Trying to start this process and I had some questions my lawyer hasn't answered

[Gosia & Tito 199]

I've been with my fiance for 4 years (first went to Australia in Feb 2010) and she's visited the U.S. on ESTA 4 times since then. I hired a lawyer on the advice of friends and it hasn't really gone smoothly so far (they never even mentioned the letter of intent or many other things I've read on this site). I'm questioning whether I should just drop the lawyer and file myself.

Anyway, I searched around and I still have some questions regarding our situation. Hopefully one of you may know the answers;

- I have been self employed for a long time and while I do make more than enough to support both of us, I'm not sure what evidence I have to provide of this or what is required. My lawyer said I need the most recent 3 years of tax returns and I am behind on that (I just barely got the paperwork to put 2011 together, that's a whole other issue I'm dealing with). Is this actually necessary? If so, is there an alternative (bank statements, etc)?

- On that note, I've been supporting her almost completely financially for a few years. She's been reading on the forums people asking about their employment during the interview and she's a bit worried. I don't know if this would actually be a positive (more proof that I can indeed support her) or a negative?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Drop the lawyer as soon as you can. Likely you've already pay fees though.

The collective experience and first hand "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" of the people in this forum beats any lawyer for simple caes, like yours seem to be.

I'd even suggest to run anything your lawyer might have said by this forum; you'll get an objective and unbiased advice.

We have seen many posts of lawyers meesing up what should've been a simple case.

Now for complex cases, no one here will even dream of recommending dropping a lawyer

[Nawlinshoney 7]

Thanks for the information. I'm going to work on getting those returns together asap. My fiance is still concerned about her lack of employment the past few years (me supporting her). Does anyone know if that's bad?

They are only worried about your finances, not hers.

[jerni 24]

I seriously, seriously recommend dropping the lawyer. I don't know what some of these lawyers studied, but it sure wasn't immigration. There are good ones out there, but even then all they really do is fill in the paperwork for you that you can do yourself. It also means you'll receive all communications from the US government directly instead of waiting for your lawyer to inform you of any progress.

That last part is not true. When you have legal representation you still get copies of all the notices, the lawyer just receieves a copy as well.

[Ketsuban 1,034]

That last part is not true. When you have legal representation you still get copies of all the notices, the lawyer just receieves a copy as well.

I have read of cases where couples were not aware of any RFEs because their lawyers received them, but decided not to tell the petitioners for whatever reason. Maybe in those cases, copies were sent to the petitioners, but they never arrived for whatever reason.

[icebryker 21]

Icebryker...How did you get through the NVC in 3 days?

I don't know? It just says "In transit".. that's what it means right?

[jerni 24]

I have read of cases where couples were not aware of any RFEs because their lawyers received them, but decided not to tell the petitioners for whatever reason. Maybe in those cases, copies were sent to the petitioners, but they never arrived for whatever reason.

Most likely they were lost in the mail. Our lawyer said that we will always get our copy of the notice, USCIS sometimes omits sending a copy to the lawyer (never the other way around), she always said that if we get a notice and don't hear from her to scan and send her a copy. In our case that never happened, we usually got notices on the same day.