Didn't submit a letter of intent

[BesosforMexico 13]

Why in the world would you even pay an attorney $5,000.00 for something you could have filed for yourself. Plenty of useful information, guides and samples here. Good luck. I doubt very seriously you will get your money back from an attorney.

The $5000 did include all fees associated to filing (not that that makes it much better) including translation fee for his major documents, translation affadavits, and of course the filing fees as well as expedited mailing fees.

Still YES she was way over priced, YES i could have done it myself... but I made the decision her services were worth my money at the time.

[Andy and Pui 16]

We did NOT sign the cover letter.

I mentioned to her that if she did not want to be bothered outside of office hours, her business cell phone number should not have been given to me. I also mentioned if she was going to a family function she could have left her work cell phone off or as you said sent me to voicemail. She said that she was more than happy to help me on the weekends as she advertises her work phone is available 24/7. So we argued for a few moments about how she was trying to make me feel guilty for contacting her. Our conversation honestly was very highschool. She wanted to bicker about my "complaints" even after a resolution was met. I told her I was satisfied with her "solution". Her solution is to send me a format for the letter of intent, and to submit it as soon as an RFE is given, or if I like we could submit before we receive it with a copy of the receipt for my NOA1. I was under the impression no further information could be submitted without an RFE, and she again told me I was incorrect and that we could submit as much extra evidence as we wanted by submitting it with my receipt number.

I would not send anything to the USCIS unless you get an RFE and send back what it asks for. It is possible you might not get an RFE but you could also get one for the letter of intent to marry. Just do what I said in previous post and have the beneficary sign a letter and snail mail it back so you have that ready in case you get an RFE.

EDIT: I just read something else you wrote. You do not have to travel to see them to sign the LOI, just email them a modified copy of the sample letter here with all your personal information on it and have him print it, sign it, and mail it back to you in the US.

Edited February 19, 2012 by Andy and Pui

[BesosforMexico 13]

Yes, she is right. I didn't include a letter of intent, and I was still approved. Just relax.

I think people are ignoring my comments stating specifically I am NOT upset about the potential of the RFE, I am upset about the sevice given to me by my attorney who I paid astronomical fees.

I understand that some have gotten through the process without a LOI, however I have received private messages from multiple users stating they DID get an RFE for the LOI.

Regardless, I am frustrated with the incorrect advice given to me not necessarily the potential set back of a few weeks.

And EVEN IF I was upset about a possible set back that everyone is reminding me is "only a few weeks" I think I have a right to be upset over a "slight" setback. I PAID a lot of money to NOT have to worry about a set back. If it is a day turn around or a year turn around on an RFE, either way I have a right to be mad

[BesosforMexico 13]

EDIT: I just read something else you wrote. You do not have to travel to see them to sign the LOI, just email them a modified copy of the sample letter here with all your personal information on it and have him print it, sign it, and mail it back to you in the US.

As I also mentioned he has NO way to do this. He has no way of printing the document and no way of sending it back to me. I know this sounds unlikely but it is true. I could explain further but to make a longwinded explanation short, he is stuck in company housing with no transportation to anywhere other than work. If it sounds like a prisoner, believe me thats how he feels. He is in a city he doesn't know, with no friends or family around, no way to access the internet other than his lunch breaks every few days, no way to call me other than skype. SURE he could maybe find somewhere to print for a fee, but he doesn't know of anywhere nor do I. Sure, he could pay for a cab to take him from his company housing into the city after work, but he works 6am-8pm and likely anything that could help him would not be open at this time. ALSO, the area he is staying in has a major drug and crime problem and he is quite honestly a bit scared to venture on his own.

[Orando 57]

I think people are ignoring my comments stating specifically I am NOT upset about the potential of the RFE, I am upset about the sevice given to me by my attorney who I paid astronomical fees.

I understand that some have gotten through the process without a LOI, however I have received private messages from multiple users stating they DID get an RFE for the LOI.

Regardless, I am frustrated with the incorrect advice given to me not necessarily the potential set back of a few weeks.

And EVEN IF I was upset about a possible set back that everyone is reminding me is "only a few weeks" I think I have a right to be upset over a "slight" setback. I PAID a lot of money to NOT have to worry about a set back. If it is a day turn around or a year turn around on an RFE, either way I have a right to be mad

I understand, it is a bad feeling when you pay money and don't get good service. It happens, but now you will stop giving her money, so that is good. No need to fight with her anymore, that $5,000 is a sunk cost at this point. Since many people do not get RFEs for the LOI, she will argue that the advice she gave you is reasonable, she also has the files of her other clients that did not get RFEs for the LOI, so it will be tough I think for you to prove mal-practice on her part.

[BesosforMexico 13]

I understand, it is a bad feeling when you pay money and don't get good service. It happens, but now you will stop giving her money, so that is good. No need to fight with her anymore, that $5,000 is a sunk cost at this point. Since many people do not get RFEs for the LOI, she will argue that the advice she gave you is reasonable, she also has the files of her other clients that did not get RFEs for the LOI, so it will be tough I think for you to prove mal-practice on her part.

What about malpractice for trying to get me to file an I-130 after marriage when it is clearly not required? Since I didn't actually fall for her advice and file those papers, could I snowball it all together?

[BesosforMexico 13]

From my attorney yesterday

" We have always filed an I-130 petition with the I-485 application once the applicant for the K1 is inside the U.S, to provide a more thorough application. We have done this in every case, and have never received an I-130 returned as unnecessary. (Believe it or not, the USCIS will often reject and return filing fees when a petition is not needed). We have followed this procedure as a safety net."

[cherylc522 0]

What about malpractice for trying to get me to file an I-130 after marriage when it is clearly not required? Since I didn't actually fall for her advice and file those papers, could I snowball it all together?

You probably won't get a malpractice suit at all with this, technically she didn't do anything severely wrong, she has other cases that have been approved so they will look at that and be like nah she did everything fine, and you didn't actually file the I-130 so you can't use that (please note that i am not in any way taking her side cause i think she is seriously messed up in her information and should not be doing immigration applications for anyone or giving advice) I'm just looking at it realistically that you probably won't win any kind of suit or get any money back unless you flat out get denied, which isn't going to happen, at worst you will get the RFE which i know your not worried about at all. Does he have any friends or family that are not in that city that would be able to visit him and take the letter to be signed and then mail it to you for him, just thinking it might save you some money even if you had to provide a little money to make the trip, would it save you a good amount of money to do it that way?

[Orando 57]

What about malpractice for trying to get me to file an I-130 after marriage when it is clearly not required? Since I didn't actually fall for her advice and file those papers, could I snowball it all together?

Yeah, since you have not paid her money to file the I-130, there is no beef or damage there. I suppose you could use that as an example of how she is giving incorrect advice.

The instructions for the I-129F specifically state that the LOI is required however, many times, it is not required apparently. She is def wrong, but in front of a Judge or whoever the person who would hear your case, I am not sure how it would play. She could argue that the LOI is not required evidenced by people not receiving RFEs and the I-129F instructions are not correct and outdated, the problem is with the USCIS and their instructions, not her firm.

I think you should do a cost benefit/analysis, how much does it cost you to pursue a case against her in time/money/energy/emotions and how much will you get out of it. You probably have to back out the fees from the $5,000 for the translations, shipping and the USCIS fees to get a number, then you would probably need to back out more from the $5,000 because she did do a lot of the process right. Then, you would probably need to prove you were damaged, if you do not get an RFE, then it would be hard for you to prove you were damaged in anyway. Or, you could file something and it end up in front of a Judge that does not like immigration Attorneys and he could rule in your favor. I do not know, but your Attorney would likely fight anything you would file against her. Having said all that, if you do not get an RFE, you probably should just move on with your life without this Attorney in it. If you do get an RFE, then you can see if the damage done to you is worth the cost to go after this Attorney.

[cherylc522 0]

From my attorney yesterday

" We have always filed an I-130 petition with the I-485 application once the applicant for the K1 is inside the U.S, to provide a more thorough application. We have done this in every case, and have never received an I-130 returned as unnecessary. (Believe it or not, the USCIS will often reject and return filing fees when a petition is not needed). We have followed this procedure as a safety net."

Ok, time to follow the advise of the people here who have been through the process and helped others with the process 100's of times. I did the exact same process you are going through as have many others, you do NOT file I-130 with your I-485. the I-485 is for AOS which is what you need to do, the I-130 is the petition for an Alien Relative, which you will not be because you will already be here on a k-1 visa, no further petitioning is needed because they will have already approved for you to be here, you just need to file the I-485 to say "hey, i did was i was told and got married within 90 days and now i wanna adjust my status and get my conditional green card" now please fire your lawyer lol and we will all gladly go through the process with you because it is SOOOOOO easy to do on your own if you follow the instructions correctly, and if you have questions ask us

[BesosforMexico 13]

You probably won't get a malpractice suit at all with this, technically she didn't do anything severely wrong, she has other cases that have been approved so they will look at that and be like nah she did everything fine, and you didn't actually file the I-130 so you can't use that (please note that i am not in any way taking her side cause i think she is seriously messed up in her information and should not be doing immigration applications for anyone or giving advice) I'm just looking at it realistically that you probably won't win any kind of suit or get any money back unless you flat out get denied, which isn't going to happen, at worst you will get the RFE which i know your not worried about at all. Does he have any friends or family that are not in that city that would be able to visit him and take the letter to be signed and then mail it to you for him, just thinking it might save you some money even if you had to provide a little money to make the trip, would it save you a good amount of money to do it that way?

I likely COULD convince a close friend of our to go IF he could get off work but the time it would take me to send it to him and then have him travel and then send it back to me would likely take a month.

On top of that I would then be paying him at least $200 for all of that for fees, flights, etc.

I DID have this weekend off for a trip to mexico but I was only going in the event his company allowed him to return home to Cozumel. I haven't seen him since October. I had vacations scheduled in December, Jan, and beginning of Feb that I was planning to spend about $1000 each on. So technically by not going I saved about $3000.... I feel I can justify to myself spending $2000 on a trip now, if for nothing else just to see him.

[BesosforMexico 13]

Yeah, since you have not paid her money to file the I-130, there is no beef or damage there. I suppose you could use that as an example of how she is giving incorrect advice.

The instructions for the I-129F specifically state that the LOI is required however, many times, it is not required apparently. She is def wrong, but in front of a Judge or whoever the person who would hear your case, I am not sure how it would play. She could argue that the LOI is not required evidenced by people not receiving RFEs and the I-129F instructions are not correct and outdated, the problem is with the USCIS and their instructions, not her firm.

I think you should do a cost benefit/analysis, how much does it cost you to pursue a case against her in time/money/energy/emotions and how much will you get out of it. You probably have to back out the fees from the $5,000 for the translations, shipping and the USCIS fees to get a number, then you would probably need to back out more from the $5,000 because she did do a lot of the process right. Then, you would probably need to prove you were damaged, if you do not get an RFE, then it would be hard for you to prove you were damaged in anyway. Or, you could file something and it end up in front of a Judge that does not like immigration Attorneys and he could rule in your favor. I do not know, but your Attorney would likely fight anything you would file against her. Having said all that, if you do not get an RFE, you probably should just move on with your life without this Attorney in it. If you do get an RFE, then you can see if the damage done to you is worth the cost to go after this Attorney.

I have a friend who is a civil attorney who would do the work for me and only charge me assuming I won the case so it mighttttt be worth my time but honestly I just want her to KNOW she was wrong. If she does think she is wrong at this point she is doing a great time denying it. So I think my main goal at this point is to get her to quit screwing innocent people just looking to get their fiances here out of their money.

[pepper 34]

Ok, time to follow the advise of the people here who have been through the process and helped others with the process 100's of times. I did the exact same process you are going through as have many others, you do NOT file I-130 with your I-485. the I-485 is for AOS which is what you need to do, the I-130 is the petition for an Alien Relative, which you will not be because you will already be here on a k-1 visa, no further petitioning is needed because they will have already approved for you to be here, you just need to file the I-485 to say "hey, i did was i was told and got married within 90 days and now i wanna adjust my status and get my conditional green card" now please fire your lawyer lol and we will all gladly go through the process with you because it is SOOOOOO easy to do on your own if you follow the instructions correctly, and if you have questions ask us

I totally agree! Once your fiance gets here an I-130 is NOT needed to be filed with I-485. Our lawyer was full of ####### too so after receiving my NOA2(btw USCIS will send you a complimentary copy of that) I cut all contact with her but I had to send her one last email...just cant resist it....she asked me if I needed her assistance for interview....then I told her...."oh really but I'm already here in the US!" clueless b**ch! lol

[mari&Ryan 93]

Honey, Sorry for the inconvenience you are going through now. I just can tell you that if you have a straightforward case you don't need an attorney in any step of the process. It's always an option yes, but certainly not mandatory. Another thing I can tell you is that We never used an attorney not even for a 10 min advice through our entire journey.

Our "inmigration Journey" started about 5 years ago when we first filed the I-129f for the K1-K2 visas, followed for the Adjustment of Status (AOS), then Remove the conditions of residence (ROC) and finally applied for Citizenship and became a U.S. citizen a couple weeks ago.

We NEVER used an attorney, we did not have a RFE in none of our processes, and we were approved without interview for AOS and ROC. Only tools we used were the USCIS website and VisaJourney. We read a lot; we searched a lot, yes. But we did it, and I know many of people here have done the same.

I investigated and learned from others previous experiences. English is not my first language; I came from a South American country with a daughter from a previous marriage, which meant gather so many documents, permission, translations, etc. Everything had to be double. It was hard yes. But I have the enormous satisfaction to say that have learned a lot and also that I earned it after a lot of headaches and tears. Happy at the end. The best of the luck with your journey.

P.S. I did not include a letter of intent with the application (no RFE received) BUT I took them to my interview and the CO wanted to see them.

[Linds&Youssef 56]

It's kinda funny, I have only read about negative experience from people who use an attorney for K-1.

You still have to fill out the forms and gather the evidences yourself anyway, so why pay 5000$ for a glorified secretary to mail the packet for you.

You should get your money back tbh.

Oh and don't worry too much, even if you get RFE, it will probably set you back 2-3 weeks only

IMHO, it depends completely on the attorney you use. I'm having a fantastic experience with my attorney, and I'm only paying about $2,600 for him to help me through the entire process, from collecting evidence through AOS. It sounds like the problem isn't that people are using immigration attorneys, but more directly the problem is that they're expecting the fact that they have an attorney to take the place of being informed about the process and about the reputation of the specific attorney that they hire. So along with the advice of contacting your state's Bar Association to find out how to go about recouping your money, you might do some checking into lawyers' reputations (even interview a few of them--after learning enough about the visa process to know what questions to ask--before deciding which to use), and ask the state Bar Association if you could have your fees transferred to the new attorney. Just a thought. Best of luck!