Lawyer Aggravation

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I'd fire any attorney who didn't respond to a question within 24 hours unless they had a damn good reason. If they're so busy that they can't respond for days or weeks then they've either taken on more clients than they can handle, or they need to hire more help.

You can fire an attorney at any time and for any reason. Just make sure you get the important documents from their files, especially any correspondence from the government. You'll need the petition NOA2 for adjustment of status.

[Pinoylover 6]

All these lawyers do is what you can do yourself! Sorry to tell you this you just gave them free money!You still have wait like the rest of us. This isn't hard to do just read the guide lines and ask questions here on the form plenty of people here to help.

[Karee 4,189]

I'd fire any attorney who didn't respond to a question within 24 hours unless they had a damn good reason. If they're so busy that they can't respond for days or weeks then they've either taken on more clients than they can handle, or they need to hire more help.

You can fire an attorney at any time and for any reason. Just make sure you get the important documents from their files, especially any correspondence from the government. You'll need the petition NOA2 for adjustment of status.

Good luck with that. Once you sign that G-28 everything goes to them. Best advice is not to get involved with them at all unless you have some difficult circumstances. Everything you need is right here on this website.

[agrabs 237]

I considered hiring an attorney, but luckily I found Visa Journey before i sent our petition. Without Visa Journey I definitely would have needed an attorney, but now I am glad I didn't hire one. I know we are not very far in the total process, and I figure if I run into a problem I can always retain one down the road.

[Karee 4,189]

I considered hiring an attorney, but luckily I found Visa Journey before i sent our petition. Without Visa Journey I definitely would have needed an attorney, but now I am glad I didn't hire one. I know we are not very far in the total process, and I figure if I run into a problem I can always retain one down the road.

You have everything you need right here.

[NorrinRadd 0]

Great help from everyone, especially Nich-Nick. Thank you.

I'm very busy, so it seemed like having an attorney handle this would solve that problem, but in effect, it has created more work.

I work with corporate attorneys and silly as it may sound, I wouldn't ask them for advice in personal affairs, so I took to the internet, asked for references, all seemed good, so I went with it.

I wish I had found this site first. It is really excellent and I truly appreciate how freely and quickly you have all given help.

Thank you!

[Enigma11561 336]

You are the one who has to find and compile all the data. Once you have it, you fill out some forms. All the attorney does is to fill in the same forms with the data you gave him. You can fill in the forms just as easily and save your self not only thousands of dollars but also a lot of stress. And remember, if he screws up, it is YOUR life not his that gets trashed.

[NorrinRadd 0]

He's paid. Money isn't the issue at this point - I just need to get her here. Years of trips back and forth is officially wearing on both of us!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

have you check his background before paying him? i hired a lawyer and i did background checks and had a businessman friend of mine do a search and we found not even one problem in over 10 years so i hired her as with my work i tend to be buzy and not want any mistakes ie rfe's

You are not likely to turn up anything on a search anyway. Nothing like "how fast do they answer questions"

The problem with hiring an attorney because "you are busy" is that you still need to do everything for them, and they will expect you to do during business hours. You can do an I-129f yourself in your underwear at 3am while you watch TV if you want. Attorneys simply CAN NOT do anything without ALL the input coming from you. They also often make mistakes and get RFEs. It is no guarantee you do not get an RFE and I really do not think avoiding an RFE is worth what they charge. Thats a pretty high price to pay for a delay of a couple weeks or a month, maximum. Also the I-129f is such a small, tiny, tiny part of this process what will you do for the rest? What about AOS, RoC, Citizenship? Hire attorneys for that also? They are more complicated actually.

If this were a legal process where they represent you in court when you are somewhere else, or even like a Real Estate agent where they can show the house while you are busy with work, that would be one thing. But the I-129f is a TWO PAGE FORM and the G-325a is a ONE PAGE FORM that you fill out with information you know and the attorney does not. HOW can he even fill it out? There is no court, no motions, no depositions, he doesn't go to interviews and if he did there is nothing for him to do.

Basically you need an attorney like a fish needs a bicycle.

He's paid. Money isn't the issue at this point - I just need to get her here. Years of trips back and forth is officially wearing on both of us!

Fire him. Ask for a copy of all documents sent (he MUST give it to you) and tell him to notify USCIS he is no longer the contact of record and that all correspondence should be sent to you. Get a copy of that also.

[Linds&Youssef 56]

I've also got an attorney, and I can't say a single thing that's even remotely negative about my experience. We don't have a particularly sticky case or anything; for us it's more about the piece of mind that if (for any reason) we did happen to have any hiccups in our process, there's someone there who's on our side who knows the immigration laws inside and out and who can get answers when petitioners often can't even get through to find out what the problem is with their case that's holding up a favorable decision. It's true that you can probably do it yourselves if you don't have a difficult case and if you give USCIS/the consulate the documentation they need to make a decision. On the other hand, if you've already paid, why sever ties and risk needing them later? It could be a help during the AOS process, too. On the other hand, if this attorney isn't giving you the help you need, you could always try to get a refund for the parts of the process he hasn't helped you on and take that part of his service to an attorney with better organization/customer service skills. Just my 2 cents...

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I am not as far along in the process as you are but I would offer you this: If you are not confident in your ability to handle the proceedings then A lawyer may be deemed necessary (after all it cannot hurt, if you have the money to spare).

You give a thoughtful suggestion but based on ignorance of the process. If you are not confident of your ability to handle a 2 page form, I strongly suggest you spend more time reading the guides here and asking questions and GET confident. The I-129f is such a small piece of the puzzle, you really need to educate yourself. Your family is going to be one of immigrants and that is a complicated process that involves a lot of things on a day to day basis. It is not filling out a form, writing a check and you're done. Not hardly.

With an immigrant you are going to run into problems daily not even related to immigration. Even the entire immigration process, much more than the I-129f, is realtively easy and a small part of your life compared to all the other things. Read the forums here abour drivers licenses, SS cards, school enrollment, insurance, bank accounts, buying property and cars, etc., and ultimately even the passport. You will be amazed at the incredible level of incompetence in government agencies not related to immigration. Because your case will ALWAYS be "different" You are not the normal case they do 500 of every day. This NEVER stops them from making things up as they go along. I have no idea when we reached this point where clerks were told to make sh*t up instead of ask for help, but we sure have! If you think USCIS is trouble it is only because you have no experience with the others yet.

If YOU do not know the laws and rules (and they are all there to read on the internet...google will be your best friend) then you will be jerked around and so will your family and you cannot bring a lawyer with you every time you need to perform some normal life function that you have taken for granted until now.

Just to apply for passports this week, we had to hack through THREE people at the passport office until we got one that understood what THEIR OWN GUIDE says about children of naturalized citizens under age 18. It is right there, in THEIR guide and they STILL Make stuff up! "We need the divorce decree and the order of sole custody for the child" NO YOU DO NOT!!!!!!!!! He is a US citizen, get him his passport! How do you KNOW that if they don't and YOU haven't studied it? How do you KNOW when to ask for a supervisor? How do you know when they are feeding you BS? I give you 10 to 1 your attorney does not know.

Recently here a member was told they "needed an extension" to the I-94 to get a drivers license. There IS NO "extension" to an I-94. We had no problems with Alla's SSN as a K-1 the day after she arrived, but when Sergey went WITH A GREEN CARD, AND a drivers license, they said "we need to have your visa" NO YOU DON'T!!!!!!!!!!! A supervisor resolved it.

VJ is an excellent site, use it to educate yourself, you are going to need it.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I've also got an attorney, and I can't say a single thing that's even remotely negative about my experience. We don't have a particularly sticky case or anything; for us it's more about the piece of mind that if (for any reason) we did happen to have any hiccups in our process, there's someone there who's on our side who knows the immigration laws inside and out and who can get answers when petitioners often can't even get through to find out what the problem is with their case that's holding up a favorable decision. It's true that you can probably do it yourselves if you don't have a difficult case and if you give USCIS/the consulate the documentation they need to make a decision. On the other hand, if you've already paid, why sever ties and risk needing them later? It could be a help during the AOS process, too. On the other hand, if this attorney isn't giving you the help you need, you could always try to get a refund for the parts of the process he hasn't helped you on and take that part of his service to an attorney with better organization/customer service skills. Just my 2 cents...

When you go for a drivers license and they say you need an extension to the I-94, what will you do? call your attorney?

[Ben and Jill 37]

You have everything you need right here.

I couldn't have said it any better.

[SlimT&R 2]

I wouldn't say an attorney is "useless", and like most have said, if you have some complications or issues that would affect the outcome of your petition negatively, and you would benefit from the use of a lawyer then it would be advisable to get one. A good one.

I have seen competent lawyers who charged a lot less than $2300.000 and see their clients thru AOS and will advise thru the rest of the process. If you have the time to finish processing your journey then follow the guidelines on here and stop paying the lawyer if you are still doing so.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

I'd really appreciate any advice folks can share on what value a lawyer adds at the point I am in the process.

The government received our completed application 19 December, so we're hoping to hear within the next month that we've been approved.

We've had three questions for the attorney in the six months since we began this process. The attorney won't answer my fiancee, ever. He takes a week or more to answer my emails or simply doesn't answer them. My fiancee and I are very organized and have been frustrated with having to send the same forms to the attorney multiple times. The last question we sent was not answered and I sent him an email noting that I was frustrated. I was very nice, despite my aggravation. He replied three days later that he was offended that I questioned his performance.

I can't deal with people like this, and I am used to dealing with professional attorneys in my daily life who excel at what they do.

My question is simple:

I've paid this guy and, ostensibly, he has executed the paperwork correctly.

Do I need him anymore? In other words, do I need to suck it up and pretend I like him until this is done, or can I sever ties now?

Sub-question: Once my fiancee is here and we are married, do you recommend an attorney for the green card process or should we file the paperwork ourselves?

Other Details: She is from the UK and will be bringing a child.

Assuming K-1, since it is not listed.

I'd say to cut him lose. Don't let him know yet, you never know, might end up needing him; just pretty much assume there is no attorney and wait for your approvals, notices.

If you have questions, you might want to post them here. Chances are that the aggregated experience of people here will get you a better answer. Not only that but notice that people answering here has gone thru same questions/situation (been there, done that, got the t-shirt sort of thing)

Realistically, once you get the NOA2, you can do the rest on your own. For AOS (after married, you can do it yourself; many of us people here have). The only time someone here would advice of a lawyer is when there seems to be complexities in a case, which your does not seem to have