Experience with Attorney Ryan Barshop (Manila)?

[Moofy 1]

I am curious if anyone in the Philippines has experience working with Ryan Barshop based out of Manila for K-1 visas?

Thanks!

[Sagot 1,548]

I am curious if anyone in the Philippines has experience working with Ryan Barshop based out of Manila for K-1 visas?

Thanks!

How are you expecting a Philippine attorney to assist you with a U.S. visa process? There is nothing in the visa process requiring special "assistance", embassy even states this on their website.

You need help ... start here http://visaconnection-philippines.com/index.php/2-visa-process/3-usem-k-1-visa

Have any questions, come back here ..

This process is very basic: pay the visa fee, schedule your interview, complete the medical, attend the interview...

... lastly CFO

[Greenbaum 12,259]

Like Sagot states.... simple process with lots of FREE help.

[MarkPerry 488]

I am curious if anyone in the Philippines has experience working with Ryan Barshop based out of Manila for K-1 visas?

Thanks!

Silly to use a lawyer. VJ is a designed to help people who want to self petition.

My personal opinion on using a lawyer for a fiancé/spousal visa is they just ripped you off, there is nothing about the process that requires a lawyer or even a visa processing company.

Lawyers have their place, but not in immigration case,

[Moofy 1]

My personal opinion on using a lawyer for a fiancé/spousal visa is they just ripped you off, there is nothing about the process that requires a lawyer or even a visa processing company.

Lawyers have their place, but not in immigration case,

I agree 100% which is why I wanted to find out if anyone in the forums has worked with Ryan Barshop because we're taking action against him and I'm conducting due diligence to see if others had a similar experience.

But I also agree; the K-1 process is easily doable without a lawyer (unless there's unusual complexities). We know this now that we have gone through the process.

[Sagot 1,548]

Most on here that fall for using a lawyer hire one in the USA, don't know of any that hire one in the Phils for visa processing

Good luck suing a lawyer.

[jasper383 23]

Most on here that fall for using a lawyer hire one in the USA, don't know of any that hire one in the Phils for visa processing

Good luck suing a lawyer.

Looks like he has offices in New York too and he is from the US.

From his website:

Ryan Barshop, Esq., is an American national, educated at Suffolk University (B.S. American History, Cum Laude) and Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Juris Doctor, Cum Laude).

Ryan Barshop, Esq. is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Originally from New York City, Ryan first arrived in the Philippines in 2003 as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer working with underprivileged youth through the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Tarlac City. After successfully completing Peace Corps, Ryan moved to Hong Kong where he spent two years working in education before entering law school.

While in law school, Ryan has received several academic awards, served as an associate editor of law journal, and externed at the Superior Court of Guam where he drafted numerous Decisions and Orders for the court.

He serves as a US Immigration and Consular Practice/ Direct Consular Processing Lawyer providing in-depth US immigration services and consular processing advice to clients in the Philippines and abroad.

A member of the New York State Bar and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Ryan is licensed to practice immigration law throughout the United States and federal territories.

He is well-versed and highly knowledgeable in the complex system that composes U.S. immigration law and consular processing at the US Embassy in Manila.

http://ryanbarshop.com/

[Sagot 1,548]

Wonder how much of that is "seasoned with a little extra salt"

as he is .... practicing in the Philippines.

[Moofy 1]

Yah he's charging $2,000 for basic K-1 processing and he completely messed up (to the point of being outright incompetent). We have our own case against him, but I wouldn't be surprised if others in this forum have had dealings with him as well - was just curious if that was the case.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Moofy

[Sagot 1,548]

The K-1 process is as complicated as following the embassy instructions letter.

... gave you a link to get that earlier.

Ya there are a few little things where past experiences help to smooth out the process.

[Greenbaum 12,259]

You really don't know how easy it is to do your own K1 until you finish and look back to see what is required to avail to the visa.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

You really don't know how easy it is to do your own K1 until you finish and look back to see what is required to avail to the visa.

So right you are Greenbaum. I look back now and realized that I could have done the whole process myself instead of paying a lawyer $1k for "processing fees". I believe that I just did it for peace of mind because I was working abroad at the time.

I am curious if anyone in the Philippines has experience working with Ryan Barshop based out of Manila for K-1 visas?

Thanks!

If you don't mind me asking what all did he do that was incompetent and what are you suing him for? Also did you hire him in the USA or the Philippines?

[PHCEO 2]

Yes, I've worked with Ryan extensively for numerous projects, including US citizenship for my children born abroad, a US visa for my partner, and visas for my staff to travel to the US for trade shows.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I can share my experience.

I've worked with probably more than 50 attornies over 27 years in business, and Ryan has worked harder for his fees than any American or European attorney I've ever hired. Most of the services we've hired him for could be done on our own, but we hired him to save time, fill in the blanks and smooth out the process because we wanted the fewest go-arounds possible. And that's what we got. He assisted my staff with their visa on contingency. One was successful and two failed (not through any fault of his, and he had warned us that they were marginal candidates at best). In the end, he charged us for only one, not three, just as we had agreed. I've never had an attorney do that.

On at least two other occasions, he met with us at 5 AM to be sure we were prepared for our morning appointments and followed up after hours and on weekends as needed. I've never had an attorney do that either.

I'm not saying the guy walks on water, only that I've watched him repeatedly bend over backwards to deliver, and that he's been incredibly conscientious and more than fair in all our dealings with him.

Did you have an agreement? It looks like he consulted with you and you got the visa you wanted? What was the issue?

Two cents more for what it's worth: I've had seven litigation events in the last ~15 years and "prevailed" (if you can call it that) in every one. If there are consistent takeaways, it is these:

1) Legal action is lose-lose for the parties. It can be a windy road with destructive potholes, falling rocks, and no guardrails.

2) It's emotionally destructive. The price paid in peace of mind is not worth the gain.

3) Win or lose, it's only the attorneys who win and just end up buying bigger houses and nicer cars.

4) If negotiations fail, mediation is fairly easy; arbitration is a better backup plan and a lot faster and cheaper. These days there are plenty of relatively inexpensive, high-quality arbitration services online.

My guess is that if you try to work it out with him in a fair way, he'd be pretty reasonable.

Edited November 30, 2016 by PHCEO

[Moofy 1]

Interesting how everyone assumes I'm going to sue him I do have years of experience in State and Federal court (where I also prevailed), so taking action isn't an issue for me. But PHECO is correct, legal action is generally a losing situation for both parties, it's just a matter of degree - but accountability is important to me. I'm not going to get into detail as to why I have issues with Ryan, but needless to say he made a number of mistakes, refused to take accountability and then threatened me. I have an issue with such behavior and will be doing my best to hold him accountable. He also violated at least one (if not more) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. It's unfortunate because he was very friendly, communicative and responsive at the beginning, but the second things went wrong he turned into a different person. Even my fiancee, who is a very laid back and sweet young lady, is very upset with him and supports action being taken because of his behavior and how things were handled.

[PHCEO 2]

You said above that you are "...taking action against him" and doing due diligence, and that you have a case against him. That sounds an aweful lot like some form of legal action. :-)

Coincedentally, I just learned that a Filipina friend of ours that we're currently traveling with hired him earlier this year. She said he guided her through the process and helped her feel more confident. She was successful on the first attempt and quite satisfied with the service.