should i get an attorney to handle the K-1 visa.. or do it myself?

[Filipina Lover 1]

Do it yourself. Why pay for something you can do yourself. It's very easy, it's like filling out a credit card application.

Just make sure you read instructions and check it over and over to make sure you got it all filled out right. Don't leave blank lines, put None or N/A or they will think you forgot to fill out that line.

and read about what you don't understand on this site, and don't forget to put the check in with the I-129 form, they have to have the money, money makes them happy.

Make sure you have job, they require that you make a little bit of money, it's not a lot, but some people seem to think that they can do this on a minimum wage job and then they get surprised when they find out they don't make enough money.

Then get ready for all the fees they charge. It's going to be about $3000 in fees to get through this. When I first did this a few years ago, it was less than $1000

[confusing 5]

No. Lupus is not a communicable disease. They are looking for communicable diseases and also do a drug test.

thanks, gary and alla. that makes me feel much better

i'm still slowly doing the paper work and getting all of our stuff prepared. im really glad i stumbled on to this website and decided to post for help. everyone here is definitely a lot of help... more help than i would get from an attorney for sure.

[gyi 1]

I would recommend Marc Ellis for an attorney if it is an attorney you want.

[SunDrop 59]

I'm not a doctor but I would think the main issue if it's chronic and if its only affecting the skin. I suggest you see a private doctor and get the low down before going into the medical exam. Im sorry if I missed where your fiance is. Was it the Philippines? The infamous St. Lukes Hospital?

Good luck

This is terrible advice, sorry.

Lupus is not communicable, as several others have stated. It's an autoimmune disease and non-curable, therefore is chronic. Because of this, it's extremely complex in its presentation and therefore its diagnosis. It's extremely unlikely that it will cause grounds for denial HOWEVER she will need to apply for a waiver for some of the vaccines, as they are contra-indicated for people suffering from autoimmune diseases. This is true for all live vaccines and possibly others.

Make sure she has her full notes and prescriptions, recent blood work results to take with to her medical.

I don't have any experience of visa medicals in PI, but my mother has Lupus - sub-acute Cutaneous, not systemic (SLE) - and she successfully obtained 4 L2 visas and LPR status with a 10 year GC. This was through the London embassy.

FWIW, she also had health insurance, although it did impact her premiums significantly. If you want to know more, I can ask, just send me a PM.

[Guitarlo 2]

This is terrible advice, sorry.

Lupus is not communicable, as several others have stated. It's an autoimmune disease and non-curable, therefore is chronic. Because of this, it's extremely complex in its presentation and therefore its diagnosis. It's extremely unlikely that it will cause grounds for denial HOWEVER she will need to apply for a waiver for some of the vaccines, as they are contra-indicated for people suffering from autoimmune diseases. This is true for all live vaccines and possibly others.

Make sure she has her full notes and prescriptions, recent blood work results to take with to her medical.

I don't have any experience of visa medicals in PI, but my mother has Lupus - sub-acute Cutaneous, not systemic (SLE) - and she successfully obtained 4 L2 visas and LPR status with a 10 year GC. This was through the London embassy.

FWIW, she also had health insurance, although it did impact her premiums significantly. If you want to know more, I can ask, just send me a PM.

I hired an online VISA lawyer service called JOHN ROTH ASSOCIATES. One word comes to mind (worthless). I wound up doing all the leg work and tracking my case. Had I not been on top of my own case it would have been screwed up. The lawyer is never in and they hire a secretary to fill in your forms on an automated system. The price for basically nothing was $1800.00!!!! Not joining VJ and spending the time to understand the forms and process was my mistake. However, if you don't have the time and it's all just too confusing I would try a service that only prepares the documents but be aware they can screw it up too.

Good luck

[confusing 5]

This is terrible advice, sorry.

Lupus is not communicable, as several others have stated. It's an autoimmune disease and non-curable, therefore is chronic. Because of this, it's extremely complex in its presentation and therefore its diagnosis. It's extremely unlikely that it will cause grounds for denial HOWEVER she will need to apply for a waiver for some of the vaccines, as they are contra-indicated for people suffering from autoimmune diseases. This is true for all live vaccines and possibly others.

Make sure she has her full notes and prescriptions, recent blood work results to take with to her medical.

I don't have any experience of visa medicals in PI, but my mother has Lupus - sub-acute Cutaneous, not systemic (SLE) - and she successfully obtained 4 L2 visas and LPR status with a 10 year GC. This was through the London embassy.

FWIW, she also had health insurance, although it did impact her premiums significantly. If you want to know more, I can ask, just send me a PM.

thanks so much for this info - it will definitely help us out. i recently mailed off our i-129f per all of the great help on this website.

thanks again - if you happen to think of anything else please feel free to shoot me a message.

[sleepy in Seattle 3]

reading through this thread, it seems most of you did all the paper work/processing yourself. i was thinking of going through an attorney that specializes in this type of thing - do any of you veterans have an opinion on that? good idea, if i want to make sure it's done correctly / followed through?

if it's a good idea, do you recommend a specific place to go through for a K-1?

I actually did hire a lawyer to help me through the k-1 process, paper work was confusing and I wanted everything to be correct the first time. It is up to you, but I myself hired a lawyer just to be safe.

[SunDrop 59]

Just wanted to add to the thread, but will also IM the OP just in case they don't see this. The thought crossed my mind that some of the tests undertaken at the medical could be problematic because Lupus can cause false positives, specifically the syphilis test. It's something about the antibodies that they use to test for syphilis mirroring the ones that your body creates when it's fighting itself.

It is VERY important, therefore, that when she goes for her medical, that she informs them of having lupus, but also for you not to panic if she does get a false positive on the syphilis test. It does not automatically mean that she has it!

[confusing 5]

Just wanted to add to the thread, but will also IM the OP just in case they don't see this. The thought crossed my mind that some of the tests undertaken at the medical could be problematic because Lupus can cause false positives, specifically the syphilis test. It's something about the antibodies that they use to test for syphilis mirroring the ones that your body creates when it's fighting itself.

It is VERY important, therefore, that when she goes for her medical, that she informs them of having lupus, but also for you not to panic if she does get a false positive on the syphilis test. It does not automatically mean that she has it!

thanks for the heads up. i'm definitely benefiting from all of the help here.