has anyone used an immigration attorney?

[snugglebug2014 0]

I'm considering a lawyer... as much as I'd like to save money would prefer to go through the process with professional guidance as I'm confused as all hell and would hate to mess up. How can I find a legit one / or decent priced? What's their avg rates? Im in southern cali. Thanks for input.

[Jorge&Viry 1]

Hii Snugglebug!...Well, we just finished our CR1 for my husband, and honestly, unless there is something tricky, like a waiver or something like that, i wouldn't hire a lawyer. They are very pricey. We are in So-cal too! loving this weather

[Datboybaeza 6]

Don't hire an attorney unless you had difficulties times with USCIS. There forums in visajourney that guide you the whole way!! Good luck

[thedude6752000 360]

An attorney is an absolute waste of money, from everything we've seen with people here they slow you down, most immigration attorneys don't handle many cases like ours. 90% of immigration attorneys are helping illegals and people who came on visas besides family based who want to stay longer or have overstayed. Even if they did have any experience there's nothing anyone can really do to speed things up. From everything we have seen on these forums they seem to slow things down, remember unless you have them on retainer you're not their #1 priority and as stated this type of visa is not their forte. Avoid like the plague.

Edited June 25, 2014 by thedude6752000

[lilsadie 50]

I'm considering a lawyer... as much as I'd like to save money would prefer to go through the process with professional guidance as I'm confused as all hell and would hate to mess up. How can I find a legit one / or decent priced? What's their avg rates? Im in southern cali. Thanks for input.

We used an Attorney for out K1 and AOS. He is fantastic. We knew we didnt need one but we didnt have time to do the application ourselves plus we wanted to reduce our stress and ease our minds. We paid $10000 which is basically for everything until I become a citizen. Our process has been quick, around 80 days from application to visa in hand. (If all goes well at the interview, which it will!) Out att is in LA. For us he was worth the $$$ but thats our situation and choice, I know others will think we are crazy for spending that kind of cash!

[thedude6752000 360]

We used an Attorney for out K1 and AOS. He is fantastic. We knew we didnt need one but we didnt have time to do the application ourselves plus we wanted to reduce our stress and ease our minds. We paid $10000 which is basically for everything until I become a citizen. Our process has been quick, around 80 days from application to visa in hand. (If all goes well at the interview, which it will!) Out att is in LA. For us he was worth the $$$ but thats our situation and choice, I know others will think we are crazy for spending that kind of cash!

Please bear in mind if you're applying for your spouse and not fiance(e) there is no way your process is going to be this fast.

[lilsadie 50]

Please bear in mind if you're applying for your spouse and not fiance(e) there is no way your process is going to be this fast.

Very good point! Mine is K1 so much quicker!

[snugglebug2014 0]

Hii Snugglebug!...Well, we just finished our CR1 for my husband, and honestly, unless there is something tricky, like a waiver or something like that, i wouldn't hire a lawyer. They are very pricey. We are in So-cal too! loving this weather

Ya true. Just really don't want to mess up! So important to get him over here. Maybe you can be my buddy I can ask questions! weather is awesome yes little too dry. I'm in big bear

Edited June 25, 2014 by snugglebug2014

[Simeon 25]

I'm considering a lawyer... as much as I'd like to save money would prefer to go through the process with professional guidance as I'm confused as all hell and would hate to mess up. How can I find a legit one / or decent priced? What's their avg rates? Im in southern cali. Thanks for input.

I hired a lawyer in LA because he has lots of experience with people in my situation. My case was not simple. His office is on Sepulveda Blvd. The rate is flat, about $9K for the green card and citizenship. PM if you want his info.

[MyMJLove14 19]

Let me tell you a waste of money. I had one at the beginning who helped me filed out the I-130 form and on top of the $420 fee that USCIS charges, I paid him $350. He was VERY NICE but looking back at it, I could had done that myself. THIS SITE IS REALLY HELPFUL, I wish I would had found it sooner. So after my case was transferred to the NVC, I been doing it on my own with the help of a friend and this site.

[Jorge&Viry 1]

Ya true. Just really don't want to mess up! So important to get him over here. Maybe you can be my buddy I can ask questions! weather is awesome yes little too dry. I'm in big bear

Yeah for sure! let me know if there is anything I can help you with. I will give you my email so you can ask directly, sometimes i dont log into this site as often as i should...but ask away! The process is not too complicated, and like the other members have commented, there is very useful information and step by step guides of how to complete the forms.

[Sylea 30]

We hired a lawyer due to us both having very busy stressful careers and not enough time to devote to pouring over immigration paperwork.

There's a lot of lawyer bashing on this site, but I can only speak for our experience so far. Our lawyer has been efficient, courteous, kind and open to questions and emails whenever we have a query. We paid a flat fee of $2500. Obviously we were in a financial position to do so, it's not affordable for everyone, but it's worked well for us so far.

The challenge is of course finding a reputable lawyer, I found ours by research and Google/Yahoo customer ratings, then some exploratory emails to see what kind of responses I got.

That's my 2 cents - I just wanted to share a positive experience, despite Shakespeare's advice. LOL

Peace all..

[Mollie09 1,543]

Also hired a lawyer due to busy career/paperwork anxiety. Totally worth the $2k flat fee!

[jumpingb 1]

We hired a lawyer due to us both having very busy stressful careers and not enough time to devote to pouring over immigration paperwork.

There's a lot of lawyer bashing on this site, but I can only speak for our experience so far. Our lawyer has been efficient, courteous, kind and open to questions and emails whenever we have a query. We paid a flat fee of $2500. Obviously we were in a financial position to do so, it's not affordable for everyone, but it's worked well for us so far.

The challenge is of course finding a reputable lawyer, I found ours by research and Google/Yahoo customer ratings, then some exploratory emails to see what kind of responses I got.

That's my 2 cents - I just wanted to share a positive experience, despite Shakespeare's advice. LOL

Peace all..

I completely agree with you we hired a lawyer

and I just used this site for overviews and little things that anyways would be done without my help !!

[mdzcpa 58]

We hired an attorney. I just didn't want to deal with the paperwork stress so we hired someone that is getting visas for clients at about 7-10 per week. He knows the system well.

That said, there was a huge unintended benefit as well. When you have an attorney you can skip the DS-261. Accordingly both the AOS and IV Fees become payable immediately. Right now with the current NVC backlog some folks are waiting 3-4 weeks after their DS-261 is processed to see the IV Fee is available to pay. So in our case having an attorney we paid both fees out of the gate and have sent both the AOS and IV packages. This has saved us about a month. Not bad.