Problem with Immigration Lawyer - Advice needed!

[colombia8t 0]

Since I need an IMBRA waiver for my K1 petition I thought I needed an immigration lawyer. Thus I did some research and talked to several and hired Alex Halow (www.k1fianceevisas.com). I also checked with the State Bar where Alex is licensed to see if he had any complaints.

My initial interactions with Alex went well with rapid turnaround on draft I-129F and G-325A's. But I sent a large package of documents to Alex more than 2 weeks ago and all communications from Alex have stopped. He doesn't answer email messages and he doesn't answer my phone calls.

Thus I have decided to proceed without a lawyer using advice from this forum.

However, I need to get my file of supporting docs and photos back from Alex and he doesn't reply to email messages or phone calls. I am totally frustrated as this will put additional delay on an already lengthy K1 visa process.

Does anyone have advice about what I can do? What legal recourse do I have?

Thanks in advance

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Holy cow, that's not cool. Can you go see him in person? I don't know where you live (I asume you're the USC, somehow close to this Alex dude?). OR, if the doesn't answer your emails, send him a certified letter with receipt request asking him to return all your documents to you asap. They are YOUR documents.

Good luck, L.

[colombia8t 0]

I sent a certified letter today requesting he return my documents and I also requested a partial refund of my retainer. But I have also contacted my fiancee and if we don't hear back from the lawyer in the next couple days my fiancee will get another birth certificate and birth certificate translation and photos and other docs and Fedex them to me.

What a pain...

After finding this site, I think lawyers are not needed even in more complicated cases like mine with an IMBRA waiver needed.

[NArocks 13]

go to this forum, there is SO much help for what you are going to be going through throughout the process and all of these people will help with any questions related to your K1

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2572

[YuAndDan 153]

go to this forum, there is SO much help for what you are going to be going through throughout the process and all of these people will help with any questions related to your K1

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2572

Yes and the IMBRA forum will help you with the waiver issue.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=126

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Also report him to his State bar association - perhaps he has done this to others and they didn't report him, thus you thought he was alright.

[colombia8t 0]

Thanks for the advice... With the information on this site, I think an immigration lawyer is not needed.

The lawyer (Alex Halow) I am having problems with is licensed in Pennsylvania:

http://www.padisciplinaryboard.org/pa_atto...2&pdcount=0

but he lives in Athens, GA and practices immigration law across the USA. If he doesn't return my docs and provide a partial refund for services then I will file a complaint with his State Bar.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Also report him to his State bar association - perhaps he has done this to others and they didn't report him, thus you thought he was alright.

Excellent advise.

[colombia8t 0]

Luckily I realized I paid the immigration lawyer with a credit card. Credit card companies don't like vendors who are unresponsive to their card-holders and this should make a charge-back for this easy. I have tried to contact this immigration lawyer for more than two weeks via emails, phone calls, and now certified letter. I have terminated his services and I want my K1 Petition supporting documents back and a partial refund for non-delivered services.

I am completely frustrated that I hired a lawyer who promises the following on his web site: "IT WILL REDUCE YOUR PAIN, STRESS, AND UNCERTAINTY" and "IT CAN SPEED UP THE K1/K3 PROCESS...". And then does not answer emails or phone calls for more than two weeks and has effectively disappeared. Since the lawyer has my K1 Petition supporting docs and does not reply to my emails or phone calls, it looks like I will have to collect a completely new set of documents from my fiancee in Colombia.

I am totally frustrated and I now realize it was a complete mistake to use a lawyer when the resources found on this visajourney.com site are available.

[shannon65 2]

make sure he hasn't gone on vacation and forgot to tell his clients. This happened to me. I didn't know what to think. He had someone in the next office checking his messages but she only called back the ones she thought were urgent. You probably don't need a lawyer but you want your documents back!

[colombia8t 0]

I thought that maybe he was on vacation or got sick with the flu, but more than two weeks is too long to disappear completely and not inform clients.

Even if he's on vacation, with a laptop email could be exchanged and voice mail checked, or a message posted to his web site. There is no excuse. I paid a lot of money for immigration legal services and I expected this to help and not completely put a halt to things. After reviewing the visajourney website, I now am confident that I don't need a lawyer. But I hope I get my K1 supporting documents back from the lawyer. I don't want to have to pay for another notarized birth certificate and birth certificate translation and passport photos for my fiancee and then the fedex charge to reliably send these to me.

[colombia8t 0]

Update - still no contact from the lawyer after 16 days, thus I have started taking action.

1. I sent two certified letters - one to his PO box and one to the address he has on record with the State of Pennsylvania telling him he is fired and requesting that he return my K1 petition supporting docs and my retainer.

2. I contacted the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to find out how to file a complaint against an out-of-state attorney (Alex lives in GA but is registered in PA). The complaint goes in the mail tomorrow.

3. I contacted my credit card company for help with a charge-back.

4. And I have started regathering all the K1 petition supporting documents.

Unbelievable that this lawyer took my money, then he spent maybe an hour to cut and paste from the info I sent him electronically to create drafts of the I-129F and G325As, and after I sent a big package to him of K1 supporting docs he disappeared off the face of the earth. What a mess. I am not happy and my fiancee is not happy.

But thankfully I found the VJ site and no longer need a lawyer.

[Enlighten one :) 5]

Luckily I realized I paid the immigration lawyer with a credit card. Credit card companies don't like vendors who are unresponsive to their card-holders and this should make a charge-back for this easy. I have tried to contact this immigration lawyer for more than two weeks via emails, phone calls, and now certified letter. I have terminated his services and I want my K1 Petition supporting documents back and a partial refund for non-delivered services.

I am completely frustrated that I hired a lawyer who promises the following on his web site: "IT WILL REDUCE YOUR PAIN, STRESS, AND UNCERTAINTY" and "IT CAN SPEED UP THE K1/K3 PROCESS...". And then does not answer emails or phone calls for more than two weeks and has effectively disappeared. Since the lawyer has my K1 Petition supporting docs and does not reply to my emails or phone calls, it looks like I will have to collect a completely new set of documents from my fiancee in Colombia.

I am totally frustrated and I now realize it was a complete mistake to use a lawyer when the resources found on this visajourney.com site are available.

Visa lawyer's work of fear and intimidation. As mine did, but I am not fearful or easily intimidated. They take advantage of peoples ignorance ot the process. I received all my documents back today along with a $1000 refund. I am almost done the process. My lawyer stopped talking to me after he realized i learned more from visajourney then he knew.

see if he is a member of the immigration lawyer association too. I threaten my lawyer that I would make a website telling my experience using an immigration lawyer and pay top dollar to have it show up at the top of ever search engine. I told him I would make sure that it showed up before his and tell everyone about visajourney were 1000 of people do the process themselves and faster then an attorney does.

[shannon65 2]

Update - still no contact from the lawyer after 16 days, thus I have started taking action.

1. I sent two certified letters - one to his PO box and one to the address he has on record with the State of Pennsylvania telling him he is fired and requesting that he return my K1 petition supporting docs and my retainer.

2. I contacted the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to find out how to file a complaint against an out-of-state attorney (Alex lives in GA but is registered in PA). The complaint goes in the mail tomorrow.

3. I contacted my credit card company for help with a charge-back.

4. And I have started regathering all the K1 petition supporting documents.

Unbelievable that this lawyer took my money, then he spent maybe an hour to cut and paste from the info I sent him electronically to create drafts of the I-129F and G325As, and after I sent a big package to him of K1 supporting docs he disappeared off the face of the earth. What a mess. I am not happy and my fiancee is not happy.

But thankfully I found the VJ site and no longer need a lawyer.

In uncomplicated cases you can certainly do it yourself. Hope you get all your papers back and have a smooth process. . I did K-1 without a lawyer too... I used a lawyer for I601 waiver, that's more difficult.

[Semih_El 0]

We went through the same thing with our lawyer and his wife (his office manager) even called me a ###### and hung up on me for questioning our retainer agreement.

We fired him and we were at the end of our process, we completed the final part on our own and recieved even better results, saved ourselves a month waiting time, and my finance is here and we got the K1 and will be married this Friday. Please do yourself a favor, communicate with him through certified mail only and keep all communications and report him to the bar association. Don't stress yourself this process is hard enough with out added stress like a dead beat lawyer adding drama. REPORT THE JERK! We need to show these "dead beat" lawyers that they can't take advantage of innocent people who are just trying to bring home the person they love. They prey on us like the sharks that they are. Sad!