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Forever123

Paying a lawyer..

By Forever123 in K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures

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Dohan Rising Star

Dohan   133

Posted
Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: India
 Timeline
Posted

Is it hard to get rid of lawyer once they've started a case? I'm now waiting to hear from nvc

If you owe the lawyer money, then yes, otherwise they cannot force you to go on with the case. Check the retainer agreement you signed and if it says anything specific about termination. However, the rules for lawyers state that a client is free to reject representation.

K-1 Visa

Service Center: Texas Service Center

Transferred? No

Consulate: Mumbai, India

 

Met at University in UK: 2010

Engaged in India: 03/31/2014

I-129F Sent: 06/20/2014

NOA1: 06/25/2014

NOA2: 12/16/2014

NOA2 Hardcopy Received: 12/23/2014

Case Sent to NVC: 12/23/2014

NVC Case Number Assigned: 01/05/2015

Case Sent to Consulate: 01/08/2015

Case "Ready" at Consulate: 01/09/2015

Applied for PCC: 01/20/2015

PCC in hand: 02/23/2015

Medical: 01/23/2015

Completed DS-160 and paid visa fee: 02/20/2015

Interview: 03/13/2015 APPROVED :)--> Same day went into AP

Visa "issued" on CEAC webstie: 03/16/2015

:goofy: :goofy: Visa in hand! 03/18/2015 :goofy::goofy:

POE: 06/04/2015 :dancing: :dancing: :dancing:

AOS Journey

06.11.2015- City Hall Wedding

06.29.2015- Mailed AOS Package

07.01.2015 - Package Delivered at Chicago Lockbox

07.02.2015- Date Received as per USCIS

07.09.2015- NOA1 for EAD/AP

07.24.2015- RFE :ranting:

08.13.2015- USCIS accepted RFE response

09.08.2015- EAD received

Waiting for the interview :clock:

12.19.2015 WE GOT THE GREEN CARD IN THE MAIL!!!!! No interview :)

ROC

10.25.2017 ROC packet received by VT Service Center

11.02.2017- Received NOA dated 10.26.2017

11.29.17- Completed Biometrics

Waiting for the interview :clock:

 

 

TabeaK Proficient

TabeaK   517

Posted
Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Germany
 Timeline
Posted

My USC fiance initially wanted to go the lawyer route. He consulted with several. Quotes were in the region of $3000 for I-129F and AOS. EAD/AP were extra.

We are an easy case, hence I convinced him to let me deal with the paperwork. So far so good. I doubt lawyers can do any good in the standard process unless you just don't wanna deal with the paperwork yourself.

In the hopefully unlikely event any setbacks occur on the journey, we may go back to the lawyer route, but I do doubt that.

K1 time line

 


I-129F sent: 12/23/2014
NOA-1: 12/29/2014
NOA-2: 06/05/2015 (158 days)
NOA-2 hardcopy: 06/11/2015 (6 days post NOA-2, 164 days total)
Sent to NVC: 06/16/2015 (11 days post NOA-2, 169 days total)
NVC receive: 06/25/2015 (20 days post NOA-2, 178 days total)
NVC case no: 06/30/2015 (25 days post NOA-2, 183 days total)
NVC left: 07/02/2015 (27 days post NOA-2, 185 days total)
Case Ready: 07/07/2015 (32 days post NOA-2, 190 days total)
submitted DS-160, paid visa fee.: 07/21/2015 (46 days post NOA-2, 204 days total)
Packet 3 sent: 07/25/2015 (50 days post NOA-2, 209 days total)
Pack 4 received: 07/30/2015 (55 days post NOA-2, 214 days total)
Medical: 09/17/2015 Interview: 09/23/2015 (108 days post NOA-2, 268 days total)
Interview Result: Approved Administrative Processing: 09/23/2015
CEAC Status Issued: 09/24/2015
Visa in hand: 09/28/2015
POE: 12/29/2015 Wedding: 01/11/2016


AOS Time Line

 

AOS package mailed: 01/13/2016
AOS package received: 01/20/2016 (day 1)
AOS NOA-1 text/email: 01/23/2016 (day 3), actual NOA-1 date 01/22/2016 (day 2)
AOS Fingerprint fee received: 01/22/2016 (day 2)
AOS check cashed: 01-25-2016 (day 5) Got 6 month NJ driver's license: 01-25-2016
3x NOA-1 hardcopies: 02/03/2016 (day 14)

Biometrics letter: 02/05/2016 (day 16) Biometrics appt (Elizabeth, NJ): 02/17/2016 (day 28)

EAD and AP approved email/txt: 03/29/2016 (day 67)

GC approval email/text: 04/04/2016 (day 74)

I-797 for I-765/I-131 in mail: 04/04/2016 (day 74)

EAD/AP delivered: 04/05/216 (day 75)

GC card being mailed status update: 04/07/16 (day 77)

GC received: 04/11/16 (day 84 post AOS NOA-1)

DONE WITH USCIS FOR 21 MONTHS!

ROC Window opens: 01/04/2018

 

ROC Time Line
ROC package mailed to Vermont 01/04/2018
ROC package received at Vermont 01/08/2018 (day 0)
Check cashed: 01/16/2018 (day 8 )
NOA-1 date: 01/09/2018 (day 1)
NOA-1 received: 01/16/2018 (day 8 )
Biometrics notice received: 02/09/2018 (day 32)
Biometrics appointment: 02/23/2018 (day 46)
Received 18-month extension letter: 08/13/2018 (day 209)
ROC Approved: 03/09/2019 (day 425)
Card Received: 03/16/2019  (day 432)
icv21 Rising Star

icv21   110

Posted
Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Spain
 Timeline
Posted

I wouldnt get a lawyer unless there is some big issue( criminal, deportation.....)

If it's a normal case you are the one giving all the documents and information to the lawyer anyways so I really don't see the point of paying someone......

You really can find here everything you need and also reading uscis instructions for each form.

y59om4.png

---------------------------------- Pre I-130 ----------------------------------------

Feb- 25- 2009 - Met in Barcelona Spain thanks to a friend in common ???

11 visits in the next 5 years........ ????????????

Apr - 23 - 2014 - My last entry in the US to visit ✈️

Jul - 18 - 2014 - finally proposes and ask me to stay forever!!!! ❤️??

Jul- 20 - 2014 - I don't get in the flight back to Spain ( that means my ESTA will expire the next day )

Jul - 22 - 2014 - wedding ❤️??

---------------------------I-130, I-485, EAD, AP ----------------------------------

Sep- 12- 2014 - AOS sent to Chicago ?? ( delivered sept 15 )

Sep - 18 - 2014 - AOS texts/ emails received with case number ??

Sep- 19 - 2014 - checks cashed ?

Sep - 21 - 2014- hard copies of NOA received in the mail!!! ??

Sep - 26 - 2014- biometrics letter received!! Appointment for Oct 7

Sep - 30 - 2014 - succesful early walk in biometrics ??

Nov - 22 - 2014 - EAD/AP approved ?? ( 71 days )

Nov - 24 - 2014 - card in production

Dec - 1 - 2014 - card mailed ??

Dec - 3 - 2014 - Combo card received ??

Dec - 15 - 2014 - email received with interview date for Jan 15 2015! ??

Jan - 15 - 2015 - Approved!! ???? Here is our interview experience --> http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/531853-aos-interview-from-esta-approved/

Jan - 24 - 2015 - Green card received

NYCruiser Proficient

NYCruiser   423

Posted
Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Kenya
 Timeline
Posted

As I learned from my divorce, representing yourself can save you a ton of money. I had gotten quotes for handling my divorce for as low as $3000. I decided to do it myself.

After I had done most of it I had a few questions during the process and used my work Employee Assistance Plan to obtain a free 20 minute consultation. I had all my questions answered in 5 minutes over the phone. The lawyer offered to finish up my divorce for just $1000. I had to type up my Final Judgement and two stipulations, have my ex sign them, and drop them off at the court. They had me wait for the judge to finish the case he was working on and he finalized my divorce on the spot. Total time, 2 hours.

My ex wife also spent $6,500 to have an SSDI lawyer fill out a form online with us, send a few letters to her doctors, and show up at a hearing once. I learned my lesson from watching this process. Lawyers are very expensive and I try to avoid them until they are absolutely necessary.

I agree wholeheartedly!! I spend $2500 for the filing of the I-129F. While he knew what he was doing, we did have an RFE as he forgot to include the a few critical words on the Letter of Intend. IF I had known of this site I would not have spend this kind of money. Frankly he also gave incorrect information on post POE regarding applying for an SS number, etc

Bjorn&lyne Enthusiast

Bjorn&lyne   20

Posted
Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Philippines
 Timeline
Posted

I payed a lawyer for the USCIS part of the filing then found this website and realize that my immigration lawyer really was not very versed in immigration, especially issues around K-1 visas for the Philippines. I ended up getting rid of the lawyer and did the NVC, St Luke and USEM all by myself with the help of this VisaJourney community. In retrospective I could have done all by myself, even the USCIS, but I did not know about VisaJourney until after the USCIS approval. I wasted like 4K...which is what the USCIS filing cost me. At least I got approved, right... If you go without a lawyer, I do encourage you to have a second pair of sharp eyes going through all your documents, especially the forms you fill out in order to ensure the information is correct and no casual mistakes are made, like pay a friend a couple of hundred bucks to review your documents and package and help organize, then ask questions on this website for advice and answers to understand what you need to do and submit.

dhlunar Collaborator

dhlunar   25

Posted
Filed: IR-5 Timeline
Posted

I have assisted my wife with the I-130/I-485 AOS process, I-751,N-400, and assisting her with immigrating her parents here. We have never paid or consulted with a lawyer during any of the immigration processes. Besides the form instructions the best advice I have gotten is from others on forums such as this.

One advice I give people when reading the instructions to the form is to take a highlighter and a pen. Highlight the part of the instructions that are relevant to you and use the pen to cross out the part that is not relevant to you. For example, we live in Maryland so I want to know were people in Maryland file their application. So I would highlight the address I would need to send the paperwork to. I don't care were people in California have to file so I would cross out the address that might be relevant to California but is not relevant for me here in Maryland.

Here is the information regarding the cases for my in-laws (wife, their daughter, is the petitioner under the IR-5 category, Parents of a USC):

Submit I-130 (2 petitions) to USCIS on May 30, 2013

USCIS approved the cases on March 10, 2014.

Received notice online from USCIS the cases were sent to NVC on March 17, 2014.

NVC received the cases on March 28, 2014

The case numbers were created on Monday, April 28.

We received the numbers by phone on Friday, May 2.

DS-261 became available on both cases late in the evening on Friday, May 2. Both DS-261 filed on Saturday, May 3.

Received emails to my wife regarding AOS at around 8am on Wednesday, May 7. At the same time received emails that were cc of letters sent to my in-laws. However, the date of all of the letters was Monday, May 5.

Received emails regarding the Immigrant Visa Fee at around 11:15am on Wednesday, May 7. IV fees became available online at around 1pm on Wednesday, May 7. Date of invoice was Tuesday, May 8.

Paid all the fees on Wednesday, May 7 at around 1:15pm.

All fees marked as paid and DS-260 become available sometime late on Friday, May 9.

Dropped off IV and AOS packages (in two different envelopes - 1 for AOS and 1 for IV documents) at the local post office at around 2pm on Saturday, May 10.

Submitted DS-260 (for both cases) around 10am on Sunday, May 11.

Both document packages received by NVC on Monday, May 12 (according to Post Office Tracking - one around 1pm and the other around 4pm. Don't know why they got separated.)

Received checklist email for both cases at 4pm on Thursday, June 12 regarding the IV civil documents

Wife called NVC in the afternoon of Friday, June 13 to inquire about the checklist. Told by a representative they are normal and automatic and not to worry. AOS under review. Call back after Tuesday, June 24.
Received a checklist for my father-in-law on Monday, June 16. NVC reviewed his AOS paperwork, but waiting for the documents the requested the week before.

Wife called NVC in the morning of Tuesday, June 17. Told by the agent they don't have the document requested for dad, and they don't have the AOS package for her mom.

Put in a request with our Senator to get more information. Response was mother-in-law is documentary complete and father-in-law was in document review for the military document.

Wife called NVC on the morning of Tuesday, July 1 and spoke with a supervisor regarding her dad's military document. Supervisor said she would look into it.

Supervisor called us and left a voicemail on the morning of Wednesday, July 9 and stated they have located my father-in-law's military documents. Case sent back to document review.

Per conversation with an agent, the expedited request originally requested by email on July 7, was sent to the Embassy on Thursday, July 10.

Received by postal mail on Thursday, August 21 from our Senator regarding the response of another inquiry. Still the same.

Early in the morning on Friday, August 22:

Wife calls the Embassy and was told the IV section doesn't accept calls, and was given a number in the states that turned out to be scheduling assistance for NIV interviews.

Called NVC as soon as they opened and was told the Embassy denied the expedite request, but the case was completed by NVC on Monday, August 18. Wife inquired about interview scheduling, and was given some good information.

At 5 PM on Thursday, September 11, received the interview letters. Interview is scheduled for the morning of October 9.

Mother-in-law approved. Father-in-law placed in Administrative Processing due to follow-up TB test.

CEAC stated ISSUED for my mother-in-law on October 15. DHL had the package for pick up on October 17 but called the wrong number. Package picked up on October 27.

On December 11 mother-in-law received a phone call from the Embassy that the medical is back for my father-in-law and to DHL his passport to them. Passport sent on December 12.

On December 18 CEAC updated to ISSUED for my father-in-law. My wife is happy!!!! Embassy said they gave it to DHL on December 19

Due to a DHL delay the package did not become available for pick up until December 24. USCIS Immigrant Fee paid the same day.

POE: JFK Terminal 1 - December 26, 2014 - They are finally here!!!

Took them to a local SSA office to get SSN on January 6, 2015. Cards received on January 10, 2015.

Green Cards received by priority mail on January 23, 2015 (four weeks after arrival).

Both went to motor vehicles and got state issued ID cards on April 11, 2015.

 
Didn't find the answer you were looking for? Ask our VJ Immigration Lawyers.

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