Visa Service or Do it yourself? Manila Embassy

[PaulnUsa 19]

Just wanted to find out if people think when dealing with the Manila Embassy. Is there an advantage going with a K-1 visa service, if so which ones are the best or should you jsut file it yourself? I have noticed from others time lines that many get approved in 4 or 5 months while average is 8 months or longer.

Just looking for any advice on best way to file for it to run smooter and to be approved as quick as possible.

Thanks

[extremerecluse 32]

Just wanted to find out if people think when dealing with the Manila Embassy. Is there an advantage going with a K-1 visa service, if so which ones are the best or should you jsut file it yourself? I have noticed from others time lines that many get approved in 4 or 5 months while average is 8 months or longer.

Just looking for any advice on best way to file for it to run smooter and to be approved as quick as possible.

Thanks

Whether you do it or have a visa service complete it, the timeline will not change. Word of advice; study the K1 visa guide for about two weeks. Think of any potential hangups you would have in obtaining any and all of the supporting evidence required. You will be paying good money to somebody for only arranging the documents that you will send them. Get familiar with the process. Study the guidelines for K1 until you can visualize the process in your mind without reading further. If you have already visited her, then you will need to gather all the required documents, even if you use the visa service. The only task remaining is to arrange the documents according to the K1 guidelines. I have confidence in you. Save your hard-earned money and do it yourself. You can ask questions to all those VJ members who have been through most of the K1 visa process.

[pushbrk 12,093]

Just wanted to find out if people think when dealing with the Manila Embassy. Is there an advantage going with a K-1 visa service, if so which ones are the best or should you jsut file it yourself? I have noticed from others time lines that many get approved in 4 or 5 months while average is 8 months or longer.

Just looking for any advice on best way to file for it to run smooter and to be approved as quick as possible.

Thanks

Whether you should do it yourself depends on your own aptitude, attitude and time availability. Timeline from filing to visa interview is not shortened by hiring a service. Whether a service will assist in filing sooner depends on the circumstances and the service.

[dindo and patty 20]

Just wanted to find out if people think when dealing with the Manila Embassy. Is there an advantage going with a K-1 visa service, if so which ones are the best or should you jsut file it yourself? I have noticed from others time lines that many get approved in 4 or 5 months while average is 8 months or longer.

Just looking for any advice on best way to file for it to run smooter and to be approved as quick as possible.

Thanks

I don't really see any advantage using a K-1 Visa Service Company. All petitions go through the same process whether it was put together by a Visa Service Company or put together by you. Plenty of petitioners here have filed for their beneficiary via K-1. If you have the patience to read the excellent guides (go to the top "Guides") here for a couple of days or so, you will have no problems putting the necessary documents/forms/evidences together yourself. The requirements are pretty straight forward.

VJ is an excellent tool also for questions you may run into as there are plenty of knowledgeable people here. Interaction you will have with the USEM is when making an appointment for your beneficiary's interview and the actual interview itself later on in the process.

Depending on the which Service Center your petition is assigned, your petition may get approved a bit sooner or a bit later. The average is 4-6 months if your petition is straight forward. Some have gotten approved in less than 4 months and some after 6 months.

I filed for the petition myself in this way I had full control of preparing the necessary documents/forms/evidences instead of relying on someone else. If and when the petition is adjudicated and approved is entirely up to the USCIS as we are at their mercy. The waiting part is the hardest part of this entire process. Plenty of patience is required, but it is all worth it in the end. Good luck on your journey!

Edited June 22, 2011 by dindo and patty

[Love Eth 14]

Just wanted to find out if people think when dealing with the Manila Embassy. Is there an advantage going with a K-1 visa service, if so which ones are the best or should you jsut file it yourself? I have noticed from others time lines that many get approved in 4 or 5 months while average is 8 months or longer.

Just looking for any advice on best way to file for it to run smooter and to be approved as quick as possible.

Thanks

The time line of the K-1 process never changed whoever did the petition paper work. There is a little process time difference in between the Service Centers. Since the processing service center determined according to the State you are living, you are not able to choose the service center. Based on the timeframe of the USCIS, the process time is not more than 5 months. However there are people that finished the process in less that three months and some took a year. What I can advise you now is, take your time reading the guideline of the petition, collect all the necessary documents, work with the check list of VJ and post your unclear ideas or question so that others will help you to find the solution. The journey will be short or long, depending your organization of the petition and the collection of your evidence.

GOOD LUCK

[sunandmoon 450]

if you haven't already, I would suggest checking out the Philippine Forum on VJ. there are lots of members going thru, or have gone thru, the same process.

Edited June 22, 2011 by sunandmoon

[vertman 4]

Do it yourself for sure - The keys are pay close attention to detail, triple check your work, triple check it again, always do your research, and be MORE than prepared. I've successfuly petitioned two K1 visas myself.

[7teeners 2]

We did it ourselves too. I, (the beneficiary) even downloaded & reviewed the forms & instructions (from USCIS & travel.state.gov site) that were needed ahead of time; even the AOS for future reference & needed requirements.

I'd print out forms (G325A, DS-156, 156K & 157) & fill them out using a pencil for 'practice' & mark down the questions I needed help answering to avoid mistakes, so when I need to print out the 'final' form, I only need to copy my answers.

[pushbrk 12,093]

Do it yourself for sure - The keys are pay close attention to detail, triple check your work, triple check it again, always do your research, and be MORE than prepared. I've successfuly petitioned two K1 visas myself.

Beware of any strangers telling you what YOU are capable of and prepared to DO. They don't know your abilities. You do. Use your own best judgment. I encourage strangers from telling other strangers the can for sure do something themselves, when they know NOTHING of the capabilities of those they are advising. Many of them, don't yet know if they themselves will be ultimately successful doing it THEMSELVES either.

The vast majority of both the denials AND the successes we see reported here were ALL do it yourself cases. What does that tell you?

Yes, we did it ourselves and knew NOTHING about it until I started to learn but THAT has NOTHING to do with what ANYBODY ELSE can or should do.

[TeddyHoney 42]

I agree the process dosen't change whether you use a VISA service or not. I used one, not to try to expidite cuz I knew better than that, but for peace of mind because they check your petitions and mail them for you. Its to each his own but for me it was worth the money because they did find and correct a few small mistakes in my 1-129F packet which I sent to them and they corrected them before they sent to the appropriate office. I did not get and RFE. I didn't join VJ until about a month after I sent my packet. I have learned a lot here but would still use the particular service I used for double checking things because here on VJ at times there is conflicting information about somce things and sometimes I find it hard to get the true answer I am looking for or I'm not sure I got the best answer or instruction from some advice. But at the same time I have used much good infoprmation here also. So I use both.

Its a matter of personal preference. If you use a service just try and research their background as much as possible and be sure you get a service that actually performs a service(s) beyond what you yourself could do.

For me their review of my packet alone was worth the cost. But me, if I look at the same documents too many times I know I can still miss things. I work in IT as a programmer and I am used to having code reviews so using a service really worked for me.

[san diego 407]

Definitely not visa service. There is no benefit of this. There are two choices:

1) Most cost-effective - do it yourself. Documentation is easy

2) Immigration attorney. This is what I chose. The reason is not really documentation but rather advices and peace of mind and in case of complication you can act fast.

[iwuvcheshert 6]

my cousin's spouse, naturalized USC ended up paying 2k usd for the service, they discovered visajourney at the latter part of their visa processes, as per what he told me, whatever they did, people fr vj forums fill in details better than what immig services can provide. so my hubby and i went to do everything on our own we're still waiting to see if it was a good decision or not

[kalbonangel 0]

My Wife and I together compiled documents, filed out the forms and were successful. As for your abilities, I do recommend reading very carefully the instructions. They are very precise in what they require. If you feel safer or more confidant in allowing a service then by all means. But for us, it was an accomplishment that we ourselves wanted the satisfaction of knowing we did it!

[Moomin 292]

Even if you decide to hire a lawyer I'd recommend to read about the process(click guides, then K1) and to know what you're dealing with. You'll have to gather documents before and during. Most likely, a lawyer will not text you to get your vaccination record 2 month before it's needed.

Being in charge and knowing the next step is what made me more relaxed. I knew exactly why and what I was signing, same goes for my fiancé.

Personally I'd recommend you read a couple of "K1 stories" to see if you have any red flags, complications you might not have thought of before or if it's just a walk in the park.

Good luck - and don't hesitate asking questions or use the search engine on Visa Journey.

[san diego 407]

Even if you decide to hire a lawyer I'd recommend to read about the process(click guides, then K1) and to know what you're dealing with. You'll have to gather documents before and during. Most likely, a lawyer will not text you to get your vaccination record 2 month before it's needed.

Being in charge and knowing the next step is what made me more relaxed. I knew exactly why and what I was signing, same goes for my fiancé.

Personally I'd recommend you read a couple of "K1 stories" to see if you have any red flags, complications you might not have thought of before or if it's just a walk in the park.

Good luck - and don't hesitate asking questions or use the search engine on Visa Journey.

Completely agree with this. When you hire a lawyer (and my lawyer was great and reasonably priced) you have to stay on top. Lawyer is just a supplemental tool, one of 3-4. Before making every move I used the following tools:

1) USCIS/Embassy directions/publications. This is by far most important

2) Lawyer

3) VJ tools

4) Common sense.

If you use all 4 you guaranteed success.

Edited June 23, 2011 by san diego