Process faster with a lawyer or not?

[Octopuss 0]

Dear all,

We will start the K1 procedure soon and would like to know about your experience about the timelines. Do you think the process goes faster if you hire a lawyer? What are the advantages of hiring a lawyer?

Thanks for your help.

[payxibka 10,044]

Dear all,

We will start the K1 procedure soon and would like to know about your experience about the timelines. Do you think the process goes faster if you hire a lawyer? What are the advantages of hiring a lawyer?

Thanks for your help.

everyone gets in the same line

[Otto 83]

Attorneys have no way to speed up the process.

[rooster 1]

We did our own without a lawyer. As long as your case is simple, ie no convictions, you should probably be able to do it yourself. Most of the people on here that had simple cases and used a lawyer, actually feel that the lawyer made the process a bit longer. YOU have to gather all of the evidence yourself then relay it to your attorney, they relay to thier assistant, the assistant then fills out the form, the forms are then given back to the attorney for thier approval, sometimes they present them to you for proofread as well, then they finally get mailed out. By the time the assistant gets them filled out, you could have already had them done yourself and in the mail. So. if you feel confident in reading the instructions and being able to fill these out on your own, save your money and do your own.

And remember, if you have questions, just ask here on VJ.

[Octopuss 0]

Thanks to you guys for your fast replies. Actually I have so much things to do before I leave, like selling my belongings, find someone to rent my house, leaving my job, prepare my new life in the US that I felt it would be good to know someone else - a professional - would take care of that stuff. Are there many forms to fill in or is it quite easy?

[MikenKyhen 0]

As others have already said, there is really no need to hire an attorney under normal circumstances. All the info you need to process the K-1 is available right here on VJ and the USCIS website. Save your money now and do it your self..Trust me you'll need the money later. Good luck on your journey. Mike

[Yader&Sarah 0]

it wont be faster with a lawyer.

we used a lawyer for k-1 and it was actually slower because we had to send everything through him first and wait for him to finish things.

the only reason it would be recommended is if you think you have something about your case which may be a problem, in our case in was a legally questionable previous marriage (see confusing!).

but now that you have found visa journey, you are in good hands. you should be ok.

good luck!

[daboyz 36]

Gary must be sleeping.

[rooster 1]

Thanks to you guys for your fast replies. Actually I have so much things to do before I leave, like selling my belongings, find someone to rent my house, leaving my job, prepare my new life in the US that I felt it would be good to know someone else - a professional - would take care of that stuff. Are there many forms to fill in or is it quite easy?

Are you the USC? If not, your other half will have to fill out the forms. And also, the process will take somewhere between 3-6 months to complete possibly even longer. You will have time to look after the things mentioned during the process. If you don't want to mess with the forms, then by all means hire an attorney.

[Hell0W0rld 10]

Gary must be sleeping.

hey Gary, we got another one, wake up!!!

Edited July 2, 2009 by HelloWorld08

[Octopuss 0]

I'm Swiss/Belgian, my fiancee is American. I need to wait for my divorce decree before we start the procedure. And I just read I need to make this decree translated by a certified translator :-s

This is why I think my case is probably a little bit different than other cases... otherwise, I read the instructions for form 1-129F and it seems easy to fill in.

Other comments/advises are very welcome.

Thanks to all of you and goodnight - time to sleep here.

[rooster 1]

Actually there are many on here with the same situation. You might want to check out the regional forums. You will find others in there from Belgium who can help you with the information specific to the consulate there. And, I forgot to say this in my first post, WELCOME TO VJ!!!

[Nik+Heather 121]

Thanks to you guys for your fast replies. Actually I have so much things to do before I leave, like selling my belongings, find someone to rent my house, leaving my job, prepare my new life in the US that I felt it would be good to know someone else - a professional - would take care of that stuff. Are there many forms to fill in or is it quite easy?

Don't get ahead of yourself, most of this paper work stuff you take care of LONG before you want to start thinking of selling things! You'll have several months of this process to spread out the work.

Lawyers can add another potential failure point to an already confusing process. Having documents in another language is not a unique case on VJ, and others have successfully had documents translated without the assistance of a lawyer.

I think that you and your fiance(e) should take a long, hard look at the guides here, and see if you think you can fill out the forms and such on your own. You have time to do this while you wait on the divorce - it has to be final final final (not just filed) before you can even start the process.

In our experience, MOST of the work involved digging out all the documents and information to fill out the forms. Unfortunately, even with a lawyer you still have to do all that work, the lawyer can't do it for you.

If, after careful research into the process, you still feel as though you'd rather pay thousands of dollars to let someone else do it for you (again, you'll still have to dig everything up yourself), please do a lot of research before you choose someone. The cheapest guy might not always be the best pick. Most of us here on VJ decided we'd rather spend a few weekends figuring stuff out instead of shelling out the cash.

I'm glad that you're excited about moving here to be with your fiance(e). Use some of that energy to educate yourself about the process. Taking the mystery out of the whole thing can really help to make it less overwhelming. Explore all the links at the top of the page, especially including the guides and the FAQs. You're lucky (like me) to have come across VJ before filing, so you have the best resource right here!

Good luck, and may your journey be a speedy one!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Dear all,

We will start the K1 procedure soon and would like to know about your experience about the timelines. Do you think the process goes faster if you hire a lawyer? What are the advantages of hiring a lawyer?

Thanks for your help.

It is impossible for an attorney to accomplish anything faster than you can yourself. YOU have to provide all information him, which you could just as well enter on the forms yourself. Abotu the time you give him the information would be when you could could be mailing the petition yourself. Processing itself will take the same amount of time. You will get answers to questions here much faster than any attorney can give you them or even return a phone call.

No absolutely not faster.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Gary must be sleeping.

I was, this post woke me up!!!!!!!! I was sound asleep and a little voice in my head said "Wake up! Someone on VJ is considering using a lawyer" OMG it was like a nightmare!!!!!!