Advice to get the K1 visa process moving quickly

[Pennycat 880]

Ok. Immigration is not always (or even usually) a legal issue. It is a federal process that most of us are eligible to use on behalf of our loved ones. Sometimes, it becomes a legal issue if there are certain things in the petitioner or beneficiary's background (usually: legal trouble including illegal immigration/deportation).

Let's all think about another federal process we're all familiar with: filing taxes. It's not a perfect analogy because there are many many more complications and caveats with taxes than the K1/CR1 process. That said, DIY would be doing your taxes DIY. Rapid Visa and the like would be going to H&R Block or using TurboTax (with the exception that as far as I know, RapidVisa doesn't have a DIY interface, it's more like going to an office except you're doing it over email/phone). Getting an immigration lawyer would be like getting a tax attorney...which BTW is an additional year in law school and who usually are only needed when there's big trouble with the IRS *BUT* who clearly can and will help you file your 1040EZ if you pay them to do so.

Now, like any of these services (TurboTax, H&R Block, lawyers), you sill need to provide information and documents yourself. Just because you hired the best tax attorney in the country, doesn't mean that they will know how many and what type of accounts and investments and possible deductions you have. They can't come up with all your receipts themselves. You're still going to deal with a headache and need to dig stuff up. Now, if your taxes are more complicated than any form that ends in "EZ", you're probably going to want to at least use TurboTax. Most people with complicated taxes have a "tax guy", a CPA (more like H&R Block). Still, not many people go for tax attorneys before there's a problem. Doesn't mean they can't or shouldn't just...it's really not necessary.

Now, we can all have opinions on how easy or hard it is to do taxes without a CPA or even TurboTax. I did mine on paper without help this year and I had 2 W2s, 3 1099s, I got married this tax year so a 2555 for foreign earned income exclusion and a W-7 to apply for an ITIN because he doesn't have an SSN yet. There is nothing special about me except for my ability to closely follow instructions (and my aversion to paying a private company to interact with my own government. The tax software companies lobby to keep the IRS from developing their own software--which would be free-- so that most people could file online directly with the IRS. It's 2016. It is beyond very possible that 80% or more of Americans could be filing on the IRS website and not paying Intuit $30 for an autofill form, but I digress). Both the IRS and USCIS have very clear instructions on how to fill out the forms as they relate to your case.

You may not want to take the time, or you may be worried about making a mistake, and I get that. I 100% do. But unlike the IRS, this process is much simpler and far more "standardized" to the point that the guides here can boil the instructions down to a checklist that applies to almost everyone (not possible with taxes. There are far more possible tax scenarios than immigration scenarios). Also unlike the IRS, the potential "punishment" is an RFE, not a fine. An RFE adds 2 to 4 weeks to your timeline and can be avoided if you pay attention to detail and can and does still happen with RapidVisa and lawyers.

So really, just like with taxes, it's your call. Take a look at the form and the guides. Really break down this first step and see if it looks doable. As soon as you have a signed letter from your fiancé about your intention to get married, you could do it that night and mail it the next day. You won't get that quick of a turnover anywhere else. Or, if you're the foot dragging type, they'd be faster than you. It's all individual. Just remember to take into account that all of the people framing this as complicated and risky to do alone are the same people who have already paid for a service or lawyer and who therefore have not done it alone and therefore maybe don't have as clear of a picture of the simplicity as DIYers do.

[HackyMoto 13]

Tried to ignore this one and am not wanting to get into a pro lawyer / anti lawyer debate but you hooked me.

My case should be very simple; married to USC for almost 12 years and with 2 kids but I decided to spend OUR hard money on a lawyer for "peace of mind". I know he can't speed up the process. It's my choice. I've had 12 great years to research this but with most of these years living and working overseas, we decided to wait and then we decided we wanted a lawyer handling our case. I subsequently researched for several weeks for a lawyer. And I can't say a bad word about him; he spends several days a month with the Hispanic community here in Houston giving free immigration advice and services, he and his staff are very friendly and I know he knows what he's doing after successfully handling very complicated cases for my daughter's Venezuelan and Bolivian godparents. So far so good; no RFE received. I would recommend him to anyone.

To the OP, it's your choice if you wish to have a lawyer or not; plenty of advice on this forum to get you through it but it's up to you. If you decide on a lawyer to help you then do some research before parting with your hard earned money. Not here to judge your decision, not from me anyway.

Edited July 6, 2016 by HackyMoto

[Pri20Nol16 0]

Just my experience:

We paid for a lawyer because we had the extra cash and we did not have the time to research the process thoroughly. It was worth it to us to have someone who could compile our application quickly and someone who is on hand to answer our questions.

Whilst using a lawyer has not sped up the process for us after applying, I do believe it got our application in a lot quicker than if we had been trying to navigate the application process ourselves. It was around a week between hiring her and getting our application in - I know we couldn't have done it that quickly alone! (No RFE's for us).

Basically, if you're not too busy and you have some time on your hands, DIY is probably the right option.

If you're busy, you have the money and you'd like the peace of mind, finding a lawyer with good reviews will likely make life easier for you.

[RobertM54 36]

IMHO, a good lawyer can be helpful if you are not certain.

IMHO, there are a lot of not so good lawyers.

IMHO, you might want to adopt a zen like attitude toward the whole process.

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

I am set to be am immigration lawyer in 2 years if everything goes as planned.

After going through it and realizing how doable it actually was as long as you are organized and informed, I would honestly feel morally guilty charging someone to work a straightforward K-1 case.

At least charging them the rates I have seem some lawyers do.

[Pennycat 880]

Actually RapidVisa has a website DIY interface, you enter your info then when its 100% completed it generates your K1 package with all forms and supplemental pages filled out, and detailed instructions based on the individual circumstances on your answers to their questions in the web interface. They have a builtin live chat and internal mail system, as well as a support number with a call center team and very knowledgeable supervisors assisting. Every question I have is answered in minutes by a real person. You are correct, it is much like TurboTax in a way. To us, even though we could have easily done this ourselves without help, it was a great help having a team assist, and they did catch a missing page from our I-129F which for sure would have been either a RFE delay or a complete denial/return of our application.

Good to know. That's probably the happy medium I suppose. I still think it was and is easy, but I also find doing my taxes to be more of a slog than anything actually difficult, even this year when they reached the medium level of complication. I am aware that most people do not feel the same.

A lawyer would be a different story, though (in a straightforward case. Once you start getting into AOSing from an overstayed B2, having been working without authorization for years and/or racking up a criminal charge and throwing in a divorce before AOS is complete.... THEN you start to need legal representation). For a "fill in form according to instructions, provide evidence requested, add extra evidence for security", it's just a bit much.

Edited July 7, 2016 by CatherineA

[mikelowe 0]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and information!

[Banzi 0]

Please can anyone help. I and my fiancé sent in our petition on 18th of March and received our NOA1 on 21st of March and we've been waiting since. Anyone around that period, I see some people on this site that petitioned after we did have received their NOA2 already, to add to that, our petition is currently at CSC, we haven't heard anything. Help please

[Scandi 4,269]

Please can anyone help. I and my fiancé sent in our petition on 18th of March and received our NOA1 on 21st of March and we've been waiting since. Anyone around that period, I see some people on this site that petitioned after we did have received their NOA2 already, to add to that, our petition is currently at CSC, we haven't heard anything. Help please

You have to give it 5 months, then you can call USCIS and ask for help. Me and my fiancé had to wait for almost 6 months to get our approval.