lawyers

[Devkpaik 1]

I hired a lawyer long before I even knew VJ existed, so the dye has already been cast. Not cheap, but with an NOA2 in 77 days I'm not complaining, either.

I guess an interesting poll would be to see whether using a lawyer typically reduces the chances of receiving an RFE (since they've done this hundreds of times, and this is uncharted territory for most of us). Of course, if your petition is done properly you should not receive one. But we're all human, right?

Given what I know now I might not hire one. But I had peace of mind for those 77 days. I can't say I would have if I had done it myself (worried sick that something might have been left out).

BTalley,

The fact that you got the NOA2 in 77 days has nothing to do with you doing it through a lawyer, unless of course you are talking about the lawyer and the fact that they worked VERY quickly. Other than that, hiring a lawyer will not speed up the process internally.

The only thing it could mean is that they work VERY quickly, however I do think hiring a lawyer could actually take longer, considering you need to factor in the time of you having to mail documents to the lawyer, and the time it takes for them to mail documents to you.

However, I do agree with your statement of having a peace of mind that your petition packet and documents were done correctly. That is, if you have a good lawyer, which it sounds like you do, as do I, but there are many lawyers out there who are crooks, so like I told heavyeyes, just make sure you find the RIGHT lawyer and that he/she is credible, etc.

This is probably the most important thing in your life, or one of them, so make sure you hire someone who you trust can handle this important case with care.

[Thai family 0]

[q but there are many lawyers out there who are crooks, so like I told heavyeyes, just make sure you find the RIGHT lawyer and that he/she is credible, etc.

This is probably the most important thing in your life, or one of them, so make sure you hire someone who you trust can handle this important case with care.

How does one find a reputable lawyer in the spouses/fiance's country just to help them through the embassy process? We are trying to find someone in Thailand who can help her, as she is really intimidated (submitting packet three at this point). Does it have to be an American lawyer? There are a lot of scam visa "services" there.

Thanks in advance. I sure hope my son will be able to go to her interview.

[Devkpaik 1]

Thaifamily,

I sent you a private message

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Another thread on using lawyers

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...130546&st=0

As I stated in that thread I think the key is to read all over this site. Some people jump into the forums without studying the guides, flowcharts, sample documents, tips on how to organize your packet, Visa FAQs, Wiki, etc. There's stuff scattered all over VJ and it was very confusing to me at first. Find the reports of your particular embassy to see how difficult the interview process is. There are so many countries represented here that anecdotal posts in the forum may not apply to you at all. I also read everything on the Dept of State website that I could find and the US Embassy London's website. It takes awhile to find all those things, but bookmark everything you find that applies to you. Make notes of phone numbers and info you discover that you might need as you progress through the journey. So far the process has gone quite smoothly for me doing it on my own.

Good luck.

[rebeccajo 14]

Well good for you Nich-Nick.

I'm glad that you are so highly skilled in the US immigration process that you are comfortable with advising people to not seek the advice of counsel.

It takes a colossal ego and an overwhelming misunderstanding of the process to make such statements.

Edited May 31, 2008 by rebeccajo

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Well good for you Nich-Nick.

I'm glad that you are so highly skilled in the US immigration process that you are comfortable with advising people to not seek the advice of counsel.

It takes a colossal ego and an overwhelming misunderstanding of the process to make such statements.

**OUCH**

I don't think I advised the OP either way, so I'm very puzzled by your comment. I didn't use the words "do not seek counsel," nor was that my intention. I was just saying it takes alot of reading and time if you're going to do it on your own. How to proceed is a personal decision. I think many previous posts were lawyer bashing and I had no intention of doing that.

I am so sorry to have offended you.

[rebeccajo 14]

Well good for you Nich-Nick.

I'm glad that you are so highly skilled in the US immigration process that you are comfortable with advising people to not seek the advice of counsel.

It takes a colossal ego and an overwhelming misunderstanding of the process to make such statements.

**OUCH**

I don't think I advised the OP either way, so I'm very puzzled by your comment. I didn't use the words "do not seek counsel," nor was that my intention. I was just saying it takes alot of reading and time if you're going to do it on your own. How to proceed is a personal decision. I think many previous posts were lawyer bashing and I had no intention of doing that.

I am so sorry to have offended you.

Well, sorry if I picked on you personally. I was perturbed with the link to the other thread.

Thing is, I've seen soooooooooooooo many cases take weird turns over the years. I see people regularly posting and then suddenly some little detail crops up with their case they never mentioned before.

It's really not up to us to advise people to not use a lawyer. Sure filling out these forms isn't hard. But there is sometime a lot more to things than pushing the right pieces of paper.

I'm also fairly confident in the fact that many lawyers used by members reporting a poor result are not immigration specialists. If you are going to use an attorney, you have to shop around and ask the right questions. You will get a poor result if you use the family lawyer and not someone properly trained.

[william_wallace 8]

Well good for you Nich-Nick.

I'm glad that you are so highly skilled in the US immigration process that you are comfortable with advising people to not seek the advice of counsel.

It takes a colossal ego and an overwhelming misunderstanding of the process to make such statements.

**OUCH**

I don't think I advised the OP either way, so I'm very puzzled by your comment. I didn't use the words "do not seek counsel," nor was that my intention. I was just saying it takes alot of reading and time if you're going to do it on your own. How to proceed is a personal decision. I think many previous posts were lawyer bashing and I had no intention of doing that.

I am so sorry to have offended you.

Well, sorry if I picked on you personally. I was perturbed with the link to the other thread.

Thing is, I've seen soooooooooooooo many cases take weird turns over the years. I see people regularly posting and then suddenly some little detail crops up with their case they never mentioned before.

It's really not up to us to advise people to not use a lawyer. Sure filling out these forms isn't hard. But there is sometime a lot more to things than pushing the right pieces of paper.

I'm also fairly confident in the fact that many lawyers used by members reporting a poor result are not immigration specialists. If you are going to use an attorney, you have to shop around and ask the right questions. You will get a poor result if you use the family lawyer and not someone properly trained.

And how do you shop around and find out if someone is properly trained? The high % of people on VJ that have used a lawyer hardly say a good thing about them.

It does seem as though that most lawyers talk through there arsehole. Sorry but thats my opinion on most of them. We are using a lawyer for our K1 and upto now they have done an ok job. Still, it's early days.

[rebeccajo 14]

Well good for you Nich-Nick.

I'm glad that you are so highly skilled in the US immigration process that you are comfortable with advising people to not seek the advice of counsel.

It takes a colossal ego and an overwhelming misunderstanding of the process to make such statements.

**OUCH**

I don't think I advised the OP either way, so I'm very puzzled by your comment. I didn't use the words "do not seek counsel," nor was that my intention. I was just saying it takes alot of reading and time if you're going to do it on your own. How to proceed is a personal decision. I think many previous posts were lawyer bashing and I had no intention of doing that.

I am so sorry to have offended you.

Well, sorry if I picked on you personally. I was perturbed with the link to the other thread.

Thing is, I've seen soooooooooooooo many cases take weird turns over the years. I see people regularly posting and then suddenly some little detail crops up with their case they never mentioned before.

It's really not up to us to advise people to not use a lawyer. Sure filling out these forms isn't hard. But there is sometime a lot more to things than pushing the right pieces of paper.

I'm also fairly confident in the fact that many lawyers used by members reporting a poor result are not immigration specialists. If you are going to use an attorney, you have to shop around and ask the right questions. You will get a poor result if you use the family lawyer and not someone properly trained.

And how do you shop around and find out if someone is properly trained? The high % of people on VJ that have used a lawyer hardly say a good thing about them.

It does seem as though that most lawyers talk through there arsehole. Sorry but thats my opinion on most of them. We are using a lawyer for our K1 and upto now they have done an ok job. Still, it's early days.

Most lawyers have an 'area' of the law they practice. Criminal defense; domestic relations; real estate and land; personal injury. So first you find one that specialized in immigration. They are few and far between.

Then you ask their credentials and what professional organizations they participate in (such as AILA). You ask how many visas they have processed and what type. With immigration law you generally have two kinds of specialists - family based or employment based. Employment based immi lawyers aren't the best choice to process your family based petition.

[Devkpaik 1]

Well good for you Nich-Nick.

I'm glad that you are so highly skilled in the US immigration process that you are comfortable with advising people to not seek the advice of counsel.

It takes a colossal ego and an overwhelming misunderstanding of the process to make such statements.

**OUCH**

I don't think I advised the OP either way, so I'm very puzzled by your comment. I didn't use the words "do not seek counsel," nor was that my intention. I was just saying it takes alot of reading and time if you're going to do it on your own. How to proceed is a personal decision. I think many previous posts were lawyer bashing and I had no intention of doing that.

I am so sorry to have offended you.

Well, sorry if I picked on you personally. I was perturbed with the link to the other thread.

Thing is, I've seen soooooooooooooo many cases take weird turns over the years. I see people regularly posting and then suddenly some little detail crops up with their case they never mentioned before.

It's really not up to us to advise people to not use a lawyer. Sure filling out these forms isn't hard. But there is sometime a lot more to things than pushing the right pieces of paper.

I'm also fairly confident in the fact that many lawyers used by members reporting a poor result are not immigration specialists. If you are going to use an attorney, you have to shop around and ask the right questions. You will get a poor result if you use the family lawyer and not someone properly trained.

I just don't understand, after reading and re-reading, what it was that perturbed you about nich-nick's comments. He/she was simply stating what is true.

A lot of people, including me when I first came onto this site, jumped right into the forums WITHOUT reading the guides, etc. After I read the guides I had a lot better understanding of the process.

I also hired a lawyer who is an immigration specialist, and their law firm has been great thus far, as I mentioned above. Even though I have a lawyer I still like to understand the process as best I can, by doing exactly what Nich-Nick said.

I just don't see the need to bash them when all they were trying to do was help and give out their advice over what they have done so far, as after all this thread is specifically asking about lawyers and if you need one, etc. I didn't find anywhere in Nich-Nick's comments anything advising the OP to "not seek counsel" nor to "NOT get a lawyer".

[Devkpaik 1]

Well good for you Nich-Nick.

I'm glad that you are so highly skilled in the US immigration process that you are comfortable with advising people to not seek the advice of counsel.

It takes a colossal ego and an overwhelming misunderstanding of the process to make such statements.

**OUCH**

I don't think I advised the OP either way, so I'm very puzzled by your comment. I didn't use the words "do not seek counsel," nor was that my intention. I was just saying it takes alot of reading and time if you're going to do it on your own. How to proceed is a personal decision. I think many previous posts were lawyer bashing and I had no intention of doing that.

I am so sorry to have offended you.

Well, sorry if I picked on you personally. I was perturbed with the link to the other thread.

Thing is, I've seen soooooooooooooo many cases take weird turns over the years. I see people regularly posting and then suddenly some little detail crops up with their case they never mentioned before.

It's really not up to us to advise people to not use a lawyer. Sure filling out these forms isn't hard. But there is sometime a lot more to things than pushing the right pieces of paper.

I'm also fairly confident in the fact that many lawyers used by members reporting a poor result are not immigration specialists. If you are going to use an attorney, you have to shop around and ask the right questions. You will get a poor result if you use the family lawyer and not someone properly trained.

And how do you shop around and find out if someone is properly trained? The high % of people on VJ that have used a lawyer hardly say a good thing about them.

It does seem as though that most lawyers talk through there arsehole. Sorry but thats my opinion on most of them. We are using a lawyer for our K1 and upto now they have done an ok job. Still, it's early days.

Most lawyers have an 'area' of the law they practice. Criminal defense; domestic relations; real estate and land; personal injury. So first you find one that specialized in immigration. They are few and far between.

Then you ask their credentials and what professional organizations they participate in (such as AILA). You ask how many visas they have processed and what type. With immigration law you generally have two kinds of specialists - family based or employment based. Employment based immi lawyers aren't the best choice to process your family based petition.

I agree. A lot of times you may hear about a lawyer from word of mouth. This is why I recommended Thaifamily to post her question about lawyers in the Thailand forum. Just so she can narrow down lawyer choices who SPECIALIZE in Thai K-1 Visas.

If you go to a "law firms" website, it should tell you what types of visas they specialize in.

Of course they could lie, but this is when word of mouth comes into play. You maybe wouldn't be contacting this lawyer or law firm if you hadn't heard good things about them.

My lawyer specializes in K-1 visas, K3, K2, Tourist and Business visas. They have many lawyers working there, so their client base as well as their track record is outstanding. They have never had a K-1 visa to the US denied, which is why they offer a 100% money back guarantee if the visa is denied to the US.

So like rebecca said, just make sure you aren't hiring a real estate attorney to work on your case.This is probably one of the most important things you'll ever do in your life, so make sure if you get a lawyer you find someone who is familiar with and specializes in this particular process of visas.

[heiko 0]

k. My lawyer specializes in K-1 visas, K3, K2, Tourist and Business visas. They have many lawyers working there, so their client base as well as their track record is outstanding. They have never had a K-1 visa to the US denied, which is why they offer a 100% money back guarantee if the visa is denied to the US.

So like rebecca said, just make sure you aren't hiring a real estate attorney to work on your case.This is probably one of the most important things you'll ever do in your life, so make sure if you get a lawyer you find someone who is familiar with and specializes in this particular process of visas.

I have heard "firms" say they have never had a denial and promise a 100% money back guarantee. DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING you read or are told for crying out loud!!! Their claim is that they have never been denied for any reason that was their fault! As far as the 100% money back guarantee I would love to hear about one person who got their money back from a lawyer!!! Be careful when hiring an attorney if you think you need one. There are numerous agencies that don't have a single lawyer on the payroll!!!

[Devkpaik 1]

k. My lawyer specializes in K-1 visas, K3, K2, Tourist and Business visas. They have many lawyers working there, so their client base as well as their track record is outstanding. They have never had a K-1 visa to the US denied, which is why they offer a 100% money back guarantee if the visa is denied to the US.

So like rebecca said, just make sure you aren't hiring a real estate attorney to work on your case.This is probably one of the most important things you'll ever do in your life, so make sure if you get a lawyer you find someone who is familiar with and specializes in this particular process of visas.

I have heard "firms" say they have never had a denial and promise a 100% money back guarantee. DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING you read or are told for crying out loud!!! Their claim is that they have never been denied for any reason that was their fault! As far as the 100% money back guarantee I would love to hear about one person who got their money back from a lawyer!!! Be careful when hiring an attorney if you think you need one. There are numerous agencies that don't have a single lawyer on the payroll!!!

Of course, and I wasn't telling them to believe everything they hear. If you read my other posts above, you will see that I said make sure you hire a lawyer who SPECIALIZES in immigration, and one that you know from word of mouth, as in from people who have used them before, as being reputable. I also mentioned that a lot of lawyers out there are scam artists and bull******** who have no professional experience whatsoever to back up their claims of being an immigration attorney.

And I have heard of people who got their money back from the exact law firm I am using.

Of course hiring a lawyer does NOT guarantee you obtaining a visa. A lawyer cannot do anything differently than you could do. They just supposedly specialize in immigration and have done tons of cases regarding immigration. This could of course be a fabrication on their part which is why, like I mentioned numerous times, to make sure you hire someone who other people can vouch for and have used before. In my opinion, ig youre going to hre a lawyer, I'd want someone who other people have had good experiences with.

[william_wallace 8]

k. My lawyer specializes in K-1 visas, K3, K2, Tourist and Business visas. They have many lawyers working there, so their client base as well as their track record is outstanding. They have never had a K-1 visa to the US denied, which is why they offer a 100% money back guarantee if the visa is denied to the US.

So like rebecca said, just make sure you aren't hiring a real estate attorney to work on your case.This is probably one of the most important things you'll ever do in your life, so make sure if you get a lawyer you find someone who is familiar with and specializes in this particular process of visas.

I have heard "firms" say they have never had a denial and promise a 100% money back guarantee. DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING you read or are told for crying out loud!!! Their claim is that they have never been denied for any reason that was their fault! As far as the 100% money back guarantee I would love to hear about one person who got their money back from a lawyer!!! Be careful when hiring an attorney if you think you need one. There are numerous agencies that don't have a single lawyer on the payroll!!!

Of course, and I wasn't telling them to believe everything they hear. If you read my other posts above, you will see that I said make sure you hire a lawyer who SPECIALIZES in immigration, and one that you know from word of mouth, as in from people who have used them before, as being reputable. I also mentioned that a lot of lawyers out there are scam artists and bull******** who have no professional experience whatsoever to back up their claims of being an immigration attorney.

And I have heard of people who got their money back from the exact law firm I am using.

Of course hiring a lawyer does NOT guarantee you obtaining a visa. A lawyer cannot do anything differently than you could do. They just supposedly specialize in immigration and have done tons of cases regarding immigration. This could of course be a fabrication on their part which is why, like I mentioned numerous times, to make sure you hire someone who other people can vouch for and have used before. In my opinion, ig youre going to hre a lawyer, I'd want someone who other people have had good experiences with.

Very true. The one were using was recommened by 2 VJ's on here. We also looked into them a bit but we were never going to be 100% sure how good they are. At the end of the day it's upto the individual or couple who they go for.

One lawyer could charge $3000 and be total ####### and an other could charge $500 and be good. As I said before upto now we have no complaints cause were only at the early stage yet of the K1. If however we get RFE's or were not happy with there service I will post in on here.

[Robert and Masha 0]

Greetings all,

In regards to fair disclosure we are new to this site. A client of ours suggested we look into it and we have. Of course I wish this was around back when I did my first K1 in 2000. No matter, despite owning our own agency I am here to list some pros and cons to lawyers per the topic.

First of all the Cons:

1) Expensive

2) Difficult to reach/phone and email

3) Can be slower and/or slow down the process (at least by first appearance)

Now the Pros:

1) Hefty insurance in case something goes wrong.

2) Great advice at navigating the K1/K3 process (if experienced)

3) Proper filling which can 'speed up' the process by not receiving any RFE's.

While anyone can file the K1 visa on their own and research indicates that about 2/3rds of the Russian/Ukrainian visas are done by the fiance himself there are times when help can be crucial and necessary depending on the petitioner. For those who file without incident (and I was one of them) then we can pat ourselves on the back and say 'job well done'. Unfortunately what I don't see here so far in a couple of weeks of lurking are the stories of petitions that have gone terribly wrong.

I've seen missing signatures, missing fields, missing documentation, false info given to the fiancee (was told this was the first k1 when it was the 2nd) inaccurate translations, inability of the fiancee to answer crucial interview questions etc.

Masha's interview of about 18 fiancee's had about 10 of them unsuccessful. I asked her how she knew that about 10 fiancees had issues with their visas. She said 5 of them were crying and about 5 of them were slamming things around (angry). Her and about 7 others seemed to be pretty happy. Part of this was preparation.

Masha spoke no English so naturally when the consular officer asked how she could have a meaningful conversation with a future husband to be she calmly stated we speak in Russian and provided my DD214 showing my honorable discharge from the US Army and my 98G MOS as a Russian Voice Intercept Operator and my Russian language training at the Defence Language Institute in Monterrey CA. Stopped him in his tracks.

Another issue they like to bring up is the Affidavit of Support or I-134. The US embassy in Moscow actually responded to my email by telling me that the AofS or I-134 was not 'on the list of required documents' but research shows that in about 50% of my sampling when they doubted certain issues regarding financial documentation they almost always asked for this document. Normally the fiancee would NOT show up with this document if one followed the consulate's own advice but as the old saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and so one should know to have this for thier fiancee 'just in case'. Turned out I had everything but my tax returns and they asked for it, and we were ready.

Finally how does one know when the father's permisson is necessary for a k2 to leave the country? I spent months researching and sweating that one fact alone as the Ukraine and Russia have different policies and procedures regarding this situation. It may be worth having a good firm that can answer these questions and suggest proper documentation to prevent the mother/fiancee from receiving the k1 visa but her dependent child not receiving his/her k2 visa.

So if someone feels comfortable with the process, isn't worried about potential delays, is fairly well organized, can handle the document translations and loves to research matters such as this then they can easily file the K1 petition, handle the interview process, deal with the AOS conditional, then AOS unconditional and once you do most of these forms the EAD work authorization as well as advanced parole and other forms will seem easy by comparison. Add in a great site like this, advice from those that have 'been there and done that' and a successful K1 can be achieved.

On the other hand don't knock anyone who sought help and for good reason. While many in the business embarass us all there are good folks and good people that are trying to make a difference and not just collect a buck.

I'll figure out a way to do our timeline but our petition was approved in only 58 days thanks to the many do it yourselfers who failed to file the increased filing fee from $110 to $170 dollars (IIRC) back in summer of 2004 allowing us to jump to the front of the line. Moral of the story check and recheck everything before submitting, fee, photos, forms, supporting documents, etc. Get it right the first time!

Regards,

Robert and Masha