Didn't submit a letter of intent

[baron555 934]

So the more I look through forums and flowcharts and guides the more I think we were required to submit the letters of intent. We did not, as our attorney told us that we already had a lot of evidence and didn't need it. Am I waiting for a guaranteed RFE right now?

I am going to be veryyyyy bitter if we get one for that, as I still have the communications from my attorney saying they were optional and not needed in our case.

They are specifically list in the 129f Form Instructions....beside here on the VJ Guides.

[BesosforMexico 13]

Ok. So I just called and spoke to my attorney for about 45 minutes. She continued to insist that the letters of intent are not required and are optional at this point. I informed her of the research I had been doing online and also that I had contacted a separate attorney to receive a second opinion. She told me that she was very upset with me as her client contacting elsewhere to receive information after she told me it wasn't needed. She informed me that she did not want to be my representation if I was not going to trust her completely. She said she was insulted by my persistence on pursuing my own investigation of what the requirements are. She told me how she has done over 500 k1 cases in the past 2 years that were approved without letters of intent. She said the cover letter that she had typed up and attached to the front of my pocket stating our intent to marry was good enough and that we did not require documents from myself and my fiance as well as the cover letter. She also said that is highly inappropriate for me to contact her on a saturday when she was at a family function, said she didn't appreciate me second guessing her, and told me how rude it was to contact a professional pretending to know more than she did. She basically told me that I should not be even reading forums online or discussing immigration matters with anyone besides her. Basically told me that she deserves an apology and that when I don't get an rfe she wants an additional apology. I in turn asked her to send me a email containing our conversation summary of what we discussed so that if I do you get an rfe I can then file for malpractice based on that and other information she gave me incorrectly.

The bulk of our conversation however was about her telling me how I needed to file and I 130 as well and she told me she would not represent me if I refuse to file and I 130 along with our adjustment of status.

I think once all is said and done I may just contact the bar association after all

[BesosforMexico 13]

I mean she has said so many other things to me that are incorrect that we discussed on this call today and I am very frustrated with her.

If she doesn't want to receive calls on saturdays then she doesn't need to answer them. She also told me that there was no way to determine what consulate my interview would be at based on my packet. The country I'm petitioning for only has 1 consulate that handles k 1.

I asked her what documentation I should be preparing for the interview or for other steps taken after an noa2 and she told me that all of the other information needed was time sensitive and couldn't be obtained beforehand.

I asked her for an approximation of fees I will be needing to pay in the up coming months and she said that it was impossible even to guess what fees I will have.

But the biggest part is trying to get an additional 4000 dollars from me for an i130 when clearly you don't need that in addition to a fiance visa

Edited February 18, 2012 by BesosforMexico

[Orando 57]

Ok. So I just called and spoke to my attorney for about 45 minutes. She continued to insist that the letters of intent are not required and are optional at this point. I informed her of the research I had been doing online and also that I had contacted a separate attorney to receive a second opinion. She told me that she was very upset with me as her client contacting elsewhere to receive information after she told me it wasn't needed. She informed me that she did not want to be my representation if I was not going to trust her completely. She said she was insulted by my persistence on pursuing my own investigation of what the requirements are. She told me how she has done over 500 k1 cases in the past 2 years that were approved without letters of intent. She said the cover letter that she had typed up and attached to the front of my pocket stating our intent to marry was good enough and that we did not require documents from myself and my fiance as well as the cover letter. She also said that is highly inappropriate for me to contact her on a saturday when she was at a family function, said she didn't appreciate me second guessing her, and told me how rude it was to contact a professional pretending to know more than she did. She basically told me that I should not be even reading forums online or discussing immigration matters with anyone besides her. Basically told me that she deserves an apology and that when I don't get an rfe she wants an additional apology. I in turn asked her to send me a email containing our conversation summary of what we discussed so that if I do you get an rfe I can then file for malpractice based on that and other information she gave me incorrectly.

The bulk of our conversation however was about her telling me how I needed to file and I 130 as well and she told me she would not represent me if I refuse to file and I 130 along with our adjustment of status.

I think once all is said and done I may just contact the bar association after all

Ouch, $5,000 in fees and she is not even a professional, good lawyers are not emotionally attached to client matters, they remain objective. You should tell her you want a refund if you get an RFE for the letter of intent since she is so confident she is right, play her pride against her since she has become emotionally involved with your case at this point. Getting the fees you paid her back will be difficult I think, and even if you can, it will take a long time to do probably, so if you can play her pride against her, maybe you can get some of your money back without having to go to small claims court or filing something with the BAR.

[BesosforMexico 13]

She told me to submit the adjustment of status on my own with out of the I 130 and to inform her when I get denied so she can prove she was right.

Ughhhhhh This lawyer is driving me crazy

[BesosforMexico 13]

Ouch, $5,000 in fees and she is not even a professional, good lawyers are not emotionally attached to client matters, they remain objective. You should tell her you want a refund if you get an RFE for the letter of intent since she is so confident she is right, play her pride against her since she has become emotionally involved with your case at this point. Getting the fees you paid her back will be difficult I think, and even if you can, it will take a long time to do probably, so if you can play her pride against her, maybe you can get some of your money back without having to go to small claims court or filing something with the BAR.

She would never agree to that but it is worth a try I suppose. She kept saying how insulted she felt because I went behind her back. I told her it's not like I was going online specifically because I was doubting what she told me.... more or less to join a community where people who were going to the same issues were telling about things that slowed up their process. But either way since when is it a crime for me to double check facts given to me by someone in the professional community

[pinayako20 0]

I mean she has said so many other things to me that are incorrect that we discussed on this call today and I am very frustrated with her.

If she doesn't want to receive calls on saturdays then she doesn't need to answer them. She also told me that there was no way to determine what consulate my interview would be at based on my packet. The country I'm petitioning for only has 1 consulate that handles k 1.

I asked her what documentation I should be preparing for the interview or for other steps taken after an noa2 and she told me that all of the other information needed was time sensitive and couldn't be obtained beforehand.

I asked her for an approximation of fees I will be needing to pay in the up coming months and she said that it was impossible even to guess what fees I will have.

But the biggest part is trying to get an additional 4000 dollars from me for an i130 when clearly you don't need that in addition to a fiance visa

I hope you're not planning on paying her an additional $4000 dollars to file your I-130. Just follow the instructions here and you'll be able to do it yourself. Just save your money when you need to file your AOS coz that's a lot of money too.

[jac_chappin 24]

OP - There are guides that can help you on VJ. You don't need a lawyer to be quite frankly. Especially a bad one. I'm sorry you are getting charged so much. It's crazy!

Best wishes!

[BesosforMexico 13]

I know about the guide and everything and I fully intend to file myself....

I was originally going to file myself for the I 129F As well but my parents convinced me that it would look better coming from a lawyer than from an individual. Clearly that's not really accurate but my parents definitely wanted me to go this route.

What a headache

[Orando 57]

She would never agree to that but it is worth a try I suppose. She kept saying how insulted she felt because I went behind her back. I told her it's not like I was going online specifically because I was doubting what she told me.... more or less to join a community where people who were going to the same issues were telling about things that slowed up their process. But either way since when is it a crime for me to double check facts given to me by someone in the professional community

Yeah, it is a long shot, but see if you can play her emotions against her. Is she really a lawyer, she doesn't sound like a lawyer? Or maybe she is a lawyer and this is not the first time someone has challenged her competence and she is becoming very defensive.

[vivianforest 0]

YEAH!!!...I can understand how much mad you are... ....but I think you have to wait until you receive an answer from them....and then if there is an RFE....just send back as soon as possible what they asked for...anyway your main porpous is to get your NOA2 and an RFE is just a matter of 2 - 3 weeks. Keep focus on your goal....Everything will be fine!!!....and who knows ....things happen for a reason...or maybe you are so lucky that wont even get an RFE because of that....Just wait...and after you receive the notification.... think about the option of bitten her!!...

So the more I look through forums and flowcharts and guides the more I think we were required to submit the letters of intent. We did not, as our attorney told us that we already had a lot of evidence and didn't need it. Am I waiting for a guaranteed RFE right now?

I am going to be veryyyyy bitter if we get one for that, as I still have the communications from my attorney saying they were optional and not needed in our case.

[BesosforMexico 13]

She just emailed me .... "Regarding the letter of intent, I had Rachel look through our last three fiancé visas, and none of them required a letter of intent at the USCIS stage. To date, we have not received an RFE requesting this either."

Hopefully she is correct

[Al and Patricia 23]

I think a bigger issue is, if you are sure that you needed a letter of intent, why she didn't just say ok. YOU are the client and if in her opinion it is not needed, there is NO damage done by adding it to your petition. I would also call a few attorneys and ask what they charge for the same services that you have already received, $5800 sounds rather steep to me, and then ask your attorney for a COMPLETE billing statement of the services she has performed. This way, if you find that she has overcharged you, you will have evidence if such. You DO owe her for services performed already as long as they are not out of line with other attorneys fees. Good luck and I hope you do not get an RFE and if you do, it is a just a short delay in you getting approved

[MaggieT 4]

I have email PROOF that my lawyer told me these were not needed, and I also have email evidence that she was informing me to file an I-130 after we get married in the states on an I-129f along with the AOS. Can I sue her to get my attorney fees refunded? These are TWO MAJOR overlooks on her part. I want my $5000 in fees back.

I am VERY mad

WOW!!! $5000 in fees for an application you could have preparred yourself?

If I would get a RFE I would be pissed - and I def. would ask her to return at least a portion of it.

Espacially given the fact that there are many VJ-ers that completed their applications on their own not getting a RFE.

And yes, letter of intent is specifically listed on the instructions.

I hope you can get your money back - best of luck

[bigdog 377]

5K is very expensive, when you are done do the AOS yourself. Everyone here uses a letter of intent and we even did with our attorney (would and did not use one in the next step). Don't panic if you get and RFE have one ready to go and return immediately.