Please help me to file I-130

[felimida 0]

Dear VisaJourney Members,

I am a newbie to this forum. I recently got married in Japan.

my wife is living in Japan, but she is not Japanese citizen.

she married once and divorced. no children.

as of now she is pregnant for two months.

I am a U.S citizen.

I am prepared to file I-130 to petition my wife to live with me here in Chicagoland.

I have called couple immigration laws office in Chicago.

they ask for a price tags from $2,000.00 to $3,000.00

plus USCIS fees and administrative fees. If I hire them as my representative to file I-130.

I have to paid between $4,000.00 to $6,000. before my wife can join me here.

The problem is I don't have such huge amount of money to spend.

So I am turning VisaJourney members for help.

Please help me what documents,should I submit with I-130.

Beside I-130 what other form should I included?

if my child born before my wife got visa. what should I do so that my child will be a U.S citizen?

Appreciate your help.

Felimida.

[jkelly07 120]

you can save yourself the money do it your self, if you don't have any problems with immigration in the past, you don't need a lawyer to fill out the 1-130 form, down load the 1-130 and instructions from uscis forms, and read the vj guides down load the examples forms. the 1-130 married is a cr-1 visa your wife can get a green card and a social security card shorty after arrival in the us,the fee for the 1-130 is 420.00 dollars, collect all your documents and your wifes make copies . ask vjmembers we are here to help you if needed, don't pay a lawyer 4000 an 6000. just to fill in the blanks on the 1-130 thats crazy.good luck

[KLS2010 30]

Unless you have a complicated case - forget about the lawyer and save your money (probably better spent on mom and baby - congrats by the way!). In most cases lawyers don't do anything other than fill out the forms that you are probably more than capable of filling out yourself. You will still have to do all the leg work in regards to getting documents (such as birth certificates, divorce decrees if either of you have been married before, etc).

You should read the CR-1/IR1 guide here on VJ. You will be able to find pretty much everything you need to do - and if you have more questions - you can always ask.

CR1 visas usually take around 8-10mths to process - so I'm sorry to say that more than likely your wife wont be in the US prior to giving birth. Of course, each case is different - some take less time, some longer. If your child is born outside the US then I believe you will have to file a CRBA (Consular Record of Birth Abroad) for the child. Hopefully someone else with more experience with that can help you more with what's involved.

Good luck!

[felimida 0]

Appreciate VJ members,

I am trying to read this forum and get much information then call lawyers.

[GnBnL 50]

hey there! I know it all seems really intimidating to do yourself, but this community will help you all along the way. The guides at the top are very very helpful and if you follow all the instructions carefully, you should have no problems and you'll save a bundle. Almost everyone I know that has used a lawyer has regretted it (including me!!) I went with NO lawyer after I learned my lesson the first time and I very much preferred doing it myself as its only slightly more work that having a lawyer. My suggestion to you is to take one task at a time, and don't rush it. Spread out the work load a bit, like, just fill out one form today, tomorrow get passport photos taken--for example. I wish you the best of luck and welcome to VJ.

[pushbrk 13,611]

Find the tutorial by clicking on the word Guides at the top of any page in this forum.