Lawyer advice

[AmandaLane102 3]

Hi all,

I know most people on here say not to use a lawyer, but I would be more comfortable doing so and was wondering if anybody has an estimate of what it SHOULD cost for lawyer fees for a spouse visa? I've so far researched two lawyers, one which is charging an 1800 flat fee and the other a 2500 dollar flat fee and have no idea what is "standard." Also, can a U.S. lawyer handle our case if we are residing abroad?

Furthermore, I'm not sure if I'm "allowed" to ask this on here, but does anybody have a contact for a great and affordable immigration lawyer? I suppose it doesn't matter where they are located since I am anyway abroad but am originally from and plan to move back to Florida.

Thanks

Edited September 4, 2014 by AmandaLane102

[sachin1 42]

My fried had a lawyer and he paid $2000 in houston.

[Gorkhali 214]

I hate to tell you dont use lawyer. We were recommended by a lawyer friend to an immigration lawyer who gave us quite wrong info.

Lawyer aint good coz they will suck up all the money.

We were quoted for USCIS stage 1500 USD and NVC for 2700 USD. My wife wanted to use her but we did great for 1st stage without any of lawyer. Folks here are helpful and very supportive.

Save that huge chunk of money for other things.

I am against the lawyer. If u have proper papers and if u have patience and if u are careful to the details in forms everything is just going to be smooth

Thats how i feel. Rest all ur wish.

[Forza1906 6]

My attorney is charging 2500$ for the whole process. The USCIS part is easy but since neither of us are in the US we wanted to leave everything to the attorney to do. I actually think its worth getting the attorney plus the enormous help here too.

[mojorisin 5]

Forget the lawyer. You'll get expert advice every step of the way here. I find that immigration lawyers give bad advice more often than not.

Edited September 5, 2014 by mojorisin

[AnnaMaria 68]

Agreed, we hired a lawyer (And we both also reside overseas) and he charged us $1500. Not only did the information for preparing the I-130 seem to be a half-effort word page document with only like 8 items, he didn't even know that we had to send in our documents signed by hand! He wanted us to just scan and fax them, which we did, and two months later said he needs us to hand sign and mail them, which we didn't and ended communication with him.

The thing with a U.S. lawyer is, they know U.S. immigration laws, but say you have a situation that comes up with the beneficiary regarding something pertaining to his country only that could have an adverse affect on your visa, other than Google, how do you think they will get the answer?

Save the money, the wiki's here and forums are basically professional services on their own, even though I don't know if anyone is actually a lawyer. Everyone here is giving real life encounters with the USCIS, NVC, and their embassy so most of the things they are posting could save you a LOT of time in the long run.

Besides, you could save that money for all the expenses you're going to incur throughout the process and to help plan your return home with your spouse instead of feeding some man/woman a steak dinner for making his assistant type everything

[mrskvelasco 30]

I'm kind of surprised that so many people are against lawyers. We hired one because I simply do not have the time to research through the forums and ask the right questions, etc. Our lawyers is charging us a flat $3,500 for the whole process including the waiver, and I've been really impressed with her so far.

I did the I-130 myself, researching VERY thoroughly, and I still wound up missing some information. I think it's really worth the money to hire a lawyer with something so very important in your life. If you decide to not get a lawyer, at least consult with a few to get some feedback on your case.

Here is a link for recommended immigration lawyers: http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?91329-Immigration-Lawyers-Recommended-by-I2US-Members

[UnaMexicana 154]

It really depends where you are. My case is well beyond 4500 usd for i130 up to nvc stage. Just a regular case for which most would not even consider it. My husband wanted to be safe. He is in SF if that helps.

Ps. I do NOT recommend using them lawyers. Never available. Always dealing with sloppy paralegals. Forms submitted with errors.

[NikLR 13,234]

There are some good immigration lawyers out there, and many of them are linked all over the forum. Beware of what you pay for, but not all good lawyers are prohibitively expensive. Good ones will give you a free consultation. It's worth it to them because they make money from actual clients, not from consultations.

There are many people on this forum that SHOULD be using a lawyer or visa service and aren't. They just don't have a grasp of the forms, the time, good enough english, etc...

A lawyer can speed up the NVC section.

However no one will look after your case like you will and some lawyers have rules about who can call (their rules, not the NVC or USCIS.) If you're paying for their services you should respect them enough to do the job for you.

[Ryan H 3,901]

A lawyer can speed up the NVC section.

I want to expand on the above statement to avoid misunderstandings. Having a lawyer at the NVC phase means both bills will be invoiced at the same time and the need for the DS-261 is negated. However, a lawyer cannot make the actual processing of files at the NVC go any faster.

[AmandaLane102 3]

I'm kind of surprised that so many people are against lawyers. We hired one because I simply do not have the time to research through the forums and ask the right questions, etc. Our lawyers is charging us a flat $3,500 for the whole process including the waiver, and I've been really impressed with her so far.

I did the I-130 myself, researching VERY thoroughly, and I still wound up missing some information. I think it's really worth the money to hire a lawyer with something so very important in your life. If you decide to not get a lawyer, at least consult with a few to get some feedback on your case.

Here is a link for recommended immigration lawyers: http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?91329-Immigration-Lawyers-Recommended-by-I2US-Members

Hey - could you tell me which information on the I-130 you wound up missing? do you remember? I think I am going to start filing myself and see if I run into any problems for which I would need a lawyer. . . .

Also, someone on another post of mine said that in one of the packages sent to the NVC, you have to submit originals of your birth certificate, etc. - surely this cannot be true can it? I would not feel comfortable placing my original birth certificate in the mail even within the States let alone across continents.

[mrskvelasco 30]

Hey - could you tell me which information on the I-130 you wound up missing? do you remember? I think I am going to start filing myself and see if I run into any problems for which I would need a lawyer. . . .

Also, someone on another post of mine said that in one of the packages sent to the NVC, you have to submit originals of your birth certificate, etc. - surely this cannot be true can it? I would not feel comfortable placing my original birth certificate in the mail even within the States let alone across continents.

I left Question 22 blank regarding where his case would be processed (since he is not in the US and is not eligible for AOS), and I also left out his Alien number on the form. I did not think he had one, but he did. Nothing major but certainly things that could delay our approval. I think aside from my silly mistakes, the I-130 is fairly straight forward and you should have no problem. Not sure if you will need a waiver, but you could hire a lawyer for just that part, if you need one.

And yes, you will need a certified copy of your birth certificate, etc for NVC. We haven't gotten to that point yet, but I also feel very uneasy about mailing originals of official documents. Hopefully there is some type of reliable-ish postal service where you live, but you will definitely need to have them sent to the US somehow.

[AmandaLane102 3]

I left Question 22 blank regarding where his case would be processed (since he is not in the US and is not eligible for AOS), and I also left out his Alien number on the form. I did not think he had one, but he did. Nothing major but certainly things that could delay our approval. I think aside from my silly mistakes, the I-130 is fairly straight forward and you should have no problem. Not sure if you will need a waiver, but you could hire a lawyer for just that part, if you need one.

And yes, you will need a certified copy of your birth certificate, etc for NVC. We haven't gotten to that point yet, but I also feel very uneasy about mailing originals of official documents. Hopefully there is some type of reliable-ish postal service where you live, but you will definitely need to have them sent to the US somehow.

I am so grateful you told me about question 22 as I have left that blank on my first draft as well. So now that I see it, when it asks where they will apply for a visa abroad at the American consular post, should I put our country of residence even though there is no USCIS presence (Namibia) or should I put South Africa, our neighbor with USCIS presence where I was told by a lawyer he would be interviewing at??

Also, what is this "waiver" you refer to and when is it needed?

[mrskvelasco 30]

I am so grateful you told me about question 22 as I have left that blank on my first draft as well. So now that I see it, when it asks where they will apply for a visa abroad at the American consular post, should I put our country of residence even though there is no USCIS presence (Namibia) or should I put South Africa, our neighbor with USCIS presence where I was told by a lawyer he would be interviewing at??

Also, what is this "waiver" you refer to and when is it needed?

Hmm, I'm not sure on that one. I would say South Africa, but you may want to check with other Namibia filers what they did. Well, for our case, I know my husband will get denied at his interview because he entered the US without inspection and stayed for more than one year (10 year ban) and was deported. Thus, we will need to file the I-601 and I-212 waivers.

I would suggest you post a timeline for you and your husband so people can get a better idea of your process so far.