K-1 visa, to fill by ourselves or by attorney?

[Aklego 1]

It is a very important question for us because we are not really into law and dont really know how things work, but attorneys charge A LOT, got some prices and they are $1500+ in Los Angeles area.
What would you recommend? Filling everything by ourselves or paying lots of money for attorney?
Thanks

[h_m 12]

This is primarily a DIY site, so you're going to get most people telling you it's not necessary to get an attorney. I would recommend reading the guides available several times and then deciding if you still need an attorney to fill it out for you.

[Mily90 8]

Its really up to you to decide. I would recommend you do it on your own in this site there is all the info you need to file the required paperwork! i did it all by myself thanks to visa journey for guiding me on how to do it. I got no RFE!! you can save the money.

[Operator 1,925]

Without knowing the specifics of your situation or your abilities it would be difficult for anyone on VJ to make a recommendation about using an immigration attorney. In some cases legal assistance is necessary in others it may not be.

The best recommendation anyone can give is for you to read the K-1 visa guide carefully and then come back and ask questions of what you don't understand.

[Aklego 1]

Without knowing the specifics of your situation or your abilities it would be difficult for anyone on VJ to make a recommendation about using an immigration attorney. In some cases legal assistance is necessary in others it may not be.

The best recommendation anyone can give is for you to read the K-1 visa guide carefully and then come back and ask questions of what you don't understand.

Makes sense, I will try to give as much info as I can:

I am resident on post-USSR country, my future wife is US citizen (21 years old), working for military. We are together for 3 years even though we have been living together for 3 month in USA (2010), then 4 month in USA (2011) and she visited me in 2012 for a month. And we decided to get married. The first two times I was on a student WORK&TRAVEL program, I haven't violated any dates of my visas and everything is find with that. I also have SSN number since I was working in USA.

Is this specific enough?

Thanks

[M-waits 6]

It is a very important question for us because we are not really into law and dont really know how things work, but attorneys charge A LOT, got some prices and they are $1500+ in Los Angeles area.

What would you recommend? Filling everything by ourselves or paying lots of money for attorney?

Thanks

Hello!

I had the exact same decision to make during late 2012. I scoured this site for advantages/disadvantages for a month before I went with a lawyer from California. At first glance, It seemed like a process that required an attorney since there are considerable amounts of paperwork and other materials to provide. In all honesty and with 20/20 hindsight, hiring a lawyer was a waste of money. In any case, it is up to you to provide all the materials and information to the lawyer, who then takes that information and puts it on pages with nifty letterheads. My lawyer does provide help to prepare for the interview and other courtesies, but that is about it. Well, it does give you peace of mind that you can complain to someone during the process. At any rate, when waiting for NOA2 (aka initial approval as well as the longest part of the process) there is nothing a lawyer can do but wait with you.

I can tell you from experience that this site has provided more valuable information to me than my lawyer has. All of the research and leg work is still up to you to do with or without a lawyer. I suggest filling out the paperwork yourself and use VisaJourney as a template of how to proceed. This site has tons of answers to common questions and common errors. Yes, the paperwork is tedious and there are many hoops to jump through, but once you get started you'll find it is not as intimidating as it may initially appear. When you file the petition, you'll realize you are now as qualified to do this as a lawyer. Just remember to do your research and you'll be fine.

Again, there is nothing the lawyer provided that I couldn't obtain from the internet or the VisaJourney site. I really recommend doing all of the paperwork yourself. Once you have everything in order, you'll see it was not such a daunting process. More annoying than anything! At any rate, once you have all your paperwork, you can file the petition or hire a lawyer who will require all the information you put together. As you can see, you'll be doing the work either way.

I hope that perspective helps and feel free to ask any questions.

[R&V 8]

We did all the paperwork ourselves.

For me, a lawyer would only complicate matters. You still have to get your own materials together and provide the info to the lawyer...Might as well just do it all yourself.

This site and the specific guides were really helpful.

Good luck!

[Operator 1,925]

Makes sense, I will try to give as much info as I can:

I am resident on post-USSR country, my future wife is US citizen (21 years old), working for military. We are together for 3 years even though we have been living together for 3 month in USA (2010), then 4 month in USA (2011) and she visited me in 2012 for a month. And we decided to get married. The first two times I was on a student WORK&TRAVEL program, I haven't violated any dates of my visas and everything is find with that. I also have SSN number since I was working in USA.

Is this specific enough?

Thanks

If you are both free to marry I don't see anything in what you have written that would make your situation difficult. You should both read the guides located here and she can submit the petition and all the associated documents.

Most people here successfully complete the K-1 visa process on their own, if you can follow directions and meet all the requirements you probably can also.

Study the guides and good luck.

[duraaraa 203]

The paperwork is very, very easy. You just follow the guides. You need no knowledge about law.

I would suggest you do it yourself and save the money for the wedding!

[Aklego 1]

Thank you! This website seem to have every single thing discussed and the feedback on threads is so GOOD, everybody is so helpful!
We will be doing this by ourselves for sure then

And I also have a question about the minimum support wage thing, is it any different for military members? What is the minimum salary that will be acceptable as a "support"?
Thanks again

[Operator 1,925]

There is a different income requirement or military members, 100% of the poverty guideline as opposed to 125%. The minimum income requirement is based on the size of the household that is being supported. If it's just the 2 of you it would be $15,510 I think but you should look it up to be sure.

[nicolasandres 6]

do it yourself !!! dont even think about pay to a lawyer for this "personal experience"

[batallion9 50]

Be sure to follow K1 guidelines exactly. Send right size of photos, Letter of intent to marry has to have sentence " I intend to marry _______ with in 90 days of arriving in the USA as per K1 requirements" By the way military can sometimes qualify to expedite the case and get approval with in 1 month. Read " forms" section and do not be afraid to ask questions. You can do it yourself but be sure to dot the "I's" and cross the "T's"

[Joanne and Adam 15]

DIY! Hey you'll learn something new

[Protocol417 161]

We're doing this on our own and it's been pretty straight-forward so far. With all the help VJ gives you really shouldn't need a lawyer, and honestly, even though I've only been here a few months, I've seen dozens of stories of peoples' lawyers really messing up their application, sometimes intentionally (so they can charge more to "fix it"), sometimes unintentionally or through negligence... like not telling their clients about RFE's (requests for more info/items), giving clients wrong embassy information, forgetting to list children, etc. It almost seems like you're better off doing it yourself!