Lawyers?

[Chaz and Riggs 0]

Hey everyone...

I'm in a situation where stress, anxiety and procrastination have met together and immobilized my progress of getting (applying for) a K1 Visa...

I have done hundreds of hours of research...

I feel fairly confident in my ability to cross my t's and dot my i's....

a lawyer wants to charge me a flat fee of $750...

I also want to take a trip to see my baby in Nottingham... which would cost about that much...

What should I do?

Is a lawyer necessary?

What were your experiences? With or without a lawyer?

[MonkeyJuice 3]

$750? We paid $1800!! You got a bargain, although we wouldn't pay again. They don't help speed up the process (as you can see from our timeline).

We are at the stage where we are collating all our paperwork for the Embassy interview & they've provided no information & given no advice wotsoever!

I've spent most of my time on VJ finding out everything we need to know.

So no...don't bother!

Good Luck

[English Muffin 59]

Moving from UK forum to K1 forum.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Some cases require a lawyer.

Some do not.

Only you can make that choice.

If it's straight forward, and you can handle reading the instructions on all the forms, with out question, you can do it yourself and save some money.

On the other hand, if you can't do that, or have problems not spelled out in the instructions, a lawyer may be needed.

There are some posts here where people paid good money to a lawyer, but the lawyers failed to actually follow the instructions on the forms, and caused RFE's for the couples....

[Stinky Monkey 1]

We thought about getting a lawyer but that was before we found VJ thank god for that

After going through the process I cant really see what they charge such a lot of money for, as all they seem to do is to colate the infomation that you send them and send it off and not as quickly as you would.

My personal opinion is to do it yourself with the help of VJ, read a lot and search as most of your questions would have been asked before

The only way that I would suggest to get a lawyer is if your case is not straight forward

Good luck with your journey

[daboyz 36]

Hey everyone...

I'm in a situation where stress, anxiety and procrastination have met together and immobilized my progress of getting (applying for) a K1 Visa...

I have done hundreds of hours of research...

I feel fairly confident in my ability to cross my t's and dot my i's....

a lawyer wants to charge me a flat fee of $750...

I also want to take a trip to see my baby in Nottingham... which would cost about that much...

What should I do?

Is a lawyer necessary?

What were your experiences? With or without a lawyer?

I used a lawyer. One of the biggest mistakes of my life. They cant do anything to speed up the process, but they can sure do alot to slow it down. Making mistakes, sitting on your paperwork and not sending it in. Telling you to make the check out to the wrong govt. agency etc. etc. It was a huge nightmare for me, not counting the $1800 it cost me. I see people on here that were very satisfied with there lawyers. I also see many people that had major issues such as myself. If I didn't have this website to reference, I would have never caught all his errors. My feeling is, if you can file you own taxes, you can do this process on your own.

[Hell0W0rld 10]

if you feel confident to fill out your forms then do it by yourself, it not then just hire an attorney....

[Anh map 2,098]

This is a Do it yourself site. Do some reading (Regional forums, Guides) to see if your situation fits the "normal" profile where there are no big hurdles to overcome. If that's the case, and you feel comfortable, there is a tremendous amount of support here on VJ.

We did the K1 process without a lawyer and were successful.

Welcome to VJ.

[KimandRuss 0]

Read the guides and the faq and everything else you can from the top of these forums. The K-1 guide and example forms will get you started. As you await the adjutication of your petition learn all you can about the Embassy you'll be dealing with (embassy info/review links above) and prepare as best you can.

Most people with a straightforward case do not need a lawyer to complete this process. Some will even tell you that it will slow you down. However, only you know for certain.

Finding VJ was the first step! Read up and then decide... do a search for 'lawer' on here and you're sure to learn more than you ever wanted to know.

welcome to vj

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

Hey everyone...

I'm in a situation where stress, anxiety and procrastination have met together and immobilized my progress of getting (applying for) a K1 Visa...

I have done hundreds of hours of research...

I feel fairly confident in my ability to cross my t's and dot my i's....

a lawyer wants to charge me a flat fee of $750...

I also want to take a trip to see my baby in Nottingham... which would cost about that much...

What should I do?

Is a lawyer necessary?

What were your experiences? With or without a lawyer?

I used a lawyer. One of the biggest mistakes of my life. They cant do anything to speed up the process, but they can sure do alot to slow it down. Making mistakes, sitting on your paperwork and not sending it in. Telling you to make the check out to the wrong govt. agency etc. etc. It was a huge nightmare for me, not counting the $1800 it cost me. I see people on here that were very satisfied with there lawyers. I also see many people that had major issues such as myself. If I didn't have this website to reference, I would have never caught all his errors. My feeling is, if you can file you own taxes, you can do this process on your own.

Given a normal case, lawyers will slow down the process, 6-8 weeks minimum. And suck lots of money from you and are as likely to make a mistake as you are if you can read and follow instructions. The forms are no more difficult than an online job application and the documetns requested are things you should have in your desk drawer. The lawyer doesn't have them and can't do anything without a lot of input from you. He fills out a few forms based on what you tell him and works it into his schedule. You can give it all the priority in the world, he will not.

You have found the best site for this information. Post a question here and you will lots of good answers for free, long before your attorney will call you back..as you are seeing with this question.

[Chaz and Riggs 0]

Thankyou! I really do love this site, and the input right away is so wonderful!

I have a simple case, and I think I'm going to start searching for some cheap tickets to visit my other half!

I need boarding passes and new stamps in my passport.....

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Thankyou! I really do love this site, and the input right away is so wonderful!

I have a simple case, and I think I'm going to start searching for some cheap tickets to visit my other half!

I need boarding passes and new stamps in my passport.....

always helpful.

take plenty of pictures, get receipts showing you were there.

meet the parents - good things like that...

[V-G-1 1]

If you need to go before an immigration judge and/or research law, get an atty. Otherwise, do not give them the pleasure of doing a "not-real-legal-work" case but still charge you the same legal fees for it--hence the reason they love these straight forward K1s

[Cham 3]

If you follow the guides here you will be fine!!! Why spend that much when you can do it yourself????

Everyone here will help you out if you get stuck! save that money! It wont go any faster if you use a lawyer anyway so why not do it yourself:)

HUGS!

Edited March 25, 2009 by Cham

[abbynorm1 0]

Hi! I would suggest you not to use a lawyer... You just read the guides here in VJ, it really helps you a lot.. This site is very informative and the people here are so friendly.. Just ask some questions and they will answer right away..

Welcome to VJ!!! You may have a speedy journey!