed lawyers, and the new lawyer told her that they could have her in the US within 6 weeks - filed some other paperwork that USCIS sent back as rejected saying they weren't even close to the correct papers for her situation (not sure what papers THAT idiot lawyer filed). Now she has another lawyer who has filed the I-130 and has told her not to bother with the K-3 because it doesn't let her work right away and won't be any faster - again, another idiotic move since it is MUCH faster to receive the K-3 in Canada (5-7 months to book an appointment at the Montreal consulate once they receive it).

So I can definitely recommend NOT to use a lawyer!

well it all depends on your time and money. if you have plenty of time on hand to investigate and guess yourself, great. my husband doesn't speak english well and i felt overwhelmed with the forms and all things that i had to handle by myself, so i hired a lawyer. i did not regret as he knows what he's doing and informed us well so far.

sure, visa journey site is wonderful. i don't want bug the lawyer too much with questions about upcoming things, so i learn here on my own, and vent through this forum.

before i got married, and after spending a day at the federal building, still not convinced that i fully understand what was ahead of me, i decided to get help and i - am very happy with the decision. the lawyer gave me some really good advice on paperwork and tax returns. had i done filing myself, i would be facing delays. he will be with us until we file for aos.

yes, sure, you can do things yourself, esp. if you are hooked to this site.the knowledge comes from someone who has been through the process, but, the final tab is on you, and every mistake will mean a ref, which is more costly than the lawyers fee, to me.

even if i knew of this site, i would hire a lawyer again, so that i don't have to deal with forms and paperwork. but that is me.

sorry for the peeps who hired incompetent lawyers. i got a recommendation from a friend who married a Brazilian citizen.

some people go to gym alone, others hire personal trainers. 31 wonderful flavors! that is why we live here, in the great united states of america. you simply can't judge fast.

When I originally filed the K3, we used a lawyer, only because we had not yet found this website and it was very confusing with all the paperwork needed and why.

For AOS, did it all myself. Unless your case has a legal problem, it is very simple just using this forum to file all the necessary paperwork.

I hired an immigration lawyer and had a smooth journey. He worked right out of his house. Not only did he prepare and file the paperwork but he also informed us of any problems that could arise at the medical and the interview.

excuse me, but our stupid idiotic lawyer got our petition denied even after rfe, she wasn't able to read through the rfe and send the right documents needed, and she didn't even show us what it was requested. i will not go with an attorney at all, i have read this site 1000000x and i am better than any immigration fool. sorry, but this is how i feel, don't get attorneys unless you are sure they are very very good and up-to -date

Under no circumstances, should you use an attorney! I wasted money on one. He was absolutely worthless. All of the forms that he filed, I could have done myself. Instead, use the money for other immigration fees. If I were you, I would pursue the CR-1 vs. the K-3. It is a much better visa.

Dont know for sure, we used one and hes good, but I can do the same legwork as him so again, dont know for sure unless there are issues above and beyond the norm.

Good luck in your journey

Susie

The normal procedure for USCIS since 2006 is to approve both petitions at the same time and hold the I-130 (IR1/CR1) for Adjustment of Status. The I-129f (K3) is then forwarded to NVC and then to your consulate/embassy. Sending in the I-129f petitions is telling USCIS that you are doing the K3 route.

It is very rare to have the I-130 approved first, unless there is considerable time between filing the two petitions and the petitions do not get paired up.

I hired a lawyer. I'm now two months behind where I would have been had I done it on my own. Hopefully I'll never have to file another K3, but if I did, I would go it alone.