Questions about Fiance Lawyers

[ZenoRau 0]

Hello, i'd like to ask a few questions from the forum people and see if their is any light you can shead.

I am in between hiring one and not, i have a clean as a boy scout record as far as police and just about anything else goes. But i feel that it still might help with the backing of a fiance lawyer to make the speed / smoothness of going threw the long prossess of getting a loved one down to the united states.

1. Do you think it is important to hire a lawyer?

2. How do you know the lawyer you hired is qualified - are they certified (for this area)

3. We live in a small town, no lawyer in my area advertises for fiance visa, where do you recommend finding one?

4. How much on avg does it cost?

5. Do you need a lawyer specilized in this area, or will a general lawyer do?

6. Does hiring a lawyer make the process faster or do i stand as good of a chance doing it on my own?

7. Do some lawyers go and help your fiance with their paperwork also.

8. Does anyone have a lawyer they recommend form previous use? ( as in great success from this lawyer )

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Unless your case is complicated, you can do this process yourself, with greater peace of mind. There are good lawyer's out there, and some folks feel like they just would prefer someone else do it for them. But when you hear the horror stories of attorneys who file the wrong forms, sit on RFE's until it is too late, etc. you have to figure that doing it yourself is the way to go.

The guides here on this site are great. And you can get any questions you have answered here as well by posting them [double check answers of course!]

Good luck!

Edited April 23, 2008 by ready4ONE

[brnidokiegurl 1]

It will not help go faster, you have to find and gather all your stuff so why not just do it, im sure you can. I have heard both good and bad stories but some of the bad ones were BAD

[anxiousandwaiting 0]

Hello, i'd like to ask a few questions from the forum people and see if their is any light you can shead.

I am in between hiring one and not, i have a clean as a boy scout record as far as police and just about anything else goes. But i feel that it still might help with the backing of a fiance lawyer to make the speed / smoothness of going threw the long prossess of getting a loved one down to the united states.

1. Do you think it is important to hire a lawyer?

2. How do you know the lawyer you hired is qualified - are they certified (for this area)

3. We live in a small town, no lawyer in my area advertises for fiance visa, where do you recommend finding one?

4. How much on avg does it cost?

5. Do you need a lawyer specilized in this area, or will a general lawyer do?

6. Does hiring a lawyer make the process faster or do i stand as good of a chance doing it on my own?

7. Do some lawyers go and help your fiance with their paperwork also.

8. Does anyone have a lawyer they recommend form previous use? ( as in great success from this lawyer )

Hi,

I hired a lawyer because I was traveling a lot for work and needed her to handle the paperwork coming in and out. Had I not hired a lawyer, my husband and I would have filed from within the US and came to find out later that process would have taken twice as long. The lawyer had us go through the consulate in Toronto instead(she helped in justifying it because my husband just barely met the requirements to do so) and today I was improved for my visa. The whole process took about nine months; including a hiccup in paperwork(Mtl said it was mailed out and neither I or my lawyer rec'd it delaying everything about six weeks). Let me stress, you DO NOT NEED A LAWYER, but if you want to have someone else worry about it all, then it's a good idea. It cost us about $2000 cdn(half at retaining, half once paperwork is complete). It was a lot of money, but for me, it was worth it. I hate dealing with all these details(having had done it for my husband as well to get his PR in Canada).

The advantage in having the lawyer was when I didn't receive the second packet, she contacted the consulate and found out about the problem(where they said it was mailed out, but neither of us received. I wouldn't have known that. So I was really glad I had her around for that.

You should hire an immigration lawyer- not general. Immigration lawyers are specialized for this and know more details about the law.

I found mine on the internet, but live in Toronto so it was easy to pick one. Where ever you are, try to find one close. Beware, there are some bad lawyers out there...

The lawyer should help you both- my husband originally retained her but she helped me with all the paperwork.

Hope this helps....

[Mononoke28 137]

If you have an easy case without any tangles, don't hire a lawyer. I think 8 out of 10 people will probably say the same.

If you can follow directions well, you won't have any problems. It'll be faster for you to make all the necessary calls and send any documentation needed without having a third person messing everything up.

If you have a complicated case for whaterver reason, then a lawyer can take care of it. Well, at least I'd like to believe that.

Diana

[KimandRuss 0]

Of course this is just opinion, but i've heard more horror stories about lawyers than anything. VJ, the guides and posters here and the instructions right on the USCIS webiste are plenty helpful enough to help you do it right. If you still don't feel comfortable doing it alone and want to pay the money for a lawyer i'd suggest asking for references.

What will slow you down is not getting it right the first time. Having a lawyer will not help you speed things up. If he/she is not familiar with the process and doesn't send something that you should have included you will be sent an RFE and your case will be put on hold until you get them the required documents.

Either way.. best of luck!

[kennyandhandan 2]

It seems only cases that are very complicated need a lawyer usually. Going from what I see other people post, some lawyers actually complicate the process. If you have a straightforward case, you're probably better off doing it yourself. Just spend the time reading the guides here and there should be no problems. When we first considered filing for K1, I was thinking about getting a lawyer. We're both so glad that we did it on our own. It was easy and saved us a buttload of money.

[Eric-Pris 1,610]

1. Do you think it is important to hire a lawyer?

NO. LIKE THE PREVIOUS POSTER SAID, YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF, UNLESS YOU HAVE A COMPLICATED CASE (I.E. IF YOU NEED WAIVERS FOR CRIMINAL RECORD, OR OVERSTAYS ON PREVIOUS VISA, ETC.)

2. How do you know the lawyer you hired is qualified - are they certified (for this area)

YOU DON'T KNOW, PRETTY MUCH HIT OR MISS

3. We live in a small town, no lawyer in my area advertises for fiance visa, where do you recommend finding one?

SEARCH YELLOW PAGES FOR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS

4. How much on avg does it cost?

$1500-2500

5. Do you need a lawyer specilized in this area, or will a general lawyer do?

IMMIGRATION LAWYER, AND EVEN THEN HE CAN STILL SCREW IT UP

6. Does hiring a lawyer make the process faster or do i stand as good of a chance doing it on my own?

THE SAME. SLOWER IF THEY SCREW SOMETHING UP

7. Do some lawyers go and help your fiance with their paperwork also.

I DOUBT IT SINCE THEY ARE IN THE US

8. Does anyone have a lawyer they recommend form previous use? ( as in great success from this lawyer )

DO A SEARCH HERE, THERE ARE LAWYERS MENTIONED WHO ARE GOOD & BAD

THE GUIDES HERE ARE SO EASY THAT YOU ALMOST HAVE TO TRY TO DO SOMETHING WRONG.

Edited April 23, 2008 by kid brooklyn