To have an attorney or not to have an attorney

[english_love 0]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, I recently, well a year and a half ago, met and fell in love with someone from England. We are now starting the process of getting him here on a K1, I hired a lawyer, but am not sure if I should fire her or not. She's wonderful really, it's just a money issue. The reason we hired her is because I will have no time, I work full time second shift and I go to college during the day and hardly have time for my boyfriend. I just didn't want to get stressed and get tied up in the paperwork and fine details. But I need some advice as far as costs, and how much is too much etc. Any ideas???

Thanks!

[bora bora 1]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, I recently, well a year and a half ago, met and fell in love with someone from England. We are now starting the process of getting him here on a K1, I hired a lawyer, but am not sure if I should fire her or not. She's wonderful really, it's just a money issue. The reason we hired her is because I will have no time, I work full time second shift and I go to college during the day and hardly have time for my boyfriend. I just didn't want to get stressed and get tied up in the paperwork and fine details. But I need some advice as far as costs, and how much is too much etc. Any ideas???

Thanks!

TOO MUCH!

Unless you foresese some potential "problems" with immigration, you don't need a lawyer (IMO).

[Thai family 0]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, I recently, well a year and a half ago, met and fell in love with someone from England. We are now starting the process of getting him here on a K1, I hired a lawyer, but am not sure if I should fire her or not. She's wonderful really, it's just a money issue. The reason we hired her is because I will have no time, I work full time second shift and I go to college during the day and hardly have time for my boyfriend. I just didn't want to get stressed and get tied up in the paperwork and fine details. But I need some advice as far as costs, and how much is too much etc. Any ideas???

Thanks!

Do you have a family member who is willing, has the time, believes in your relationship, is willing to do the research and can pay attention to detail? My son drafted me, as his situation would have made it nearly impossible to get through this process. I think and lot of my DIL, so am happy to help them.

Thai Mom

[NEEH13 0]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, I recently, well a year and a half ago, met and fell in love with someone from England. We are now starting the process of getting him here on a K1, I hired a lawyer, but am not sure if I should fire her or not. She's wonderful really, it's just a money issue. The reason we hired her is because I will have no time, I work full time second shift and I go to college during the day and hardly have time for my boyfriend. I just didn't want to get stressed and get tied up in the paperwork and fine details. But I need some advice as far as costs, and how much is too much etc. Any ideas???

Thanks!

hi let me share you about filling with the lawyer. at first i almost hired this lawyer to file a I29-F but when i aske her how much its going to cost me and she stop for a minute and think and said with everything will cost me about $2500 i mumbled staired at her and said forget you. so i found this another lawyer that charge me $750 for everything good lawyer here in california. now all im waiting for is the time of interview of my fiance. hope this would give you a little idea how much will it cost you for a lawyer gud luck with your case

[english_love 0]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, I recently, well a year and a half ago, met and fell in love with someone from England. We are now starting the process of getting him here on a K1, I hired a lawyer, but am not sure if I should fire her or not. She's wonderful really, it's just a money issue. The reason we hired her is because I will have no time, I work full time second shift and I go to college during the day and hardly have time for my boyfriend. I just didn't want to get stressed and get tied up in the paperwork and fine details. But I need some advice as far as costs, and how much is too much etc. Any ideas???

Thanks!

Do you have a family member who is willing, has the time, believes in your relationship, is willing to do the research and can pay attention to detail? My son drafted me, as his situation would have made it nearly impossible to get through this process. I think and lot of my DIL, so am happy to help them.

Thai Mom

thank you for your suggestion. I never thought of that, but I'm not sure who would be willing to put the time in. Good luck with everything!

[chadherm 0]

i think you dont need to hire a lawyer unless your situation is complicated! It will just cost too much and same timeline.....

[english_love 0]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, I recently, well a year and a half ago, met and fell in love with someone from England. We are now starting the process of getting him here on a K1, I hired a lawyer, but am not sure if I should fire her or not. She's wonderful really, it's just a money issue. The reason we hired her is because I will have no time, I work full time second shift and I go to college during the day and hardly have time for my boyfriend. I just didn't want to get stressed and get tied up in the paperwork and fine details. But I need some advice as far as costs, and how much is too much etc. Any ideas???

Thanks!

hi let me share you about filling with the lawyer. at first i almost hired this lawyer to file a I29-F but when i aske her how much its going to cost me and she stop for a minute and think and said with everything will cost me about $2500 i mumbled staired at her and said forget you. so i found this another lawyer that charge me $750 for everything good lawyer here in california. now all im waiting for is the time of interview of my fiance. hope this would give you a little idea how much will it cost you for a lawyer gud luck with your case

Is there a difference in the amount of help you get comparing the two lawyers? The one I hired is $2000 flat fee. She will fill everything out copy everything make sure things are all put together filled out right etc. What does this other lawyer do? Same for lower price? I need to try and find a cheaper one or do it myself. Are you happy spending the money for the help?

[Old Dominion 26]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, I recently, well a year and a half ago, met and fell in love with someone from England. We are now starting the process of getting him here on a K1, I hired a lawyer, but am not sure if I should fire her or not. She's wonderful really, it's just a money issue. The reason we hired her is because I will have no time, I work full time second shift and I go to college during the day and hardly have time for my boyfriend. I just didn't want to get stressed and get tied up in the paperwork and fine details. But I need some advice as far as costs, and how much is too much etc. Any ideas???

Thanks!

hi let me share you about filling with the lawyer. at first i almost hired this lawyer to file a I29-F but when i aske her how much its going to cost me and she stop for a minute and think and said with everything will cost me about $2500 i mumbled staired at her and said forget you. so i found this another lawyer that charge me $750 for everything good lawyer here in california. now all im waiting for is the time of interview of my fiance. hope this would give you a little idea how much will it cost you for a lawyer gud luck with your case

Is there a difference in the amount of help you get comparing the two lawyers? The one I hired is $2000 flat fee. She will fill everything out copy everything make sure things are all put together filled out right etc. What does this other lawyer do? Same for lower price? I need to try and find a cheaper one or do it myself. Are you happy spending the money for the help?

The I29-F is not THAT complicated and time-consuming. A standard fee seems to be around $500 for helping you get the package together. Anything beyond that -- dealing with the visa process, etc., can cost the big bucks.

[truffles 3]

Many people have done this process without an attorney. I agree with previous posters - unless you have some "issues" you can do this yourself. You might find it useful just to read the guides and take a look at the example forms - also there are a great bunch of people in the UK regional forum who will be able to help you out with any queries specific to the UK.

I find that breaking down the tasks and dealing with the paperwork in small chunks helped me wade through what sometimes seemed like endless paperwork.

Good luck with your journey.

[english_love 0]

Many people have done this process without an attorney. I agree with previous posters - unless you have some "issues" you can do this yourself. You might find it useful just to read the guides and take a look at the example forms - also there are a great bunch of people in the UK regional forum who will be able to help you out with any queries specific to the UK.

I find that breaking down the tasks and dealing with the paperwork in small chunks helped me wade through what sometimes seemed like endless paperwork.

Good luck with your journey.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. I just worry because I really don't have alot of time on my hands to research this stuff. I wish I did, but I have heavy classes and work so I think I may have hired her to quickly, but at the same time, I felt so much weight lifted off my shoulders when I did, as if ok, now I have someone to help, it should be smooth sailing, but people are saying that attorneys are actually messing things up..why on earth would they do that, it's their job? thanks again for the response!

[rebeccajo 14]

Don't 'shop' lawyers based on their fee. You get what you pay for. $2000 for processing of I129F is not an exorbitant fee, especially if it includes processing the Adjustment of Status once your fiance is here and the two of you have married.

There's nothing wrong in hiring someone else to do your legwork. Truly busy people often do that.

People here cannot tell you if your case is 'complicated'. They don't know your life and your relationship. Only you and your fiance know that and only competent counsel after an honest consultation can tell you if they see complications in your case.

Visa Journey is not a substitute for qualified counsel and the Home Page of the site clearly states such.

[KimandRuss 0]

Only you can decide if you need/want an attorney.

That being said, the forms are pretty straightforward and you would have to gather the rest of the documents to get to your attorney anyway.

A little advice, if you do hire an attorney, be sure to go over the guide here on VJ and check to see that everything you need is included... cover letter, letters of intent...etc. I know they're supposed to know all of that but it's obvious from posters here that isn't always the case.

You still have to be diligent on your own behalf regardless of who is putting the petition together.

[daboyz 36]

It's your call I guess. I am pretty much 2 months behind in the process due to hiring a lawyer. I gave them all the required documents in the middle of January this year. My I-130 was not filed until the end of February. I-130 NOA1 was received first part of March. I-129F should've went out right away. It did not go out until April 10. So basically thanks to the lawyer I am 2 months behind.

[Kathryn41 3,207]

Another thing to consider . . . you still have to do all of the gathering of the information, pulling together the necessary documents and making sure the lawyer has what she needs - which is in fact about 80% of the work for the Visa anyway. The I-129f petition - the first part of the process - is the major part of your responsibility and it is done first. The second part of the process - the K-1 part - is done overseas and is your fiance's part of the process. Your involvement with that will be preparing an affidavit of support that includes copies of your taxes, a letter from your bank about your finances, a letter from your employer, and other supporting documentation and sending that to him along with a letter of your intention to marry him. You are the only one who can really gather that information. A lawyer just puts it together, fills out the form - which is quick and easy - tells you what else you need to get if you missed something - and mails it off to your fiance - all things that you could do much more easily.

If time is of the essence, involve your fiance in the process. My now husband and I filled out the forms together, and I gave him the list of things he had to obtain to submit the I-129f, and basically took over the management of the visa process for us. Maybe your fiance can become familiar with what is required and the two of you together can work on the application rather than using the lawyer. You and your fiance will still do the lion's share of the work even with a lawyer, and you can use this as another opportunity to work together on a joint project.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

[Kamaboko 0]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, I recently, well a year and a half ago, met and fell in love with someone from England. We are now starting the process of getting him here on a K1, I hired a lawyer, but am not sure if I should fire her or not. She's wonderful really, it's just a money issue. The reason we hired her is because I will have no time, I work full time second shift and I go to college during the day and hardly have time for my boyfriend. I just didn't want to get stressed and get tied up in the paperwork and fine details. But I need some advice as far as costs, and how much is too much etc. Any ideas???

Thanks!

hi let me share you about filling with the lawyer. at first i almost hired this lawyer to file a I29-F but when i aske her how much its going to cost me and she stop for a minute and think and said with everything will cost me about $2500 i mumbled staired at her and said forget you. so i found this another lawyer that charge me $750 for everything good lawyer here in california. now all im waiting for is the time of interview of my fiance. hope this would give you a little idea how much will it cost you for a lawyer gud luck with your case

My fiance hired one to file I-129F and it costed him 300 bucks, now we're happily married!