Should I hire attorney in the US or abroad (HK) for K1?

[kittee 0]

Hi all.

My fiancé (USC) is working in Hong Kong while I am living in China. We want to hire an immigration attorney for our K1 visa but we are struggling if we should look for attorneys based in the US or in HK.

I am leaning toward hiring attorneys in the US because I think they should be more familiar with the U.S. Immigration law and more experienced than those based in HK. But my fiancé thinks that it's difficult for consultation/documents signing due to the time difference (12/13 hours difference) also, I suspect we could even find a competent attorney in HK. I thought there are only visa consultants....

I have seen many posts with experiences of bad lawyers and most of you succeeded filing it by yourselves. However, my case is a bit of a red flag ( previously deported, not from US) so we definitely want to consult attorneys before we proceed.

Has anyone had experience with attorneys / any advice? Thanks

[mallafri76 1,012]

If I understand your post correctly, you have previously been deported from another country which wasn't the US? As far as I know, US immigrations are only concerned about whether you have been deported or overstayed in the US, they don't care about other countries..

In my opinion, hiring a lawyer is a waste of time and money, unless you have a VERY complicated or unusual case. You know yourselves, your timeline and your relationship best. All the information you need for your visa journey can be found on VJ and USCIS's website.

Edited June 17, 2015 by mallafri76

[Al422 221]

Unlesss you are expecting problems that a lawyer will be needed at some point to solve, you are better off proceeding without an attorney. Very few people hire an attorney for this, as it is simply unnecessary.

[Darnell 8,478]

deportation is one thing,

the length of the bar to entry to the USA is another thing.

What is the length of the bar to entry into the USA? If your calendar pegs you as being past the bar duration, at interview day, then no waiver is needed. Otherwise he will need to chase a I-601 waiver after the interview in Guangzhou. Note I said after, not before.

I not normally recommend any lawyer here, as this is a 'Do It Yourself' web portal concerning USA Immigration matters/process,

but for China-Specific casefiles with red-flags, I highly recommend Marc Ellis - google 'Marc Ellis Immigration' and pay for 2 hours of consult time.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Darnell

[CowBoE 429]

Even if you go through an attorney, you end up preparing all the documents anyway,

so unless there is very unusual situation, I would suggest to get educated on K1 visa

from VJ site and file yourself.

BUT...that depends on your overall circumstance, especially the deportation one.

It's one thing to be deported from non-US country, but what may effect your processing

is the reason for getting deported...

Things related to violent crimes, illegal drugs, etc. could be huge red (perhaps STOP) flag.

[TBoneTX 43,017]

deportation is one thing,

the length of the bar to entry to the USA is another thing.

The OP wasn't deported from the U.S., but from another unspecified country.

[Darnell 8,478]

The OP wasn't deported from the U.S., but from another unspecified country.

duh. i missed that one bit.

if it wasn't from the usa, i'm leaning towards , "It won't matter".

[kittee 0]

Sorry, I thought I was asking for advice for attorneys so I didn't mention specifics of my case.

In fact I have posted my question earlier in another thread and after considering my circumstances, we think it's better we seek professional advice. I just don't know if I should be looking at attorneys in US or in HK/China since my fiancé is working in HK.

Here's the thread:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/549738-new-passport-of-different-name-and-date-of-birth/

To summarise, I was deported from HK due to a wrong DOB when I first immigrated to HK back in 1996 (I was just 12). After all these years, I realized that wrong DOB was forged so I could immigrate to HK. Long story short, I am not convicted of any crime. I left voluntarily. During my residence in HK, I had a HK passport and I used this passport (wrong DOB) to travel to US on tourist visa once in 2011. So US immigration has my fingerprints and record of my wrong DOB. I know the deportation from HK won't matter to the US, but my DOB discrepancies will. If I explain honestly during K1 process then will they suspect I forged documents again?

I consider my case unusual because I have searched through VJ and found no cases like. That's why we want to hire an attorney to guide us through the process so we can present our case strategically and avoid other risks.

I have read through K1 guides and lots of posts here. We definitely don't want to waste money if my case is simple.

Thank you Darnell. The name Marc Ellis has popped up in VJ threads many times. I will surely contact him for consultation.

Thanks guys.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Kitamiana

[CowBoE 429]

The thing is not all immigration attorneys are really good

and I'm not sure they will really boost your case.

If you can find a really good experienced immigration attorney

and you perhaps $3,000 to $8,000 fee is not a big huge,

then I would say go for it. I'm not sure US or HK attorney makes difference.

A knowledgeable attorney in either country should work.

That said, I'm a pretty logical guy and also pretty efficient with money,

so if I were you, I would seek expert consultation on what to do,

but go through the filing myself (with USC petitioner of course).

If additional complication rises, you can re-consult the attorney

on a need basis, but no need to pay for entire processing,

when most of it is reasonably straightforward to do.

I think your forged DOB is pretty bad, especially now that you left a record

of it with USCIS when you acquired a tourist visa.

But if you come forward and explain and i don't see how this could be

automatic rejection. I think you will get scrutinized but still have reasonably

good chance for approval.

Besides, that was when you were 12 years old, a minor.

I'm thinking this wasn't your idea to forge and lie.

Obviously some adult, perhaps your parents were driving force

and you were too young to know anything better and just went with it.

So be sure to include your minor age circumstance and adult's influence

in your letter to USCIS...if the expert attorney so agrees.

[kittee 0]

That's exactly what I thought! Thanks DualityOneness.

Hopefully USCIS thinks the same.