Immigration Attorney

[Hangernaid 1]

I've been working for several months without a day off, and I am still very unsure about doing the paperwork myself for a K-1 Visa. I've decided to hire an Immigration Attorney. I did a Google search and found several at prices ringing from $995 to $2495. I'm not certain who to use or who to trust. They all promise results.

If anyone can make a recommendation for an attorney, send it in a PM or email me at Hangernaid@gmail.com. I know this site is not for commercial purposes and I don't want to have a thread deleted by violating any rules.

I appreciate the recommendations.

Jim

[together4evr 360]

I think most people who use an attorney end up disappointed at the lack of communication and the amount of work they have to do anyhow

You still have to gather the evidence, chats, emails, phone bills. you have to fill out the forms.

All he does is mail them in..

Good Luck

[Robert&Karen 264]

You are paying for a glorified secretary. The only results they can promise is that what you tell them will be put on the forms and mailed in. YOU are the one to do all the legwork because it is YOUR information.

[Liz&Nate 23]

I hope you get the recommendations you need via PM or email, although let me suggest you try to do it yourself. Unless you have a difficult case, there are many advantages to filling this forms out on your own, least of all is the money you'll save. You get a lot more control of when and what you file. Attorneys other than being too busy to pay much attention to your individual case, will just file the most standard package. You get to verify your own information, check everything as much as you can, decide if you are going to frontload for the embassy, and you are probably going to go right ahead and mail your package as soon as possible. I keep reading threads were the attorneys hold on to your forms for months, delaying the already long process. Don't be afraid of the forms, you are just filling out your information, after all, and you have a great checklist to help you out. Just my two cents. Good luck.

[Michael Ruffin 1]

I suggest save the money on the attorney and do it yourself! Most of the users filed their petitions themselves and recieved approvals. You will end up doing all the leg work anyway when I comes to tracking down the status of you petition. I would just click on the Visa FAQ link and follow the steps. The money your thinking about spending could be used toward the visa, medical exam and airfare. I suggest you print out the pdf's of the I-129F, G-325-A for you and her. I thought the steps by step instruction were pretty straight forward. Start complying you evidence of the relationship, Email, chats, phone records, pictures. The people on here are very friendly and knowlegable. If you have a concern, just put up a forum question to get your answer. This just my opinion and good luck!

[NoneYa 73]

If you want it free, just ask and people will tell you. This is a great website !

You are going to end up doing the work anyway if you hire an attorney !!! All they are is a project manager. They will tell you what to give them. You will have to gather all the documents and fill out all the forms but they will review everything (if you are lucky).

There are forms right here on this forum to compare to. It does seem overwhelming but just fill out the G-325 forms, the I-129f, gather all your pictures, 5 emails, proof of meeting her (boarding passes etc..) and send it in. Remember, the paper work is only three pages I think. That's it !!! 99% of the documents is proof. You have to gather.

By the inch it is a cinch.

It was a lot of work. Hire a law student at $ 15 an hour. This process is too simple. I work a lot too and I understand you need help. I just got my NOA2. This process is about twice as hard as getting a mortgage but an attorney is not going to help you much. If you do go the attorney route, ask them each specifically what you get for your money. If they say file it, does that mean they are going to ask you to fill out the paper work, are they going to tell you what to do ? Go with the cheap attorney and if they screw you.. report them to the bar. This process is not that difficult. It is just time consuming.

I just got my NOA2 !!!! and I will soon have her here. I did it all myself by reading this forum.

If you like videos.. watch this. Last time I watched it, I thought it was a

good intro but I watched it five months ago.

Edited January 11, 2012 by NoneYa

[Phil & Alla 26]

Maybe an alternative, kind of splitting it down the middle. I use Rapid Visa and was extremely happy with the site and staff. I just typed in the requested information, their program puts the information on the forms and then they reviewed it when I was done. I printed it and where I needed to insert things it had specific instructions what to do. There would have been no problems, but there were some spelling errors in some names that Alla provided me, but no fault of theirs. The staff there helped me a great deal with questions either by calling or emails. Knowing what I know now, I agree with most that it is not that hard, but Rapid made it VERY easy for me and they also provided me with the completed interview forms needed also. Ben there is a GREAT guy and I always got a person when I called. Like you in the beginning I felt a bit intimidated with the paperwork involved.

After the application is turned in to USCIS, an attorney can really do nothing more than you can, unless there was a problem. This site has GREAT information and people who will help you.

[southcalhog 43]

I think most people who use an attorney end up disappointed at the lack of communication and the amount of work they have to do anyhow

You still have to gather the evidence, chats, emails, phone bills. you have to fill out the forms.

All he does is mail them in..

Good Luck

I Agree Totally! look at the Guides on VJ and if you have any questions just ask the members, ALL are here to help with your journey! Save your Money for other things coming, Like the other Poster said they just a Glorified Secretary! Good Luck!

[GandK 168]

I don't think an attorney is necessary but if you prefer it that way, it is your choice.

Even if you use attorney, I still suggest that you hang around the forum, read the guides and flowchart. So you'll have an idea and overview of the process yourself, after all it is YOU who do all the documents gathering, it is always good to know the process.

And after you have invested some time reading the guides and forum, I bet you'll realize that you don't really need an attorney unless you are in a particularly unusual situation.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Whenever I hear of people using an attorney, it's usually because they're unhappy with the services.

Honestly, this is something you can do yourself. It sounds intimidating, it looks confusing and completely impossible. That's how I felt when I first started researching what it entailed. But really, once I spent some time here, and spent time reading the guides and looking at the example forms, it all made sense. This place is invaluable. You can do it yourself. Really.

[J and S 38]

This process is too simple. I work a lot too and I understand you need help.

Seriously? That makes buying a house less intimidating.

... ... but I digress ... ...

Anyways, OP. I agree with the advice that everyone else has already given.

After being on here for a year, I've seen more people complain about lawyers rather than praise them. Most people who used a lawyer, wish they had found this site first. The only time people will suggest a lawyer (as mentioned before) is if you have an extremely unique case in which legal advice would be needed.

[baron555 934]

I've been working for several months without a day off, and I am still very unsure about doing the paperwork myself for a K-1 Visa. I've decided to hire an Immigration Attorney. I did a Google search and found several at prices ringing from $995 to $2495. I'm not certain who to use or who to trust. They all promise results.

If anyone can make a recommendation for an attorney, send it in a PM or email me at Hangernaid@gmail.com. I know this site is not for commercial purposes and I don't want to have a thread deleted by violating any rules.

I appreciate the recommendations.

Jim

The problem is that you haven't done enough homework on your own, which you have to do anyway. It's called Read the VJ Guides, link at the top of the page.

Those will step you through the process and the forms and documentation involved.

The issue you have, unbeknownst to you, is that understanding the forms and the documentation involved is really the least amount of time consuming tasks.

Even with the super immigration attorney, YOU will have to gather together all the documentation on your own...they will not and can not do it for you. THAT is the most time-consuming part of the process. If you follow the Example Forms and the Guides, you will have no issues with those.

YOU will still have to find the time to gather together all the documentation and then there is documentation your fiance needs to send to you. The attorney is not going to talk with her, YOU have and should, as the man should and the FSU woman wants, do on his own.

Can the attorney, buck up and do some homework and then plan to set aside whatever time is going to be required to gather together the documents needed....the Guides give you that list for free, whereas the attorney will just suck up your money for the same.

[meandmybeloved 15]

I've been working for several months without a day off, and I am still very unsure about doing the paperwork myself for a K-1 Visa. I've decided to hire an Immigration Attorney. I did a Google search and found several at prices ringing from $995 to $2495. I'm not certain who to use or who to trust. They all promise results.

If anyone can make a recommendation for an attorney, send it in a PM or email me at Hangernaid@gmail.com. I know this site is not for commercial purposes and I don't want to have a thread deleted by violating any rules.

I appreciate the recommendations.

Jim

Just my 2 cents worth, but I hired a immigration attorney before I had found Visa Journey and I was terribly disappointed with him. He delayed us by months. I was overwhelmed at first with reading all

the stuff that was involved with the K-1 visa process, but trust me on this,,,,,, you have come to the right place here. This site has been awesome and so much help. I finally fired my attorney and my fiance and I have been doing all the steps ourselves, but not really, because we have depended greatly on this site to answer whatever questions we might have. Our interview is a week from this coming monday. I don't know if we would have made it without this site. This site offers so much help, so research all the forums etc and I am sure you will feel more comfortable with doing the K-1 journey without a attorney.

Remember, they are a 3rd party in this, so they are the go between in everything which takes much longer then you doing it yourself.

However, I will say this, If you have a complicated past or a difficult case where it would benefit you to hire an attorney, then this is where a attorney would be helpful.

Best of luck to you.

Wanted to add one more thing. Because I had a attorney start this process, they didn't see us as a client of theirs, only a number, and we never got to talk to them in person, only by emails and they are the reason we got a RFE ( Request for evidence) after we filed the I-129F. This delayed our case by weeks alone.

I agree with one of the other posters that said that an attorney doesn't give your case the attention that you yourself will. Like in our case, we were only a number to them.

Edited January 12, 2012 by meandmybeloved

[amyandjorge 76]

It is necessary to share a lot of personal information with an attorney during this process, whoever you choose to work with should be someone you feel comfortable with. I worked with an attorney, and honestly, I feel like I would have been more on top of things than he was. We received an RFE, he didn't know what it referred to, it was country specific, I researched it on here and figured it out myself. Everything I know about the process I can attribute to Visajourney, and I pestered almost everyone in the attorney's office for info.

The major benefit I got from using the attorney: I translated my husband's documents on my own, the attorney's office was able to 'authenticate' and notarize them appropriately. I think that might have saved a little bit of time.

Other than that I have been researching and reviewing every detail of the process on my own, doing what I imagine to be almost or equal to what I would have done if I had just filled out the forms and put the stamp on them myself. It was definitely not quicker!

[bigdog 376]

You can do this, I started with an attorney for my K1, i did all the work and then stiff got an RFE. We did our own AOS without an attorney. If you insist their is an attorney in LA Shusterman you can contact your state bar. !!!You can do this!!!!!