Lawyer or No Lawyer

[Mr&MrsPrice 0]

Hi all. I am new to VJ but seems as if it will be very helpful. My fiance and I have been together since fall of 2008 and we have spent the last two years living together in the US. He is from Australia and we are hoping to get him over here on a Fiance Visa. I am wondering if you all feel as though it is necessary to get a lawyer ($2K+) or it is managable to do alone???? Thanks alot

[wilfon 30]

Hi and welcome to visajourney. I personally don't feel you need to get a lawyer and pay an incredible amount of money when you can do it yourself. I was the same boat as you when I first started. I thought about using a lawyer and after speaking with some people and looking at this website, decided that we could do it ourselves. This website is incredibly helpful. It provides information that will literally help you with every step of the entire process and most people on this site are more than willing to try and assist you. This website will give you examples of all of the forms needed to apply for the application.

Good luck to you guys.

[JohnR! 5,495]

There is nothing that a lawyer can do, that you can't do yourself. A lawyer can't expedite the process or make it easier. The process is what it is for everyone.

You would need a lawyer if there were something shady or out of the ordinary with you or your fiance.

You can get tons of help here, at the USCIS site and other places, so if you are the git-r-done type you can do it yourself and save some money.

[jkelly07 120]

if you never had any issues with immigration in the past, then you dont need a lawyer to file the 1-129f, read the guides, study, follow the example forms, look at the flow chart,if you need help post here a vj members will help you, save your money good luck

[Xanax 349]

It's a DIY process so unless you have difficulty with English, following instructions OR you have a difficult case, you should be able to do it yourself and save a few thousand $$.

[Henry&Rebecca 39]

Hi all. I am new to VJ but seems as if it will be very helpful. My fiance and I have been together since fall of 2008 and we have spent the last two years living together in the US. He is from Australia and we are hoping to get him over here on a Fiance Visa. I am wondering if you all feel as though it is necessary to get a lawyer ($2K+) or it is managable to do alone???? Thanks alot

First thing that jumped out at me: If you spent the last 2 years living together in the US, was he here on another visa that allows him to stay such an extended period of time in the US? (Like perhaps student visa or whatnot?)

The point being: Did he spend the past 2 years here by overstaying a tourist visa (or a VWP or some other visa)? The answer to that may determine whether it's best to get a lawyer or not.

Related question: Is he still here? Or did he go back to Australia already?