To Lawyer or Not To Lawyer?

[louishjelmslev 1]

Hello all. It's a pity that I've only just stumbled across this forum... would have help greatly if I had found it a few months back!

I'm putting together my papers and documents for my I-129F, and as a precautionary measure, I was thinking of hiring an immigration lawyer for my application.

Personally I don't think my case is particularly complex or unusal, however time is of the essence (my doctoral studies commence in August of this year).

Does anyone have any opinions and/or experience with this?

I'm currently in the UK, so I don't know if that would present itself as a caveat.

Thanks,

Louis

[slowlyman 118]

First of all, an attorney will not get you a visa any faster. It seems those with attorneys get just as many RFE's as those who work alone. Your file has to work it's way through the system. right now about 6 months with or without an attorney.

If you have a straight forward case. do it yourself. If you hire an attorney, you are basically paying someone to fill out your forms. You still need to do the legwork and collect all the documents and information.

[shell20 746]

Hello all. It's a pity that I've only just stumbled across this forum... would have help greatly if I had found it a few months back!

I'm putting together my papers and documents for my I-129F, and as a precautionary measure, I was thinking of hiring an immigration lawyer for my application.

Personally I don't think my case is particularly complex or unusal, however time is of the essence (my doctoral studies commence in August of this year).

Does anyone have any opinions and/or experience with this?

I'm currently in the UK, so I don't know if that would present itself as a caveat.

Thanks,

Louis

Hello Louis,

I don't think it actually matters one way or another. We did hire a lawyer and we did find that they helped to make sure we had the relevant documents at hand and they put them in order for us, as they do that daily. On the downside they didn't seem to be as update with current things as visajourney are. I questioned them when they asked me to fill in a DS-260, when I had read on visajourney it was now a DS-160. The forms seem to change frequently.

I guess it's a personal thing. Would I use them for POE shortly? Yes probably, just to double check documents and make sure all papers are together. We didn't have any RFE's, which saved an awful lot of time. I will be honest though, I feel visajourney have been the one's to give me the information I have needed at any one time and made this journey a thousand times easier for us.

[slowlyman 118]

Shell20, do you mind posting how much you paid?

[ConGau1981 56]

I didn't need an attorney, I just triple checked everything and made photocopies of EVERYTHING!!! I can't stress that enough!! Photocopy everything!! We never had any rfe's and my fiance will be coming to the US on March 21st.

[christeen 966]

Lawyers can slow the process down because the time between the lawyer being notified, then in turn notifying you is time lost... Plus there are shortcuts with call in and such (check the guides here) that can maximize time waiting for stuff ... A lawyer won't do that...

[louishjelmslev 1]

Thank you all for the lucid explanations.

After an intense survey of the amazing resources here, I think I'll go it without the attorney.

Unfortunately, it is looking like my fiancee won't be joining me on move-in day

[Sekhvaruli 74]

I think, an attorney is for someone lazy or busy - It's like hiring a cleaning person to clean for you or taking clothes to dry cleaning instead of doing the laundry.

Everything is explained in the instructions for the forms. Something which is not clear - just ask the forum!

Edited March 9, 2014 by Sekhvaruli

[Cathi 5,849]

not to lawyer

[Kelli/Ozzy 8]

I say NO LAWYER, if you read the instructions thoroughly 3 times, and when you think you understand it all, read it again, you will be fine. I did all my own paperwork from day one, never had an RFE and my husband (then fiance) had no troubles and is now here with me, married over a year, already did AOS and got his green card. no worries ever, you can do this, we have faith in you and are here to help Good Luck

[Soloenta 2,218]

First of all, an attorney will not get you a visa any faster. It seems those with attorneys get just as many RFE's as those who work alone. Your file has to work it's way through the system. right now about 6 months with or without an attorney.

If you have a straight forward case. do it yourself. If you hire an attorney, you are basically paying someone to fill out your forms. You still need to do the legwork and collect all the documents and information.

6 months sweet, we have been waiting 9 months to see if they accept our I-130 .

[Jamnan_n_Steve 17]

Most of us here are capable of dealing with our end of the process but the decision whether to hire a lawyer very much depends on your intended's ability to navigate English language paperwork.

As Jamnan's ability to read and write English was not up to the tasks we paid an in-country lawyer ~$1,600 for our i-129f and consulate packets. Included were walking Jamnan through her g325, letter of intent, single cerificate, medical exam, and hand holding in Thai along the way.

For the cost of a round trip ticket we got to focus on building our relationship rather than trying to explain why she needed to get this or that paper signed and sent by express mail. Reduced our stress level by having one of the paralegal available to answer questions and offer reassurance. For us money well spent.

[corvusheart 163]

If you think you will have difficulty with forms it's good to get one. I can't understand government forms to save my life so my fiance and I got one. We did however get one RFE due to his error but was quick to respond now we have our NOA2; but to tell you the truth without the lawyer we probably would've got ten RFEs. And before deciding to get one check in with the bar association to make sure you aren't hiring a scammer.

Btw don't rely 100% on VisaJourney for everything if you decide not to lawyer. A lot of people can be wrong here as much as they can be right. For example when my fiance faxed his statement of intent over for the RFE and then had it sent to USCIS; we had a plethora of people tell us that only "originals" were accepted and that we would be totally screwed. Well time did tell. And 5 days later we got the NOA2 (approval).

[slowlyman 118]

6 months sweet, we have been waiting 9 months to see if they accept our I-130 .

Processing times for the 130 is longer then the K-1. The big advantage with the 130/CR-1 is once you get here you are finished. No AOS to file like you do with the K-1. You have a green card and can start work from day one.

[shell20 746]

Shell20, do you mind posting how much you paid?

$800 up to now without filing fees. For a CR 1 I think they charge $1800 for the stage up to the issue of a green card. I don't know what adjustment of status will cost, but I think its over a $1000. Hope that helps!

As for comments on here about being lazy or too busy with regard to individuals hiring a lawyer, well I beg to differ. I think it's a very personal choice based on each individual case. Could we have done this alone? Yes we could had we found this site a bit earlier. What happened with us is we decided to marry in Miami last year and there was so much conflicting information out there that we consulted a lawyer who advised us not to do that on a visa waiver as it could be construed as fraud. We didn't want to commit any kind of fraud, so engaged their services. I personally find the process of all the form filling a complete minefield and my fiance and I have many other demands on our time, so again it was a personal choice and I guess it gives us peace of mind to know that if we have missed something crucial then our lawyer will hopefully pick it up!