Advice: is it a good idea to pay a lawyer for help with K-3?

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

My feelings exactly!

Unless you have some very special circumstances, hiring an attorney does nothing but drain funds better spent on yourselves and your future together. An attorney stands in the same line we do, with no time savings what so ever. The paperwork is far from complicated if you can read and follow instructions. Have a question? There are tons of folks here that are in your same shoes.

Too many here have tossed hard earned money on overpriced useless attornies. Do not feed the lawyers. It only keeps them strong causing them to breed out of control and further weakening us!

Generally speaking, if you're not an idiot, you can do it yourself.

If you are an idiot when it comes to filing papers and decide to hire an immigration

attorney to do it for you, no problem - just make sure the attorney you hire is not

an idiot. A lot of "immigration lawyers" out there are complete idiots who don't

know the first thing about immigration.

A friend of mine hired one such idiot lawyer who told him that the I-130 could

not be filed concurrently with the I-485. The idiot filed the I-130 first and wasted

6 months of my friend's time while he was out of status waiting for its approval.

Be very careful who you hire.

Just my 2c.

[Minya's wife 24]

people. We've (me included) managed to not really answer the OP's questions.

Myrhh,

In order for us to suggest visa 'options' you should probably tell us a little more about your situation. Are you married alread? If so, then the IR/CR-1 visa or the K-3 is an option. If you're not yet married, you may want to look into the K-1 visa. Perhaps you can take a look at the Guides available here, which will give you a lot of needed information. Once you know more about the process, you can make your own decision as to whether you'd feel more comfortable having a lawyer handle your case, OR if you think you can navigae the process yourself.

As for your last question, I'm not sure what you'd like "being North American" to count for? It does not get you ahead in the immigration line, if that's what you mean. It does however, for the most part, save you from having to go through the months (sometimes years) long Administrative Review process that some non-North American fiancee/spousal visa seekers have to go through before being issued a visa.

-P

I'm seriously considering hiring a lawyer to make sure all's in order. I'd hate for this to take an extra year because I fill out the papers incorrectly or a variety of other things I can think of which may go wrong.

I guess the K-3 is our only option but I'm so sad to be apart for so long. We haven't spent more than a couple weeks apart in the five and a half years we've been together. Any other options which are faster? We're both North American, doesn't that count for anything?!

[rebeccajo 14]

Generally speaking, if you're not an idiot, you can do it yourself.

If you are an idiot when it comes to filing papers and decide to hire an immigration

attorney to do it for you, no problem - just make sure the attorney you hire is not

an idiot. A lot of "immigration lawyers" out there are complete idiots who don't

know the first thing about immigration.

A friend of mine hired one such idiot lawyer who told him that the I-130 could

not be filed concurrently with the I-485. The idiot filed the I-130 first and wasted

6 months of my friend's time while he was out of status waiting for its approval.

Be very careful who you hire.

Just my 2c.

mawilson is correct. If you decide to hire an attorney, you need to 'interview' he/she first. Don't you check out a doctor before you have them perform a major medical procedure on you? Do the same when it comes to selecting a lawyer.

I am offended by the implication that I dont know what I am talking about

Sorry. It wasn't meant to be interpreted that way. It's just a fact - you're not done till you're done.

[rebeccajo 14]

Unless you have some very special circumstances, hiring an attorney does nothing but drain funds better spent on yourselves and your future together. An attorney stands in the same line we do, with no time savings what so ever. The paperwork is far from complicated if you can read and follow instructions. Have a question? There are tons of folks here that are in your same shoes.

How do you know if you have 'special circumstances' or not? That might sound like a really stupid question, but what seems 'straightforward' to a layperson may in fact be something quite the opposite.

Attorneys do stand in the same processing line as us. But they have access to the Service Centers that we do not have. Did you know that?

[Elbereth 0]

it was not you who made the implication rebeccajo, and I do i agree with our post, you were also quite respectful as you posted your opinion, i did not mind it

[Elbereth 0]

How do you know if you have 'special circumstances' or not? That might sound like a really stupid question, but what seems 'straightforward' to a layperson may in fact be something quite the opposite.

criminal background, no tax history, problematic divorces in the past etc ... ?

Attorneys do stand in the same processing line as us. But they have access to the Service Centers that we do not have. Did you know that?

sure, cool... does that make processes go faster? does that make him get more info on the phone than the applicant would? would a lawer care enough to actually go to an office to get info? what actual belefits does that special acess provide?

[bora bora 1]

Should you get a lawyer?

[rebeccajo 14]

From the website of immigration attorney M. Udall. Bolded are what attorneys can do via the contact numbers they have with the Service Centers.

"What I will do for you: I will prepare your K-1 fiancée visa petition and the biographic forms for both you and your fiancée. I will prepare attorney certified copies of your original documents for submission to the USCIS and I'll return the original documents to you. I will prepare the petitioner's affidavit of support for the international fiancée to hand carry to his or her visa interview (There is an additional fee for the affidavit work for a cosponsor, if needed). I will prepare your and your fiancée's personal declarations as to your intent to marry. I will examine your unique facts in order to identify any "red-flag" issues, and discuss with you the best approach in dealing with any red-flag issues spotted. I will make an informal request that cable notification be sent in your case. I will combine my attorney cover letter with the aforementioned USCIS forms, declarations and evidence to create a well documented submission (and avoid beginner mistakes) and will submit it to the appropriate USCIS Service Center. When the receipt notice arrives, I will mail it to you and show you how you can use the USCIS website to check if the USCIS has approved your case. I'll also show you how to use the USCIS reports to determine if an officer is working on your case yet, and how to determine if it becomes "overdue". I will monitor the progress of your petition with the USCIS Service Center and I will contact them if the processing of your case becomes "overdue." I will send to you copies of all correspondence sent to me from the USCIS about your case. I will also contact the USCIS to resolve any mistakes they might make during the processing of your petition. When the approval notice arrives from the Service Center I will immediately fax an attorney certified copy to the U.S. Consulate's immigrant visa section with a letter from me identifying myself as your attorney along with a request that they open a provisional file and dispatch "packet3" to your fiancée (if they are willing to do so). I will also immediately ship to the Consulate an attorney certified copy of the approval notice, a complete attorney certified copy set of the entire fiancée submission, along with another letter identifying myself as your attorney and a request that they open a provisional file and dispatch "packet 3" to your fiancée if they have not already done so (and if they are willing to do so). I will contact the U.S. Consulate about your case if they make any mistakes in their processing. I will also send the original approval notice to you for safe keeping in your home file (your fiancée will need it during the second phase when applying for permanent resident status). Finally, I'll be there to answer your questions about the USCIS and/or Consular processing as they come up along the way. "

I don't work for Udall; I am not advocating him at all. But his description of what a qualified attorney can do is accurate and because I know I need to, I'm going to give credit to him for this description.

Edited January 27, 2008 by rebeccajo

[YOUTOO 2]

Let me chime in here. I think, I have a useless lawyer. My I-130 was approved back in early

Sep. After the I-130 approval he filed for the 129-F which was confirmed as received Sep 12,

but as of today has not been approved. From various posts I learn that there is a good chance

the I-129F will be cancelled, something he does not confirm to me. All my questions to him are

either answered by saying " we pray to hear something soon ", which I personally find quite

useless, or "we can go another route but you will need to send another $ 2000.00 " which is

not helpful at all either. I am not sure how it works in praxis? Does the lawyer have the I-130

in hand now? I request him to mail it back to me and then I try to take care of the rest myself?

If so, then surely he will try to milk me for more money again before releasing any docs. It's

all the worse, since we live in Japan, but he is in Texas. So, as I have said before, I think I am

really stuck. And if I had not this website before, I am confident I could have done it myself.

[C and J 1]

I'm seriously considering hiring a lawyer to make sure all's in order. I'd hate for this to take an extra year because I fill out the papers incorrectly or a variety of other things I can think of which may go wrong.

I guess the K-3 is our only option but I'm so sad to be apart for so long. We haven't spent more than a couple weeks apart in the five and a half years we've been together. Any other options which are faster? We're both North American, doesn't that count for anything?!

(this is presuming that the original poster is Canadian)

Unfortunately, you have not given enough details of your situation to know whether this will actually be relevant to your case but...

You say that you have not spent more than 2 weeks apart in the time you have been together. Was your spouse living in Canada as a legal resident or were you visiting each other as tourists? If the answer is (s)he were living with you as a legal resident, then Direct Consular Filing (DCF Canada Forums) may be the way to go forward.

[SerenityNOW 11]

I paid a lawyer to look over my paperwork, be he didn't fill it out or file it or file it for me.

He said he would charge $200 for the service, but he said that almost everything was fine on my I-130 form and with the package, so he cut the price in half.

He pointed out a couple of very subtle things, including a problem with the statement on the translation, and a box that I checked "No" that I should have left blank... so I changed these things... I don't know that these would make or break our submission, but I felt that it was worth paying for the peace of mind....

Plus I have him to consult with if there are problems down the road.

I think it's a personal decision. I found this web site too late to help me assemble my package, so maybe if I had seen that first, I would have felt more confident. But I agree, I didn't want one silly omission or mistake to cost months in delays.

By the way, it wasn't easy to find a lawyer who would just look over the papers - others I spoke with said they don't do it, but would gladly take my $600-$1800 if they filed it for me.

Good luck!

/bb